RIDLEY TWP.— Radnor has proven this season it can win the difficult, low-scoring affairs.
Grind out just enough goals, defend well and get out with another Central League win. That’s been a big part of the team’s success
Monday’s game had a different complexion. The Raptors received consistent goal scoring pressure most of the way.
Junior Blake Orlando scored three goals, including an insurance tally early in the fourth quarter, as Radnor claimed a 5-2 Central League decision over Ridley.
Radnor led 3-1 late in the third quarter before Ridley’s Sydney Senkow scored off a corner to cut the Green Raiders’ deficit to one. Orlando scored again in the fourth quarter to make it 4-2, and Lexi Barletta added another goal later in the period to put the game out of reach.
The five-goal effort was Radnor’s second-highest scoring output of the season. For a team that has spent much of the season winning closely contested games, the offensive outburst was a relief.
Radnor’s Lexi Barletta moves the ball in the first half Tuesday. Barletta had a goal to help the Raptors to a 5-2 win. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
“We did a really good job with our hits up the field, our forwards getting up the field and kind of getting there in time to receive the ball and turn it into the goal,” Orlando said. “That really works for us, and that shows we are playing and communicating very well. It was all around, too, by everyone on the field. A lot of tipping and big balls up the field. Everyone did a good job.”
And when the Green Raiders were on their heels, at the start of the final quarter, the Raptors knew they needed a strong finish. First-year Radnor coach Maddie Lewis challenged her group to play with aggression.
“She wanted us to use the width and the stretch, with the forwards just moving away from the midfielders and giving us space up field,” Orlando said. “Giving the midfielders space to dribble and having the forwards up, was really beneficial to us. Coach was just saying, use the space, which is something she has been saying to use for a while but I think we did a good job of implementing it today.”
The win came four days after a 2-0 nonleague loss to Avon Grove and followed a recent shutout defeat at the hands Central League rival Garnet Valley. Radnor has also beaten Springfield and Strath Haven in a pair of low-scoring league games.
Radnor owns a 7-5 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the Central League, good for second place behind Conestoga, which is 12-1 overall and unbeaten in league play. Radnor gets a chance to see where it stands Thursday when it hosts Conestoga.
“We had a lot of chip-in goals today, which was great. It’s important that we put that into our game with Conestoga. For us I think that might be the best way to score goals,” Orlando said.
The Raptors are sitting in seventh place in the District 1 Class 2A rankings, comfortably inside the top 16 that qualify for the postseason. A year after going 4-12-1 and missing the playoffs, Radnor has put itself in position to get back in the tournament.
Orlando was a freshman the last time Radnor had a winning season under late coach Gretta Ehret, who died in June 2025 following a years-long battle with cancer. Ehret’s final season on the Radnor sideline was 2024, but her presence remains a defining part of the program. Radnor honors Ehret before every game, breaking its huddle with one of her favorite sayings: “Dream crazy.”
This Friday Radnor hosts Great Valley for the “Dream Crazy Game” in support of the Gretta Ehret Dream Crazy Foundation, which raises money for metastatic breast cancer research.
Ehret was a standout at Penn Charter, where she became the school’s all-time leading scorer, before playing at Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania. A longtime teacher, she coached at Merion Mercy and Penn Charter before making Radnor her final stop.
Ehret’s lasting legacy is about more than a phrase.
“When I played for her, she was always really big on effort. It wasn’t always about the wins or the losses, it was about the work you put in,” Orlando said. “We’re a small team and we’re kind of the underdogs a lot of the time, so effort is the biggest part of our game. And what I learned from her is to always give the effort. We always do so many things with her (in mind). Right before every game, in the huddle, we say ‘One, two three… dream crazy.’ That was her big motto.”
Monday’s victory gave Radnor another reason to dream a little bigger.
Ridley’s Sydney Senkow, left, moves the ball as Radnor’s Addie Moak defends in the first half Tuesday. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
Radnor got a strong effort from Maryn Halpin, who earned the “Raptors Wings” player-of-the-game honors. Goalie Stella Rowbotham made three saves, while Addie Moak also scored for the Raptors.
Jul Parker scored for Ridley, and goalie Moya Koya finished with five saves.
In other Central League results Monday:
Strath Haven 4, Marple Newtown 1: Jane Allsman recorded a hat trick, all on corners, and Haley Cline scored on a penalty stroke for the Panthers.
Springfield 4, Penncrest 0: Kelsey Bowen and Reese Becker both record a goal and an assist to lead the Cougars over the Lions. Reese Tracy and Mia Wainwright each scored a goal, while Eva Lemieux was excellent in the midfield. Goalies Riley McGowan and Cecilia Wagner combined for the shutout.
In the Inter-Ac League:
Agnes Irwin 2, Episcopal Academy 0: Gabby Lee and Lucy Jones each scored to help the Owls (11-0, 5-0) stay undefeated. Lily Hark turned stopped both shots she faced in the cage.