Archmere Academy wins back-and-forth thriller over Wilmington Friends

State playoff-bound rivals Archmere Academy and Wilmington Friends combined for nine goals in a thrilling game Monday in the last week of the regular season in Delaware girls high school soccer.

Achmere, the 2023 Division II state champions, won in the end 5-4 but the game served as preparation for the state playoffs between a pair of teams that entered play with winning records. The game was all Archmere in the first half as the visitors took a 3-0 lead through goals from Alison Perpiglia, Marina Mahon and Lyla Bell in the first 20 minutes of the match.

Wilmington Friends started their comeback in the 27th minute with the first of two goals from Sofia Dattani, who made it 3-2 ten minutes into the second half. With momentum shifting in their favor, Wilmington Friends found an equalizer through eighth grader Kate Weigand set up by her sister Ryan Weigand. The Auks wasted little time with the game level at 3-3 before grabbing the lead again a minute later with Mahon’s second of the day. But that lead wasn’t safe either as Wilmington Friends were awarded a penalty that Dattani cleanly put past the keeper’s left to tie the game at 4-4.

Three frenetic minutes followed Wilmington’s second equalizer of the day as defender Sara Clothier was called for intentionally handling the ball in the box – a red card offense and penalty. Goalkeeper Lorelei Corchran made the initial stop on Bell’s penalty kick but Lila Matthews was able to bury the eventual game-winner off the rebound.

Even down a player, the Quakers battled the Auks with chances going back and forth until the final whistle but in the end lost for just the third time of the season and the second time at home.

Scoring Summary:
First Half – AA Alison Perpigilia (Maron Mahon) 12:00. AA Mahon (Lyla Bell) 14:00. AA Bell (Hannah Stewart) 19:00. WFS Sofia Dattani (ua) 26:00.

Second Half – WFS Dattani (Weigand, Kate) 50:00. WFS Weigand, K (Weigand, Ryan) 60:00. Mahon (Bell) 61:00. WFS Dattani (PK) 62:00. AA Lila Matthews (ua) 65:00.