Pennsbury earned a share of its fourth conference crown with a hard-fought win over CR North. Check Friday’s recaps. Pennsbury/CR North photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of action photos.
SOL National Conference
Pennsbury 1, Council Rock North 0
It takes a village.
At least that's the way Falcons coach Kaitlyn Battiste sees it. With Friday night's win, the Falcons clinched a share of the SOL National title with Council Rock South. It's the fourth straight season Pennsbury has secured at least a share of the conference title.
Of course, the senior class that was a part of all four of them didn't just show up on Battiste's proverbial practice field doorstep.
"It's a credit to what this community has done at a developmental level," Battiste said. "I only get to see them for eight weeks, 12 if we're lucky, and we only have time to focus on team tactics. Their parents have been driving them to every practice since they were four or five, and by the time they get to me, they know and embrace the culture of high school competition. Nothing is going to get handed to them and they are working hard at every practice and every game."
The list of factors influencing the match was long. Not only were the teams battling under the lights, but it was Senior Night for those Falcon seniors and they were facing a very good North team desperate to extend its season into next week.
North put everything it had into the game and Pennsbury wasn't able to get comfortable.
"We actually started out the game pretty composed and were able to see one go in the net," Battiste said. "After that, North's seniors Mia Scalamandre and Becca Margolis, who are exceptional players, were fighting with everything they had to prevent this from being their last game. We never got a chance to settle tonight, we just survived."
Battling a determined foe and the emotions of the night taxed Pennsbury.
"It was a lot and I think we were feeling the pressure. We had a similar environment and setting in last week's overtime win at Pennington," Battiste said. "Whereas last week we were relaxed and comfortable being the underdog, tonight we tensed up a bit. We get the opportunity to continue our season and know that the physical, mental and emotional pieces all have to be in place to find success in the postseason."
North will find itself on the outside of the district playoff picture barring some sort of monumental shift on Saturday. Still, Indians coach Gavin Flannigan knew his players poured everything they had into Friday's game.
"The second half was our best 40 minutes of the season," Flannigan said. "I am just so incredibly proud of this group."
Senior Night wasn't too big for Falcons senior keeper Kerry Phillips.
"North really tested us tonight, they were fighting for their life and making us chase for a good portion of the game," Battiste said. "Kerry was solid in goal for us. Given the emotions of Senior Night and playing under the lights, she never lost focus and made four clean saves that were probably more difficult than she made them look."
The lone goal came in the 21st minute from sophomore Evie Ciaccia, who has played with the poise of a senior for much of the season.
"It was another goal from a corner kick. Dani Cady took on a defender and earned us at least four corners in the first half," Battiste said. "Jenna Peters sent in a beautiful service that almost went in from the corner. A couple North defenders cleared it from the goal line, but Evie was able to collect the ball with her back to the goal and just turned and fired a shot in all that chaos. She's become a finisher for us in big moments."
Pennsbury's captains provided plenty of leadership in the tense match.
"Hope Drewes, Lizzy Kirk and Riley Young have had to find ways to lead in a variety of environments," Battiste said. "They're finding that rhythm at the right time."
Much like it's a community effort to build up the players that come to Pennsbury, Battiste says it's not just her show running the program.
"My coaching staff – Kim Lindemann, Bryan Rittler and Liz Spiker – is incredible. The last four years they've challenged me to be a better coach," Battiste said. "They are incredible people to work with and have each found a way to connect with the players in a different way. It's been a fantastic balance of coaching styles and none of this would happen without them."
Pennsbury will now turn its attention toward the postseason, where a conference championship is just a title.
"We were able to celebrate a fourth league championship then reminded them records no longer matter. Congrats on the accomplishment, but everyone gets a clean sheet in the playoffs," Battiste said. "They were able to see the emotions of the North seniors and were reminded how difficult and cruel this game can be. It's an exciting time of year, but we know we have to play to win and not just play to lose.”
Pennsbury closed out the regular season with a 15-1-2 record overall, 10-1-1 in conference play. Council Rock North is 9-7-2 overall (5-6-1 SOL).
PENNSBURY 1 0 – 1
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0 0 – 0
Goals: P – Evie Ciaccia
Non-league
Neshaminy 3, Downingtown West 0
There has been a significant amount of movement in the District I power rankings the last three weeks, but Neshaminy has solely been trending upward.
Heading into the final day of the regular season, Neshaminy finds itself in line for a home game and playing fantastic team soccer. It may be different names scoring each game, but coach Chelsea Lovelace has gotten nothing but consistency from her team in recent weeks.
"It's great to have it be a team effort rather than always having to depend on a couple players to get the job done," Lovelace said. "Today was just another great performance from everyone that stepped on the field to carry us into the first round of districts."
Jackie Ziegler scored a goal and assisted the other two as Neshaminy topped a likely playoff team to finish up its regular season. Ziegler put away a Brianna Tobin cross in the 32nd minute, then found Emily Tantala in the 52nd minute and her 64th minute corner kick was headed home by Genna Obringer.
"There has been a tremendous amount of support from our midfield to our forwards, which has contributed to our success getting to goal," Lovelace said.
Lovelace also noted the play of Fiona McDonald, who stepped in to replace Michaela Boyd in the midfield.
