Faith Brown wasted not a second in reaching the milestone, scoring a minute into their Sept. 19 match. The senior went zooming up the field during a fast break, received a cross and easily finished.
She did that twice more in the first half, including burying a feed from teammate Nehla Sauthoff three minutes before intermission.
That was the 100th goal of what has been a sterling career, Brown becoming the first Pleasantville soccer player to eclipse that mark.
The forward entered needing three goals for the benchmark and she got it before halftime, putting on a show for a rapt audience at Pace University during the Panthers’ annual Break The Hold fundraiser event.
“Not really; it just kind of happened that way,” Brown said when asked if there was
an impetus to make her mark during a special occasion. “Being the first person to accomplish anything is special, it’s not possible without the kind of teammates and the structure I’ve had here. It’s really a team achievement.”
Of course, that sounded like the right thing to say — like a crafted and practiced response with a deliberate expression of humility and an attempt to shift the spotlight.
Except it was genuine. And factual.
Because the Panthers do operate like a complex piece of machinery, with each part serving a purpose in support of another, contributing to a consistent function.
Pleasantville won its first 10 games this fall and is in pursuit of another flawless regular season, something it has done the previous two years, and this team certainly looks capable of winning its first Section 1 championship since 2019.
With a prolific offense complemented by a superb defense, steady midfield play and break-neck pacing, they’ve dominated with 5.1 goals as their average margin of victory.
“It’s a great team with a lot of great people, and I think those things go together,” defender Alex Bowins said. “We’re unselfish and play for each other, and we’re supportive of each other. When you have a situation like that, everyone wants to give their all, and we all share in the success.”
As teammates lauded Brown for her accomplishment that night, she grinned while looking over at Samantha Schultz.
“Any record I set,” she quipped, “it’s not gonna be around long because she’s amazing. And I’m gonna be proud to see her do it.”
That was genuine, too. And factual.
Schultz had a hat trick in a 4-0 win over Hen Hud a week later, the sophomore notching her 100th goal in the process.
“It’s definitely special, getting to share this with her, and I’ve been lucky to have someone like that as a friend and teammate,” Schultz said of Brown. The two are also dynamic tandem in lacrosse and led Pleasantville to its first state semifinal in June. “I’m kind of sad that it’s our last soccer season together.”
A ‘signature moment,’ but…
But it could be a memorable one. A shift back to Class B this year furthered the possibility of the Panthers making a deep postseason run. They were excellent last fall, winning every game en route to the Class A section final, but ran into a Rye buzzsaw that was putting the finishing touches on its undefeated season.
But this classification is better suited to Pleasantville’s school size, coach Tony Portera said, and it doesn’t have a nationally-ranked juggernaut looming in the bracket like a video game stage boss.
As well, the Panthers earned a tone-setting and perception-altering victory earlier this season, pulling a 2-1 upset of Albertus Magnus on Sept. 15. The Falcons have won three of the last four large-school state titles and have several current and future Division I college commits on the roster. Pleasantville became the first Section 1 team, besides Rye, to beat them since 2019.
“It was in the back of our heads, and we wanted to win so bad,” Brown said of the statement that win made. “People might underestimate what our team is capable of, but we proved to ourselves that we can be great. That was a really important step for us.”
Portera sought to up the difficulty in the regular season, valuing the team being battletested more than carrying a pristine record into the playoffs. Now, actually, they’ve got a chance at both. That win, and an upcoming matchup non-league matchup with Rye, add an extra layer of legitimacy to what has been an impressive run.
“It definitely helps us to play these schools that are projected to win it all,” Bowins said. “We see how good they are and we know how they’re regarded in the rankings. It’s a benefit just to compete at that level, because it makes you better. And being able to hold our own as a small school and a lesser-known team, that was huge for our confidence.”
Portera acknowledged that beating Albertus Magnus was a “signature” moment for his team but said it’s imperative they not dwell on one figure within a big picture.
“It’s something to be proud of because that’s an exceptional team, but it’s just part of our development,” said the coach, whose daughter Allison led Pleasantville to a state championship in 2019. “We have greater aspirations, so we have to look at all these games through the same lens: ‘What can we learn? What can we do better?’ We’re making progress, but we’re not yet where we want to be.”
The inner workings
Seldom do the Panthers trail in a match, but they operate on each possession as if pressed for time – like they’re down a goal in the waning minutes. One might doubletake while watching footage of them in transition, thinking the video was set to 1.5x speed.
They move with urgency, sprinting up field, and there is little hesitation in attacking the goal. There is relentless pressure on opposing defenses in the box with the frequency of cuts, movement to create angles and spacing, and the anticipatory passes.
“We’re not just soccer players; we’re athletes with good speed,” said Schultz, who led the section with 19 goals and 14 assists through 10 games. “We’re also team players, so we read each other’s minds sometimes and know where ‘this’ person is gonna be and how ‘that’ person is gonna play it. It’s special to be part of it.”
The gaudy offensive numbers sometimes overshadows their defense, but that unit can’t be sold short. Bowins leads the back line alongside Kate Moscato, Emma Perry and Gemma Vecchiarello that has allowed only four goals thus far, and goalkeeper Willa King has recorded six shutouts.
“It’s our chemistry,” Bowins said of their stifling defense. “We work well together, especially the back line through the midfield and ‘MK’ (Mary Kate Winn) does a great job. The connections we have, on and off the field, are definitely a factor for us.”
Winn, a star center midfielder, plays the “6” and is often relied on to drop back and assist the defense and lead the initial push in transition. But, even with those duties, she has five goals. Sauthoff and Mae Albaum have also emerged as playmakers and capable finishers.
“When they’re in possession, they’re ready to go aggressively,” Portera said. “When they’re not in possession, they’ll play defense with all their heart. It’s like a controlled chaos.”
And it helps, of course, having the program’s two all-time leading scorers up top, both of whom demand defensive attention.
“We’re in a good position right now, but we still have a lot of our season left and some big challenges ahead,” said Brown, whose 19 goals are tied with Schultz for the Section 1 lead. “No matter what the scores are in our games, or how impressive it might look, we know there’s a lot we have to work on. We don’t just want to be a good team. We want to be a champion.”
Stephen Haynes covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Brown, Schultz hit milestones as Pleasantville has title within reach
