Impact Players: Pennsylvania independent schools finals

[caption id="attachment_35159" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-35159 size-medium" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2021/11/2021-11-17_16-53-48_990-2021-11-18T00_57_50.870-1-300x193.jpeg" alt="[player_tooltip player_id=" width="300" height="193" /> <em>Notre Dame goalkeeper [player_tooltip player_id="25999" first="Sophia" last="Hall"]</em>[/caption]After not staging finals in 2020, the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) crowned champions in boys and girls soccer on Wednesday afternoon at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy capped an unbeaten season with a 1-0 win over Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in the girls final and Kiski made it two in a row with a 4-2 win over Germantown Academy. Here’s a look at players who made an impact in the two title matches. Notre Dame freshman goalkeeper <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25999" first="Sophia" last="Hall"]</strong> (9 saves) and the back line were sensational keeping the Blue Devils’ potent attack in check for much of the day so it was going to require a moment of brilliance for the Blue Devils to find a breakthrough. It came off the foot of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy junior winger <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33226" first="Lisa" last="McIntyre"]</strong>, who collected a pass from [player_tooltip player_id="25844" first="Julia" last="Thomson"], charged toward the box and ripped a shot across her body that bounced off the left post and in. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KFzJzysHSfo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> [caption id="attachment_35157" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-35157 size-medium" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2021/11/2021-11-17_17-01-46_910-scaled-crop-2048x1345-1637271218-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <em>Springside Chestnut Hill winger [player_tooltip player_id="33226" first="Lisa" last="McIntyre"] (2)</em>[/caption]While SCHA junior goalkeeper <strong>Ellie Stratz</strong> wasn’t as busy as her counterpart, she was tested by senior outside back [player_tooltip player_id="25709" first="Audrey" last="Cain"] on a 30-yard free kick that was headed into the upper 90 when Stratz was able to get a hand to it and keep it out. It was one of three critical saves on the day for Stratz against an Irish team that did well to pick their spots going forward seeking what ended up being an elusive equalizer. Kiski junior attacker <strong>Donavan Phillip</strong>’s strength, size, and finishing ability around the goal proved to be too much for a Germantown Academy team that twice fought back from deficits to make a game of it in the boys PAISAA final. Phillip opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a left-footed blast from the top of the box that hit the crossbar and bounced in off the GA keeper. Phillip’s second-half goal ended up being the game-winner when he outmuscled two GA defenders and used some fancy footwork to get enough space to fire another left-footed blast that deflected off the keeper and in. Junior <strong>Josue De Leon Sabala</strong> was another handful for Germantown Academy down the right wing with his pace and size. Sabala set up Sebastian Porcella’s goal that made it 2-1 was involved in the build-up to the goal that put the game away at 4-2. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7k2n9MP0Io0" width="562" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> As outmatched at times as Germantown Academy looked going up against Kiski, they refused to go away. Senior attacker <strong>Sean Lipschutz</strong> was a big reason for that with his relentless play going forward. He tied the game up shortly after Kiski opened the scoring when he got on the end of a pass from Nick Venziale in the box and deposited it into the goal. Down 3-1, Lipschutz was able to set up junior <strong>Tyler Weiss</strong>, who was active on both sides of the ball for Germantown, for a shot in the box that made the game interesting at 3-2 before the fourth goal for Kiski put it out of reach.