The matchup felt inevitable. As soon as CB South advanced on Tuesday, November 11th, everyone at CB East knew a fourth meeting between the rivals would decide the biggest prize in Pennsylvania girls’ soccer. After two straight losses to the Titans and three one-goal battles earlier in the season, the Patriots came into the Friday, November 14th, state final determined to not let history repeat itself.
At Northeastern High School, they didn’t just flip the script- they shredded it. CB East defeated CB South 7-0, earning the program’s first state championship and tying the record for the largest margin of victory in a PIAA girls’ soccer final, shared with Radnor in 1999 and Downingtown in 2001.
East set the tone almost immediately. A little more than a minute into the game, the Patriots earned a foul about 45 yards out. Junior Kiera Sleicher stepped up and launched a high bending shot that dipped just under the crossbar to give East a 1-0 lead. It was the exact spark the team needed, especially after spending days preparing to face a team that had beaten them twice in a row.
South tried to respond quickly. Just two minutes later, a dangerous corner from the Titans forced East senior goalkeeper Aralynn Patterson to make one of the biggest plays of the game. She absorbed a hard shot from close range during a chaotic scramble and kept the ball out of the net. If that shot had gone in, the entire game could have changed. Instead, the stop gave East even more momentum.
Only moments after Patterson’s save, Sleicher struck again. Her second goal made it 2-0, putting CB South on their heels early. Sleicher rose to the occasion of the championship match, scoring the first hat trick of her high-school career, and she did it on the state-final stage.
By halftime, East led 4-0. Taylor Roumy played a huge role, scoring twice- once on a breakaway created by her own defensive pressure and once after running onto a lofted ball over the back line. Even as the goals piled up, East refused to relax, remembering how quickly momentum can swing in rivalry games.
CB South had shown the ability to come back in recent playoff games, but East shut down that idea almost immediately. Six minutes into the second half, junior midfielder Mia Forney dribbled in from the left side and fired a shot inside the far post for a 5-0 lead. Three minutes later, Sleicher finished from a tight angle to secure her hat trick. Less than a minute later, sophomore Quinn Reilley buried a through ball from Forney to make it 7-0.
Strong midfield performances from Ella Roumy, Mackenzie Peters, and Ava Mignon helped East’s attack and their constant pressure made the Titans force mistakes.
With the attack rolling, East’s defense stayed sharp. Patterson made eight total saves, including another highlight diving stop on a long-range rocket from South senior Riley Karpinski. Behind her, defenders Skylar Lipp, Paige Dougherty, Addie Langolis, and Cece Hayes played some of their best soccer of the season. None of them had started together as a backline before this year, but they ended the season with three state-tournament shutouts.
The dominant score doesn’t show how difficult this season actually was for East. The Patriots started the year with five new starters, dealt with injuries to major players like Sleicher and Ava Mignon, and lost senior Magee Williamson early to a season-ending injury. When the postseason started and Sleicher and Mignon returned from injury, junior Mattie Williams was an eligible player after transferring from Lansdale Catholic over the summer. Even once the team got healthy, they were forced into the playback bracket after losing to South 1-0 in districts. From that moment on, every game was a win or go home. “It’s a huge mental game coming into this game coming off a loss like that with them sending us to playbacks,” senior defender Skylar Lipp said. “When we clawed our way back from playbacks, it’s one of the best things as a senior to see the team buckle down like that and I’m just so proud of everybody’s efforts to get us all the way back from playbacks to a state final.”
So, instead of folding, the Patriots grew. Players stepped into new roles, the lineup settled in, and momentum built at exactly the right time. Patterson, who missed last year’s postseason injured, returned this year and played all four state playoff games- three at shutouts. The team’s confidence and chemistry peaked just when it mattered most.
The 7-0 win marked not only East’s first state championship, but also one of the most dominant performances ever seen in a PIAA final. The Patriots out-worked, out-scored, and out-defended a CB South team that had beaten them twice earlier this fall and was playing in its first state final since 2016.
For the seniors- Magee Williamson, Rania Kaba, Aralynn Patterson, Brooklyn Planck, Paige Dougherty, and Skylar Lipp; it was the perfect ending. For the juniors and underclassmen, it felt like the foundation of something even bigger. And for the entire CB East community, it was a historic moment- one that will be remembered for years.
The Patriots didn’t just win a state championship. They made school history.
Quinn • Dec 2, 2025 at 11:42 am
YES SIR TOOK THE WWWW!!!!!!!