Year of the midfielder

Soccer season dominated by midfielders

It was the year of the midfielder for local high school soccer teams.

Both teams that played in the PIAA 4A girls soccer title match — Pennridge and Souderton — built their entire plans around dominant midfield play. It’s staggeringly easy to pick any team, boys or girls, that made the postseason and find a strong midfield as the backbone of that run.

From goals and assists, to tackles, possession and passing, it was a good fall to take in some excellent midfield play.

Start with the newly-minted state champion Indians of Souderton. Their staunch defense has been well-chronicled, as was their early season struggles in the offensive third of the pitch. What kept the Indians moving and what eventually triggered their surge through the district and state brackets was their midfield.

One of the things that sets soccer apart is the multitude of formational styles that teams can employ with great effect. It’s become a trend for teams at all levels to employ a midfield trio, whether flanked by traditional outside midfielders or playing behind a front line of three players and it was no different this fall locally.

Souderton thrived when its midfield trio of seniors Campbell Power and Sara Readinger and junior Sarah Toche-Manley hit their stride. Power and Read

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DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Conestoga’s Reese Henderson (19) tries to contain Souderton’s Campbell Power during the district playoffs.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Souderton’s Sara Readinger fires a shot as Jane Bailey of Conestoga defends.