Young Cherokee Girls Soccer Team Better Than Their Record Suggests

by Marc Narducci | Oct 14, 2026

At the beginning of the week, nine of the top 10 South Jersey Group 4 girls’ soccer teams in power points, had .500 or better records. The one team with a sub .500 mark was Cherokee, which began the week at 5-7.

Yet the Chiefs appear very much a contender in what should be another talented South Jersey Group 4 field.

This is a young Cherokee team, but there are still are some players who were on last year’s South Jersey Group 4 championship squad that advanced to the state Group 4 final before losing 2-1to Livingston.

Besides having several young players, Cherokee has played one of the toughest schedules in South Jersey, which is why one has to look beyond the record.

Not only has Cherokee played difficult competition, but the Chiefs have been competitive against some of the top teams in South Jersey, not to mention state-wide.

In a span of two games last week, Cherokee had to play the top two teams in South Jersey, Paul VI and then Shawnee.

Paul VI, the two-time defending state Non-Pubic A champion, has another strong team. The Eagles entered the week with just one loss, to none other than Shawnee.

While Paul VI controlled the play for much of the game, Cherokee was in it until the end, losing 3-2. Besides getting single goals from sophomore Sydney Freedman and freshman Maddie Conklin and two assists from senior Mia Donovan, Cherokee also hit the cross bar in another great scoring opportunity.

“We are a young and feisty team,” Cherokee coach Megan Boland said. “That was a good game for our players to show that they can hang with anyone really.”

The next game was a 2-0 loss to a Shawnee team that began the week 12-0 and has handed Paul VI its only loss of the season.

Cherokee also owns wins against South Jersey Top 10 teams Eastern and Cinnaminson. Eastern began the week No. 4 in South Jersey Group 4 power points, while Cinnaminson was No. 1 in Central Jersey Group 2 power points. Incidentally, the 2-1 win over Cinnaminson was the 100^th of Boland’s career.

Cherokee began the season with three consecutive losses, 1-0 to Allentown, 4-3 to a South Jersey Top 15 team Kingsway and 2-0 to Bishop Eustace.

“We started out a little slow and the first three games were rough,” Boland said. “We made a couple of changes, put people in different places and it’s gotten a lot better.”

As young as the team is, it has been helpful to have a veteran like the senior Donovan, a big part of last year’s sectional championship team with nine goals and 12 assists.

“We rely a lot on Mia Donovan,” Boland said of her senior who began the week with four goals and four assists.

The Chiefs will compete in a Group 4 field where several teams are potential contenders, including Cherokee, which despite losing so many key players to graduation, is not in a rebuilding mode.

No. 9 Mia Donovan of Cherokee against Paul VI

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Author: Marc Narducci

Young Cherokee Girls Soccer Team Better Than Their Record Suggests

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