CB South earned the fifth and final state playoff berth with an overtime win on Saturday, and CR North captured third place with a win over Spring-Ford.
#24 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, #6 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 0 (2 OT)
The Titans – proving how unimportant district seeding can be – earned a berth in the state tournament on Saturday, pulling off their fourth ‘upset’ in five district games.
“These girls don’t want to give up, I’m telling you,” coach Betsy Bullock said. “They’re a tenacious group.”
As for her team’s postseason run, the Titans’ coach isn’t all that surprised.
“The one thing I keep going back to is – honesty, I think our ranking with this power ranking was way lower than it should have been,” Bullock said. “We were sitting in 14-15 and then had two close losses to good teams at the end of the season, but that dropped us dramatically.
“Not to take anything away from my girls because they’ve been playing some very high level soccer, but I don’t think we’re a 24 seed.”
Saturday’s game – which ended in dramatic fashion with a goal from Emily Andrusko – was the fourth one-goal win of the district tournament for the Titans, who also defeated ninth-seeded Downingtown East (2-1), eighth-seeded Pennridge (2-1 OT) and seconded-seeded Pennsbury (2-1).
“I honestly feel we’re battle tested from playing in the Suburban One League (Continental Conference) because we don’t have easy games,” Bullock said. “We have to play East, we play Souderton, we play Pennridge, we play North Penn. We don’t have an easy game.”
Keeper Sophia Boggs once again came up huge for the Titans, recording 11 saves in the shutout win.
“I can’t even describe what she’s meant to the team,” Bullock said. “I’m not exaggerating – she has spectacular saves.
“She’s extremely athletic, she’s so technically sound – she’s diving, and she’s stopping everything, and that keeps us in these games. Eventually, we find a way to claw our way to a win.”
With seven minutes remaining in the second overtime, Andrusko hit a ball in the upper ninety from outside the box, using an assist from defender Krysta Reading.
“The defense all played well, and they have consistently played well,” Bullock said. “One girl who has kind of been an unsung hero is Emily Andrusko.
“She has held the middle for us. I moved her to center mid, and she played probably her best game of the season. She had to contend with their number five, Sydney Zandi, who is actually in the national pool for the U17s. She contained her and shut her down all game, and she had the game winner. She really stepped up today.”
Central Bucks South (14-7-2, 7-5-2 SOL) will face District 3 champion Daniel Boone in an opening round state tournament game Tuesday at Exeter Township High School (7:30 p.m.). Daniel Boone, the sixth-seeded team out of District 3, upset top-seeded and previously undefeated Cumberland Valley 2-1 in overtime in Saturday’s district title game.
Central Bucks South 0-0-0-1 1
Sping-Ford 0-0-0-0 0
#14 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1, #4 SPRING-FORD 1 (5-4 PKs)
Third place games don’t always include the most inspired performances. Saturday’s game was certainly an exception as the Indians and Rams locked horns a classic battle that went to penalty kicks to determine a winner.
“When you go into a game like today, your first instinct is – get out of there in regulation, no injuries,” coach Wendell Beres said. “I told the kids that our number one priority was getting through the game and leave a better team than we showed up, but as the game’s going on, every kid, player and parent is thinking one thing and one thing only and that is to win the game.
“That’s how both teams ended up playing, and it worked out great because we learned a lot about ourselves. We’ve known forever we’re a team that will battle to the end. Wednesday we were all very disappointed with our performance. Today was a different story because I firmly believe Spring-Ford is probably the best team we’ve faced all year.”
The Rams took a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute, and two minutes later, the Indians knotted the score when Sydney Allen connected, using a Becca Margolis assist.
“Becca Margolis had a great individual effort where she beat three people – she took a shot and Sydney scored on the rebound,” Beres said.
That 1-1 score stood through the remainder of regulation and two overtime periods, setting the stage for penalty kicks.
After struggling in penalty kicks in Wednesday’s semifinal loss to Downingtown West, the Indians were money on Saturday, burying all five PKs.
“Anybody who watched the other night would have a hard time believing that,” said Beres, whose team connected on one of four PKs in a 3-1 loss to the Whippets.
Junior Caitlyn Duffy set the tone, connecting on the first penalty kick for the Indians.
“She missed the last one the other day, and she was on the line because she was the best player in the field,” Beres said. “Today again she was one of the better players on the field, and when she came off I said, ‘Do you want another shot at it?’
“She looked at me, smiled and said, ‘Absolutely.’ She went first and buried it, and then everybody else followed suit.”
Also finding the net with their PKs were Brielle Reich, Mia Scalamandre, Tori Hill and Lauren D’Amelia. All except D’Amelia were part of Beres’ PK lineup on Wednesday.
“She gave me grief at practice the other day for not having picked her the first time, so I promised her if we ever got there again she would be on the line,” Beres said of D’Amelia. “Sure enough, she cashed in on an opportunity, and then (keeper) Jeri (Belardo) made a great save on their fifth shooter to win it.”
The Indians’ coach lauded the strong efforts of several players..
“I thought Tori Hill was class today,” Beres said. “She played a great game, and Caitlyn Duffy for the last two games has been our engine, and she’s played probably five different positions.”
The win on Spring-Ford’s turf sends the Indians into next week’s state tournament on a high note.
“To get out of there with a win is a good result,” Beres said. “It’s a good momentum builder for Tuesday, and at the end of the day, I thought for a large portion of today’s game we were the better team.
“We weren’t too thrilled with our effort the other day. We weren’t so upset about the result, we were just upset about the effort. I didn’t think our attitude and training on Monday and Tuesday this week were great, and it showed Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we really picked it up, and it showed again today. I think Spring-Ford is by far the best team we have played all year, so for us to get out of there and weather the storms they threw at us (was big). We generated a lot more offense tonight than we did on Wednesday. We’re pretty pleased with where we are getting ready for battle on Tuesday.”
Saturday’s game featured a reunion of sorts. Spring-Ford coach Tim Leyland was an assistant coach when Beres led the Rock North boys’ soccer team to the state semifinals in 2011.
Council Rock North (15-5-3, 9-3-2 SOL) will face District 2 champion Wallenpaupack at Scranton High School in Tuesday’s opening round of the state tournament (7:30 p.m.).
Council Rock North 1-0-0-0 1
Spring-Ford 1-0-0-0 1
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