By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
WEST DEPTFORD — West Deptford girls soccer coach Jen DiLorenzo couldn’t have imagined that her Eagles would put on the performance they did on Wednesday in an always competitive Colonial Conference Liberty Division matchup against Haddon Township.
West Deptford erupted for seven goals, including three in the first seven minutes of the game, as the Eagles cruised to a dominant 7-0 win over the Hawks, and in the process gave DiLorenzo her 100th career coaching victory.
“No (I couldn’t imagine this type of win), especially against someone in the Colonial Conference,” DiLorenzo, who’s in her ninth season as head coach, said. “It’s always such good competition. We play such good games and they’re fun games and everything like that. For the girls to bring it today like this — it was awesome.
“We were playing to win the conference today, too, which was huge, so I think they were ready. And they brought it. We have a lot of talent on this team, so it’s really fun to watch them play.”
It was an eventful day for the Eagles as several milestones were achieved. Not only did DiLorenzo reach the century mark, but senior forward Lexi Varela reached 100 career points. And, most importantly, the Eagles (8-5-1, 7-2-1 Colonial Liberty) clinched the division title.
“I’m really proud of her for reaching 100 wins and for finally winning the Colonial Conference,” Varela, a Kutztown University commit, said of her coach. “She’s doing a really good job. She’s very outgoing and makes sure everyone is safe at practice. If any issues come up, she comes up and makes sure everything’s okay.”
DiLorenzo’s family was in attendance for the landmark win, but she said she didn’t even know she was even near the mark.
“I didn’t know I was approaching 100 wins,” said DiLorenzo, a 2004 West Deptford graduate. “I had no idea. My daughter mentioned something earlier about it and I said ‘I don’t think I’m there’ because I never counted my wins. I didn’t know, so this was amazing.”
West Deptford had six different players score, with Ella Simko notching a pair of goals and Varela, Rylee Delaney, Maddie Eastlack, Madison Laxton and Adaya Tighe all finding the back of the net for the Eagles. In all, 11 Eagles players tallied either a goal or an assist, including goalie Brianna McKeever.
West Deptford, winners of four straight and 8-of-11, is ranked third in the South Jersey Group 2 power point standings. The power point cutoff is Oct. 25, and the Eagles will be hoping to make a sectional title run when the tournament starts on Nov. 5.
“This is a big accomplishment,” West Deptford Athletic Director Adam DiLorenzo said. “She’ll never take all of this. She puts it all back on the other coaches, and she does a good job with knowing that it was the players. She’s got that ‘mama bear’ vibe; she’s not a big yeller or screamer. They won a conference today. That means a lot to her.”
WHAT’S NEXT: West Deptford hosts Camden Catholic on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Haddon Township travels to Cherry Hill East on Friday at 6 p.m.
