DV Girls Soccer: A season of pride and history

By Josh Lashley
MILFORD — The Delaware Valley High School girls soccer program may not have won the majority of its games during the recently concluded season. But they sure as heck won some important, championship-level contests on the pitch this fall.
The Warriors were more than willing to embrace all the challenges on their schedule. And because of that positive mental outlook, they made history this year.
Delaware Valley finished just a few notches below the 0.500 mark this season at 8-12-1. And they competed with a sense of pride every time they stepped onto the field.
“We defeated Hazelton, 2-0, to win the AAAA District 2 championship,” said head coach Jeff Rainear. “It was the first District championship in girl’s soccer in school history.”
Several components go into winning a District crown, including solid coaching, a strong work ethic by the student-athletes on the roster, and, most importantly, competent leadership. The Warriors possessed all of those attributes, notably proper guidance from the veteran players on the team.
“Stefanie O’Grady, a senior, was the anchor of our defense in goal,” Rainear said. “She had nine shutouts on season: First Team All-League selection by coaches of Lackawanna League Division 1 and 2. Reilly Henry, a junior, led team in scoring with 10 goals: First Team All-League selection. Taylor Randazzo, a senior, led by example and strong work ethic. And Lexi Sickler, a sophomore, was our strongest midfielder, winner of Warrior Award.”
Rainear mentioned some of the athletes who continually strived for improvement this season.
“Faith Fucetola, a junior, improved every game and given more offensive responsibility as year went on,” he said. “Brittany Brockmann, a sophomore, became one of our strongest outside defender despite being new to the position. The entire team showed progress and never gave up despite injury and adversity.”
The achievements this year won’t be forgotten as the head coach looks forward to 2017.
“We are returning nine starters and only losing two seniors,” Rainear said. “Many others received quality varsity playing time when filling in for injured starters or substituting in quality matches. We have a strong incoming freshmen class.
“I’d like to give credit to my varsity assistant Brian Sweeney for his hard work and dedication as well as my JV coaches, Marissa Kauffman and Paulina Waleck."