Skylanders women’s soccer team wins district championship

The Sussex County Community College women’s soccer team bounced back from a disappointing 2024 campaign to win the second National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) East District Division II title in program history.

“It sounds cliché, but this season was a total team effort,” head coach Mike Rath said. “Everyone was pulling in the same direction, and we stepped up when we needed to.”

Rath took over the team after a rough 2024 for the Skylanders.

“Last year the team was not very competitive and the record showed that,” he said. “The goal coming into this season was to see if we could compete at the region level. We raised the standards, brought in some new players who blended well with the existing core and got off to a 9-0 start.”

One of those new players was sophomore forward Sage Henry, a transfer from Lesley University.

“The energy was a little low when I first arrived,” said Henry, a native of Milford, Pa. “We started to hype each other up and that’s what got us going. As the season went on we began to realize we had a chance to make history at Sussex.”

A season defining moment came on Nov. 1 in the NJCAA Region XIX Division II championship game against rival Mercer Community College. Having split the season series with the Mustangs in a pair of one goal games, the two teams met again with a title on the line.

A hard-fought battle, the Skylanders found their season on a knife’s edge in double overtime with their season on the line. That is when freshman midfielder Abby Marra headed home a free kick into the box from Henry.

“I cried I was so happy,” said Henry, who battled a knee injury throughout the season. “My dream as a college athlete has always been to go to nationals and win titles. The Mercer game was probably the most highly anticipated and exciting game. They are a good, physical team and being in double overtime is always scary.”

A week later the Skylanders defeated Anne Arundel Community College 2-1 on a Henry game-winning goal in the 86th minute to win the East District championship and punch a ticket to Wichita, Kan. for nationals.

Though they couldn’t break through against Heartland Community College and Pima Community College as a 10 seed at nationals, the season was one to remember.

“Some of our weaknesses got exposed in the nationals, but that’s what happens at that level of competition,” Rath said. “These girls gave us everything they had. Left winger Isabella Peluso got injured in October but we had a strong defense. The spine of our team with Kelsey Birchenough and Abby Marra and Luana Da Rocha on the left and Dea Garcia playing in our center back kept us in a lot of games. Sage came on later in the season with the mentality to drive us when Isabella got injured.”