CB East earned a spot in Saturday’s District One AAA final against Conestoga. CR North fell in penalty kicks in a district semifinal, and CB South kept its dream alive of earning a state berth. Check our gallery for photos from the CB East/Spring-Ford game. Check back for photos of the CR North/Downingtown West game.
#1 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, #4 SPRING-FORD 0
After watching the boys’ team coast into the district final, the pressure was on the Central Bucks East girls to do the same. The Patriots didn’t disappoint, topping fourth-seeded Spring-Ford in the District One AAA semifinals to advance to Saturday’s district final.
After a back and forth hard fought battle, East took advantage of a late free kick it was awarded and Emma Loving didn’t miss. The Patriots’ leading scorer buried the shot from outside the 18 off the hands of the Rams’ keeper with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation. East held on for a 1-0 win.
East missed some early opportunities and Spring-Ford hung tough throughout the game.
“We left some things on the doorstep early on and those things come back to haunt you. We weren’t able to finish,” Patriots coach Paul Eisold said.
Ultimately, it worked out in the end.
“If you’re going to give her a free kick like that, Emma is going to bury it,” Eisold said.
The defense of the Rams created problems for Loving all night. They forced the senior forward to the sides, not allowing her much room to cut back. Loving still managed to make a few crosses in, but they weren’t finished off. Loving welcomed the opportunity to face quality defenders.
“Laura Suero is on my club team,” Loving said of Spring-Ford’s center back. “She’s a phenomenal player and she’s really good at winning balls in the air and redistributing. They have tons of other defenders back there, too, who are really solid. It creates challenges, but it’s also fun to rise to the challenge because as the season goes on, you’re going to play teams that are better and better, so it’s good to see where your weaknesses are and learn from them.”
After some missed chances on one end for the Patriots, Spring-Ford put together some good possessions to threaten East. The defense and goalkeeping of the Patriots kept the Rams off the board.
“Their pressure on us was terrific. Our backs saw it through. Abby Brown, who played a variety of roles, ended up being our center back today. Emily Horn was terrific and so were Megan Mannato, Katie Bloom, Paige Weiss,” Eisold said of his defense.
Kristen Obetz, who went in goal for the second half, made a pair of nice stops—one at the 52-minute mark and another five minutes later—to help preserve the combined shutout with first half goalie Katie Dolf.
“It’s always tough going up against a team that’s going to put that much pressure on you, but I think the defenders handled it very well,” Obetz said. “As a freshman, it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m very happy with my defenders.”
“Kristen Obetz was terrific as was Katie Dolf in the first half,” Eisold said. “Kristin, as a freshman, is unbelievable. She’s been really good at understanding the game, understanding the moments and she was terrific to close out the game.”
The strong defensive stand for the first part of the second half triggered an offensive onslaught for the East offense. It led to the Patriots being rewarded a free kick that Loving finished off. The clock finally ran out and East booked a trip to Souderton on Saturday at 3 p.m. for the District One AAA final where they will meet Downingtown West.
The Patriots made it this far at districts last year before falling to Pennsbury. They hope this time the result is different.
“Tonight we didn’t have our best performance, but I think everyone can step up as individuals,” Loving said. “Last year [in the district final] we came out a little flat and we almost played scared and Pennsbury had taken the game to us. This year, it’s going to be up to us to really dominate and come out with the fire.”
For Eisold, Saturday’s game plan is simple: “We need to finish the ball.”
(4) Spring-Ford 0-0 0
(1) Central Bucks East 0-1 1
#10 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 0, #14 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0 (3-1 PKS)
Wendell Beres had a simple message for his players after Wednesday’s loss in PKs to the Whippets.
“Smile,” the Indians’ coach said to them.
Although the Indians lost out on a chance to play for the district title, their season is still very much alive. On Saturday, they will face Spring-Ford in a battle for third place, and they will be one of 16 teams in action when the state tournament begins on Tuesday.
