Cardinal Newman girls earn SCISA 3A soccer title with 2-0 win

Alexa Rehling and her Cardinal Newman girls soccer teammates knew the bitter taste of reaching a state title game but walking away on the wrong side.

They did in 2015 and were not keen on repeating the experience Saturday.

Rehling snaked a shot past Ashley Hall’s goalie to break a scoreless tie seven minutes into the second half of the SCISA Class 3A championship match held at Heathwood Hall. The Cardinals (17-7-1) later added an insurance goal for the 2-0 win, but Rehling’s tally helped her team get back on track after a sluggish start in her final high school game.

“It was pretty amazing,” Rehling said. “One of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my entire life. I just didn’t think about it and put it in the back of the net.”

Her coach, Will Plexico, admitted his team came out jittery and scared, getting caught offsides numerous times in the first half. The Panthers (10-9) hung in, with neither side getting many shots on goal.

Ultimately, the Cardinals wore them down.

“We were definitely tired,” Ashley Hall coach Marc Simpson said. “It was tough. It was a battle. That first goal they finished, it was a good run in the middle, we just didn’t cover it. And once that goal scored, the air came out.”

That mounting pressure meant Ashley Hall keeper Sarah Prichard (seven saves) had to come out farther and farther to attack passes sent ahead. It finally caught up to her team when she raced out too far in the 77th minute and Tristain Millard put in a ball that bounced off of her.

Outside Rehling, Cardinal Newman’s only other senior was keeper Maria Cummings, who needed five saves to get the shutout. The title was the program’s first since 2012.

Plexico joked that he’s had a small bag of ice poured on him as part of a video he’d made for the team during spring break, and requested a larger Gatorade shower come Saturday. He got it.

“We lost a lot of girls this year to injury, but we kept talking about next girl up,” Plexico said. “And we had a bunch of girls step up this year and play through some pain as well.

“I’m a little bit at a loss for words right now, but we’re excited.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Cardinal Newman girls earn SCISA 3A soccer title with 2-0 win."