It was a beautiful afternoon for a field hockey game at Falcon Field Stadium. This was the third game in a row for Pennsbury, yet they came out energized from the excitement of their opening day on the new turf 24 hours earlier. The Falcons took charge and put a lot of early pressure on the visiting North team, but it was Rock who notched the first goal halfway through the first quarter. "We got caught ball watching and they snuck it by our goalie. Those situations will definitely be part of our practice plan tomorrow," said Coach Curtis. All we can do is recognize the moment and work to be better next time. Council Rock made it 2-0 four minutes later with a scramble in front of the cage. "CR did a better job of getting their sticks in there and changing the direction of the ball inside the circle. Those first two goals were just heads up, sticks down touches that allowed them to finish." "This was one of those frustrating games where the girls played extremely well, dominated for a large percentage, had great passing connections, but the perfect storm of not being able to finish in the circle and a few missed marks resulted in the loss, Curtis explained. The second quarter was a tight, scoreless battle and North's 2-0 lead carried into halftime. "We were so proud of our girls for not letting down or giving up because of the score. They fought hard the entire way and were really creating great opportunities using the width of the field. It paid off at the very end of the third quarter when we finally connected and made it a 2-1 game." Senior, Mia Popovich, gained control of the ball in the circle and tapped it to Freshman, Abby Iacona, who used a reverse stick pass to dump it toward goal and connected with Junior, Angelina Kenney. Kenney tapped it right by the goalie and got us on the board. "Mia Popovich and Abby Iacona are a dynamic duo who really set everyone up for success. It's fun to watch them play and use strong, smart skills throughout the game." Council Rock did not let down either and added a third goal to their book halfway through the fourth quarter. Despite out shooting, having more corners, and out possessing North, Pennsbury fell 3-1 in the end. "North was able to capitalize early and that made it tough for us. Jules is doing an amazing job with that program and although we walked away with a loss, we are all still sharing a common vision and it is great to see them grow right alongside us each year," said Curtis. "It's great to have tough, close, competitive games like that." I know a handful of the girls on her team and they are great kids who I love to watch play. We will meet again the last game of the regular season and it will be another spirited battle for sure." Shout out to the following players for their performance today - Ryan Burdette, Avalee Shumski, Riley Henderson, and Rylie Borgman. Pennsbury is set to host North Penn on Monday.