Fairfield girls' soccer clinches Division III title

Fairfield girls' soccer coach Phomma Phanhthy joined the Green Knights coaching staff in 2013 as an assistant. He knew the Knights were coming off of a YAIAA Division III title, and he knew they had suffered an early exit in the league tournament.

Phanhthy has been at the helm for two seasons now, and on Wednesday night he led the Knights (14-0, 11-0) to their first Division III title since 2012 with a 6-0 win against Delone Catholic.

Despite watching York Catholic claim the division for the last three seasons and waiting for this moment since his time at Fairfield began, Phanhthy won't let the title overshadow his team's biggest goals.

"I've been preaching to the girls, 'one game at a time,' and it’s another win and the division [win] is a plus for us," Phanhthy said after the game. "They're not really like jumping up and down celebrating because they know we’re not done yet."

One more regular-season matchup against division rival York Catholic stands between Fairfield and the YAIAA tournament, which begins Saturday. It will be a late-season test for the Knights, who showcased their scoring ability against the Squirettes (9-4-1, 7-4).

Freshman Annabel Anderson got the offense going quickly, scoring in the first two minutes of the game. After that early strike, the Knights offense, which averaged 10 goals a game in its previous four contests, were shut down by the Delone defense. 

With 13:47 remaining in the first half, senior midfielder Sarah Heinbaugh broke through and found the back of the net to give Fairfield a 2-0 lead. Four minutes later, Anderson tapped in a short-range goal to make it 3-0, where the score would stay as time expired.

"It feels really good being part of this team," Anderson said. "I couldn’t obviously do it without my midfielders, Sarah and Hannah [Logue]. They’ve been a very important part of my career." 

Those two mifielders were also a very important part of this game. Heinbaugh would score two more goals in a span of 70 seconds in the second half to pick up the hat trick and make it 5-0 Fairfield. Later in the half, Logue netted her first goal of the game to seal the 6-0 victory.

"I think we’re just well balanced, it’s a great mix of upperclassmen and the younger ladies," said Phanhthy about his team's success. "They’re a tight group of kids so they're going to play together, and that’s what I like."