LOWER MERION — Gwen Parker carried a heavy limp as the Garnet Valley huddle dispersed. Augmenting the bag of ice on her leg was a game ball slung under her left arm and a beaming smile that a little pain wasn’t going to repress.
The junior had paid a physical price for the dirty work she did in midfield Thursday afternoon, ending her day about five minutes before full time. It didn’t stop her from leaping off the bench in celebration with her teammates, though, after the final whistle of a win she had helped backstop.
Parker was outstanding in midfield, helping ninth-seeded Garnet Valley blank No. 8 Lower Merion, 1-0, in a District 1 Class 4A second-round matinee. The effort by Parker allowed Jade Delcollo’s goal in the 62nd to stand as the winner.
“I have never had a greater experience in my entire life,” Parker rhapsodized. “Those girls are everything to me.”
That connection has the Jaguars (13-4-3) alive in the final eight of the tournament with a chance at one of the district’s five states berths next week.
The midfield triangle of Parker, Raelyn Smith and Grace Jensen were outstanding for the Jags. Lower Merion’s midfield is full of playmakers, and their forwards are more dangerous when they get an unchecked head of steam into the final third.
Parker and Smith in particular excelled at cutting out dangerous balls. With Smith defending on the front foot as an advanced destroyer and the first line to connect passes, and Smith as the back four’s shield, they minimized the threat of a Lower Merion side that had been shut out just three times.
“She’s incredibly talented,” Parker said of Smith, who had two assists against Marple Newtown on Tuesday. “She does her job super, super well. It makes my job so much easier. She knows I’m on her back. We have had plenty of plays where our chemistry is just crazy.”
“They’re awesome,” Delcollo said of the midfield. “They’re always winning 50-50 balls. They always go for the ball, and they’re like a wall. They’re a wall. They’re our best defenders, and we really needed them to have that game.”
Among Lower Merion’s offensive exploits was a 2-0 win over Garnet Valley on Sept. 15, though the Jaguars feel that was a much different team.
“We’ve just connected as a team every single day,” Parker said. “We’re together. Every single practice we just feel so much closer together. Everyone’s improving together. Everyone’s stepping up, and we just rise to the occasion, every single girl on that team.”
Lower Merion (13-4-3) had the better of play in the first half. With Ryan Cromer driving the midfield and Harper Gust cutting in from the wing, they tilted the field for long stretches. But Danica Fean made the saves she needed — four overall, with three in the first half — to keep Garnet level.
Garnet Valley deserved their goal. They nearly had one on the stroke of halftime when Sara Hadzic clipped a shot from 20 yards just high of the bar. Smith had a pair of attempts in the first 10 minutes of the second half and forced the first save by Lower Merion goalie Shannon Heft in the 60th.
Two minutes later, Garnet Valley broke through via the Hadzic-Delcollo connection. A throw-in down the right sideline turned into a run to the byline for Hadzic. She and Delcollo eyed the same pocket of space near the penalty spot, and Delcollo’s run met Hadzic’s service for a side-footed shot into the twine.
“I noticed a gap, and I knew that Sara always has a good cross cutting back,” Delcollo said. “I just knew she’s going to cross, and I went for it.”
Fean’s best saves were in the first half. She got a little lucky in the 21st when she dove to deny a Gust shot and parried it just wide of the post, though it was close for comfort. Fean saved a header by Ellie Wu off a corner in the 27th, then kept out a follow by Eloise Gerson despite being fouled.
Garnet Valley had better chances to make it 2-0 than Lower Merion did to tie. Hadzic glanced a cross off the post in the 78th, Delcollo was cleared off the line and Smith followed with a shot high.
Otherwise, the Garnet Valley defense kept LM to less dangerous areas. Delaney Riggs and Dylan Strulson manned central defense, while Reese DeVuono and Olivia Sundo patrolled outside, funneling action toward the middle.
That’s where Parker feasted, getting stuck in to break up play after play. For the junior, getting her first significant varsity experience after an ACL injury last year, every game means so much.
“We were ready,” she said. “You start doubting yourself, but you go on that bus with your team and everyone is just singing at the top of their lungs. We’re all just ready. You just can’t be scared anymore because you just know all these girls are about to put everything on the line, and it doesn’t matter what happens because we’re just all in it.”