When the pain of losing a state title game fades away and the tears have dried, the seniors on Cumberland Valley’s girls soccer team will eventually realize how remarkable their career achievements have truly been.
The Eagles’ seniors — Savannah Hall, Dani Shambaugh, Emily Mitchell, Kaylie Cutlip, Tara Shipe, Brianna Gleason and Lizzy Bellido — were part of a class that made it to the state championship every single year.
They won a couple of titles and also lost a couple as well and as much pain as the Eagles may feel now, the truth is what they’ve accomplished is quite a rarity.
“The last four years have been nothing short of amazing,” Cumberland Valley coach Seth Lehman said. “Being to four out of four state championships — that shouldn’t happen. Players shouldn’t be lucky enough to do that, but to their credit, they worked for it and they deserved it.”
Each senior was valuable to the Eagles in their own way, and the holes left by their graduation this spring won’t make things any easier for the rest of the team. But this group helped establish certain expectations for the Cumberland Valley program: qualifying for and winning state titles. Those expectations won’t disappear when these seniors eventually depart.
“We definitely have a lot of players coming back,” Lehman said. “I held out the silver medal and said, ‘Here’s our motivation for next year.’ I fully expect us to be in the state title game next year, but I expect us to be on the other side.
“It’s going to be a goal for us, and that starts tomorrow. ... These underclassmen are chomping at the bit.”
The Eagles didn’t reach their goal this year. Peters Twp. was just too good in the title game. Losing on the state’s biggest stage hurts, there’s no doubt about it, but the beauty of the whole thing is the CV seniors got to have a career that other soccer players could only fantasize about.
“I told them, ‘Do not let tonight’s game deter you from your accomplishments,’” Lehman said. “A lot of girls would die to play in just one state final.
“To play in four is an incredible achievement in itself.”