(Moriah sports) In a rematch of last year’s championship game, the Moriah Mountaineers soccer team defeated Solomon Schechter Day School 7-3 to seal the title. The Moriah team was dominant all year having achieved a regular season record of 7-1 with wide margins of victory throughout. The sole loss, an opening game defeat to RPRY, was avenged in the semifinals by 5-2.

The TABC gym was packed and tense for the hotly anticipated Thursday night championship. The pre-game ceremony started with renditions of the national anthem and “Hatikvah” followed by introductions of the teams’ rosters.

Moriah got off to an early lead in the game and never looked back. Less than two minutes after kickoff, Mia Form delivered a beautiful pass to Mia Berger which she placed in the back of the net. Shortly thereafter, Mia Form scored on a rebound off a hard Mia Berger shot to expand the lead to 2-0.

The lead increased, and the momentum of the game seemed to change permanently, on Julia Sussman’s second quarter critical goal where she, unlike others who paused expecting a referee whistle, kept playing. The starting defense, Aela Bleier and Kayla Shiff, including valuable support from Bea Dauber, were in lockdown mode just as they were all season to cement the victory.  The day before the finals, Moriah’s starting goalie, Tali Siegler, developed an injury.  Sophia Schwalbe, starting in her place, was a natural in the position and was instrumental in assuring the victory.

Moriah’s coach for most of the season was Rav Adiel, until he was called to serve in the IDF.  In his absence, Gabriel Shiff served as coach of the team over the last month. Rav Adiel would frequently send the team and its parents words of inspiration during his service and even live-streamed the championship in the middle of the night from Gaza. Said Coach Shiff, “Rav Adiel’s video support was incredible for me and the entire team. I could not be prouder of how this team performed all year and their determination and perseverance throughout their championship run.”

The Moriah team will be returning four of 5 starters from the title game and are looking forward to a repeat in 2025.

The players on Moriah’s championship team included: Mia Berger, Aela Bleier, Sophie Cutler, Bea Dauber, Mia Form, Laila Grauberd, Riley Nahari, Sophia Schwalbe, Kayla Shiff, Tali Siegler, Julia Sussman and Eliya Teperberg.