“In the six years I’ve been coaching high school, five of them have ended in PKs,” Beres said. “To know that we’re going to live to fight another day – we’ll be fine.
“You don’t want to lose that way (in PKs), but the way we played today to get to that point – I was pretty satisfied because it wasn’t our finest day.”
The Indians spent a good part of Wednesday’s game fighting off the Whippets, but once again their defense and goalie Jeri Belardo (12 saves) were impenetrable.
“That’s the label of this team – we can defend, but we can’t just expect to defend for 110 minutes and think that it’s going to be okay because it’s not,” Beres said. “We didn’t do what we had said we were going to do offensively until the overtime.
“I thought in the 30 minutes of overtime we played really well, but it was too little too late at that point because we didn’t have the legs because we spent too much time defending.”
The Indians escaped some heavy Whippet pressure in the closing minutes of regulation. With 2:39 remaining, a Whippet shot went off the crossbar and over the net, and with just over a minute to play in regulation, Belardo came up with a save. The Whippets drew a corner kick, but time expired before they had a chance to take it.
In the first overtime period, West’s Grace Voss took a shot that hit the crossbar. The Indians mounted some pressure of their own in the second, and Kayla Robinson came within inches of ending it, but her shot was just high. Another Robinson shot came close, but the Indians could not cash in.
“They had a game plan, and they executed it pretty well until the overtime,” Beres said of the Whippets. “That’s when we were able to get free and generate some chances.
“Last week, those chances were enough for us to win because we finished them, but this week it wasn’t the case. Hopefully, by next week, we’ll be able to finish those again.”
In the final minute of the second OT, Belardo came up with a huge save on a shot by Gina Peraino breaking ahead of the defense, setting the stage for penalty kicks.
Downingtown West’s Haley Ferrer connected on the first, and then goalie Morgan O’Loughlin came up with a big stop of Tori Hill’s shot. The two teams exchanged misses, and when Siena Veurink buried her shot, the Whippets led 2-0. Brielle Reich cut that lead in half when her shot found the corner of the net, but Joanna Guay’s successful shot gave the Whippets a 3-1 lead. The win was secured when the next Indian shot ricocheted off the crossbar.
“I’m happy that if we’re going to hit a dry spell it’s today or Saturday because hopefully by Tuesday we’ll figure it out again,” Beres said.
(14) Council Rock North 0-0-0-0 0
(10) Downingtown West 0-0-0-0 0
#24 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, #2 PENNSBURY 1
The dream is still alive for the underdogs.
Central Bucks South, the 24-seed in the District One tournament, kept its goal of states alive, Wednesday night with an upset win over the second-ranked Pennsbury Falcons in the consolation round.
The Titans got on the board first after an own goal off a free kick from South’s Mackenzie Ehresman in the 31st minute. It remained 1-0 through the end of the first half.
Pennsbury’s Meredith Webber tied it up in the 44th minute with an assist by Riley Rudd.
But the resilient Titans didn’t back down. After a comeback win against Downingtown East in the first round and a double overtime win over Pennridge in the second round, South proved its presence in the latter rounds was more than just a fluke.
Defender Krysta Redding scored in the 70th minute to give the Titans the lead and the win.
“It was a seesaw battle for the last ten minutes, but our defense held strong,” Titans’ coach Betsy Bullock said. “Sophia Boggs again kept us in the game with several exceptional saves.”
Boggs made 14 saves in total to help secure the win. She’s been integral in keeping the Titans in games.
The offense, more often than not, has responded with big plays on the other end of the field.
The consolation round, which consists of a four-team battle for one spot in the state tournament, will conclude on Saturday. The Titans will travel for a 5 p.m. game to West Chester Henderson to take on the sixth-seeded Warriors. Henderson defeated Owen J. Roberts 3-2 on Wednesday to advance to the fifth place game.
The winner earns a trip to states. It may have seemed improbable a week ago, but the Titans keep proving the naysayers wrong along the way.
(24) Central Bucks South 1-1 2
(2) Pennsbury 0-1 1
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