One of the quiet contributors of Neshaminy's rise has been keeper Riley Spingler, who made six saves on Friday.
"She has been taking control of the box and coming off her line to make some huge saves for us," Lovelace said.
Neshaminy closed out the regular season with a 12-5-1 record (8-3-1 SOL).
NESHAMINY 1 2 – 3
DOWNINGTOWN WEST 0 0 – 0
Goals: N – Jackie Ziegler, Emily Tantala, Genna Obringer
Upper Dublin 1, Central Bucks East 1 2OT
The Flying Cardinals started the regular season with a hard-fought tie against perennial district powerhouse Conestoga and ended it with a hard-fought draw against the perennial district power Patriots.
Sophomore Laura Pendleton continued her solid second half of the season by scoring UD's lone goal as the Cardinals rallied back after East took the lead.
"Anna Bound served a ball into the box, the ball bounced through a scuffle and Riley Kane found the ball and buried it into the back of the net," East coach Paul Eisold said.
The Cardinals have been finishing their season against East in recent years to provide a solid test heading into the postseason.
"I think we defended well, early in the game we were a little bit sloppy and they were containing us in the middle of the field a little bit too much," UD coach John Topper said. "Once we were able to open up the game and get wide and use our speed, we were able to get some more opportunities and our scoring chance out of that."
Topper felt it was a fair result and both teams had stretches were they had the better of play.
"Laura came up big in every area of the field," Topper said. "She played in the back and in the midfield and she made some real timely runs in the box tonight. She's someone who sometimes goes a little unnoticed in the center midfield and center back positions, but she just a great job wherever she is and when she gets forward, she doesn't panic and is cool as ice in the box."
Pendleton wasn't the only player to step up on Friday.
"Katie King played a great game, as did Kaitlyn Brown," Topper said. "As the outside backs, they were able to stop East attacks on a number of occasions and they were steady as they have been all season."
Upper Dublin's bid for a first-round bye will likely fall short, but the Cardinals are in line for a first-round home game, which Topper said is a fine alternative.
"It tells us we belong against some of the stronger teams in the district," the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. "Clearly, we're not going to go out there and expect someone to roll over for us. We do schedule those teams for that reason, to see where we are and those results show us that nobody's going to push us off the field this year."
UPPER DUBLIN – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST – 1
Goals: UD – Laura Pendleton, CBE – Riley Kane
Souderton 3, Haverford 0
The Indians capped off a long week with a win Friday afternoon.
Souderton played four matches this week, winning all of them but had to play a lot of extra minutes to do it.
"We have had a lot of soccer this week and used the whole squad really well," Souderton coach Chris Felber said. "We had already posted three wins this week and still felt relatively fresh. So we were full of confidence today and were very comfortable on the ball and found it easy to find space."
Cara McCausland, Tori Dowd and Allie Trick provided Friday's goals, with Trick assisting the two she didn't score and getting a feed from Sara Readinger on her tally.
Felber also cited the play of reserve forward Erin O'Keefe, who has ably filled McCausland's spot as target forward when the senior goes to the bench.
With so many games this week, Souderton relied on a lot of players.
"Defenders Taylor Moritz, Sam Kramer and Sam Harwick were very strong all week," Felber said. "Senior mids Bre DiRenzi, Hannah and Aliea Kramer along with junior Campbell Power did a good job sharing the minutes and helped us keep shape all week in the center of the park."
The Indians will now wait for their playoff seeding. As of Friday night, they held one of the eight first-round bye spots.
William Tennent 3, New Hope-Solebury 0
It had been a taxing second half of the season for the Panthers, who faced a lot of tough defensive teams that didn't want to become their next victim.
Facing a nonleague foe to close out the regular season provided just what Tennent needed, an opportunity to score goals.
"That is what we needed after a tough stretch of great defenses," Panthers’ coach Bill Hontz said. "It was nice to put the ball in the back of the net."
Caroline Weir had a strong game for Tennent, which is poised to return to the district playoffs after a two-year absence.
"She was a game-changer and can play anywhere on the field," Hontz said. "She set up the first goal to Gabby Sowers and played really well on defense. Having Caroline in the back helps secure the defense with her speed. As a freshman, she started strong in the beginning of the year and ended the regular season strong."
Hontz said that Weir's play on defense helped the team's keepers post a shutout.
"New Hope played three quality players up top and all had to be watched carefully," Hontz said.
Jenna Rodabaugh and Olivia Miller were the other scorers for Tennent.
"Strong midfield play from Anna Lauer and Sarah Melio, both seniors who played their hearts out," Hontz said.
William Tennent closed out its regular season with a 10-7 record overall (5-7 SOL).
West Chester Henderson 2, Central Bucks West 1
Gracie Power (Trish Hauck assist) scored in the seventh minute to spot the Bucks an early lead, but seven minutes later, the Warriors knotted the score. They won it with a goal by Kate Gordon with five minutes remaining in regulation.
Central Bucks West closed out the season with an 8-10 record (2-9-1 SOL).
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1 0 – 1
WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 1 1 – 2
NORTH PENN 3, GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 0
The Knights received single goals from Tia Sheehy, Zoei Baines and Amelia Eshraghi in their non-league win over the Patriots.
North Penn closed out its season with a 6-11-1 record overall (2-9-1).
Lower Moreland 4, Cheltenham 0
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