A change in strategy paid off with a championship for the Potomac School Panthers.
The girls high-school soccer team made a switch to become more defense-oriented for the Independent School League’s AA Division tourney. The approach helped the No. 2 seed win the title for the second straight time.
The Panthers (11-2-4) were 3-0 in the competition, outscoring opponents 6-1 with two shutouts, including a 1-0 victory over No. 5 seed Holton-Arms in the Nov. 3 title match at Episcopal High School in Alexandria.
“We wanted to clog up the defense and lock it down back there. Then we would counter by letting our talented attackers on offense attack,” said Potomac School coach Ross McEwen, in his 17th year leading the team. “We felt confident with our lineup that would work.”
Potomac School goalie Amory Imperatore had to make a few saves against Holton, but otherwise the defense, led by Abby Collis (bound for Williams College to play) kept the ball away from the Panthers’ keeper.
Potomac School scored its goal with 30 minutes left in the second half when senior forward Reagan Exley rocketed a crossing shot into the far left corner of the goal.
“I got a good ball from Abby [Collis] and I was able to get under the ball and get off a good shot,” said Exley, who will play in college at Yale University. “We were really focused on locking it down on defense.”
The Panthers entered the tournament having shared the regular-season ISL title with top seed Georgetown Visitation, which lost in the tourney semifinals to Holton.
The Panthers routed No. 7 seed Georgetown Day, 4-1, in the first round, then blanked No. 4 seed Maret, 1-0, in the semifinals on a goal by Megan Rowe off assists from Charlotte Shebby and 
Chloe Lee.
The Panthers adjusted their lineup a bit in the semifinal because starting striker Alden Marin, a top scorer, missed the game because of illness.
Against Georgetown Day, Lee scored two goals and Marin and Exley one each.
Exley had 11 goals and seven assists for the season after the ISL tourney. Lee had 16 goals and four assists and Marin had 11 goals and five assists. Ally Griswold also has scored several.
Brooke Parry, Charlotte Parry, Margit Crittenberger, Grayson Crittenberger, Selma Elrefai and Maya Swanston were other players for Potomac School that saw action in the ISL final.
Potomac School entered the ISL tourney playing well, although a 3-0 loss to Sidwell Friends in their final regular-season match snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak and prevented the team from winning the outright regular-season crown. McEwen said the team was tired for that match, having played and defeated Stone Ridge, 6-4, in a grueling match the day before.
The Sidwell match was rescheduled and restarted with no score from earlier in the season because of weather issues. The contest needed to be played prior to the tournament for seeding reasons. Potomac School was leading 2-0 in that initial Sept. 8 match.
NOTE: Overall, Potomac School has won six ISL tournament titles in program history, including the recent 2022 and 2018 crowns.
