North Penn clinched the final state tournament berth and Abington won its playback games. Abington/Council Rock South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
DISTRICT ONE 4A
Fifth place game
#7 NORTH PENN 3, #8 PENNRIDGE 2
It was one of those games neither team deserved to lose.
The stakes were high – win and advance to the state tournament or lose and go home. It was Knights rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to score three second-half goals to earn the hard fought win in the third meeting between the neighboring rivals.
“They don’t get much bigger,” North Penn coach Chris DePeppe said. “This might be our third or fourth game where we’ve come back from a 1-nil deficit. We won one game when we were down a man.
“After every loss this year – our three regular season losses, we would come back and go on a four- or five-game winning streak, so I think all those things really point to the character of this team. We will see where it goes. Now we’re playing with house money.”
On Friday, the Knights jubilation was the Rams heartbreak.
“It’s a cruel game sometimes,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “We had six quality chances in the first half, whether they were breakaways or another corner or restarts that were just wide or a great save by the keeper,” Valimont said. “It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get another (goal). I told the guys yesterday at practice the first team to two I think’s going to win.”
With 14:39 remaining until halftime, the Rams struck first on a goal by Shane Velez off a Nicky Williams corner kick. The Rams took that 1-0 lead into halftime.
“The first few minutes I thought we looked okay, but as soon as they started attacking – they’re such a good attacking team,” DePeppe said. “At this age, a lot of players – their first tendency is to back up and try to play safe, and that’s just what we didn’t need to do.
“They typically get behind to score their goals with pace. We were trying to take that away from them, and as it turned out, they scored on a header off a cross, which is the one thing they never do against us. That’s soccer for you – you take something away, and they get you with something else. Good teams do that. Credit to them, they went into halftime 1-nil, but we were really kind of tentative and timid, and you certainly wouldn’t expect that in a game like this.”
Nine minutes into the second half, Alex Stewart scored the equalizer with a Kyle McKeever assist.
“I know our captains were getting into some of the players and I was as well at halftime,” DePeppe said. “Alex (Stewart) and Hunter (Stites) and (Ryan) Mindick, but Alex up top just made a difference.
“It was a great goal with the left foot, buried it low far post. It was a good pass from Kyle (McKeever), but tying the game up relatively early in the second half was huge. It took a lot of pressure off.”
Then it was Dan Lee’s turn to be in the spotlight, scoring a pair of goals off the bench. His first – with a Nate Kim assist – put the Knights on top 2-1 with 21:33 remaining in the second half. Two minutes later, he scored his second, this time with a perfect lead pass from Jack Gorham.
“It was all about Dan Lee today,” DePeppe said. “He played in probably four or five games. I’ve been rotating a lot of players at the left and right wing.
“Jimmy Perrin has been great all year, and obviously Gio (Jovani Gonzalez) is our striker, but there’s always another player that we need, and Dan today was absolutely fantastic. To come into a big game like that with that composure to finish the two chances he had, I was really impressed.
“He can be a bit of an enigma to me, but one thing I know – he’s composed, he’s cool, he’s unflappable, and that’s what you need in those moments to be calm and composed and just bury it. Both were quality chances, and Dan did what a good forward should do. He’s an unlikely hero today, but he goes down in the record books for us.”
For the Rams, it was a dramatic change of fortunes as they watched a one-goal lead turn into a two-goal deficit in a 12-minutes span.
“We ended up taking Shane (Velez) and putting him up top to counter them and put pressure on them, but they caught us out of position, caught a defender in a tough spot, and their kid (Lee) was able to shoot a point blank shot that obviously was a difference maker,” Valimont said.
With 10 minutes remaining, Velez pulled the Rams to within one with his second goal of the game, but that’s as close as they would get.
“At 3-1, it’s the dreaded two-goal lead,” DePeppe said. “It’s tough to keep attacking and not just protect it. They were coming and coming as they do. I knew they would. They made it 3-2, and we had to hold on for the last five or six minutes, which we did.
“I give them a lot of credit. That might be the best Pennridge team we’ve faced in all our years. I think Aiden Castle is tremendous, and Jake Saville is tremendous. They have plenty of guys coming back, so they’ll be good again. It’s a shame they’re not playing in states because they certainly had the quality to do so. Credit to them.”
Despite the outcome, Valimont was proud of his squad.
“I just couldn’t be prouder,” the Rams’ coach said. “It’s such a tough moment. You never plan the good-bye speech because you’re always hoping for the best, you’re hoping to be able to have practice on Monday.
“It took a couple seconds for me to gather my thoughts. We had a player in Jake Saville, who his sophomore year was filming games as a camera guy when we needed a fill-in, and he’s an all-state player this year.
“Aiden Castle is one of the only four-year varsity starters, a major contributor all four years. I’ve coached him in track and field, and he won me a Penn Relay plaque back in eighth grade. He was fantastic.
“Jeff Stritzl and Jake’s brother Ryan Saville were just fantastic in the back the whole year, and Nicky Williams – he’s a kid that was chomping at the bit, probably was upset with me junior year because I didn’t play him as much as I should have, and this year he started every game. He’s playing at Dickinson next year, and he was fantastic. If we didn’t have him, we wouldn’t have the season we had.
“We had 10 seniors, and a handful were reserves on the sidelines, but they were just great kids. They understood their roles. They didn’t complain, they didn’t argue. They could have complained every game – they didn’t. They loved the experience, they were along for the ride. We had our guys put a WTF on their wrists on tape for the playoff run, and that stood for ‘Walk Together Forever.’ We were that close to making it happen. That’s part of sports – the basketball shot that hits the rim and doesn’t go in, the field goal that just misses.”
Valimont went on to tip his hat to the Knights.
“Credit to North Penn,” the Rams’ coach said. “It was a difference of .006 (in the district power rankings) for this to be a home game for us. They had it, they didn’t quit, they came back out in the second half and made some adjustments, and they were able to find the net one more time than us.
“In our speech to the younger guys, we said – ‘I know it was an awkward year with COVID, but it was a district final last year to a district final playback this year.’ These kids now have experienced it. You can’t be walking in next season thinking we might not be a potentially tough team to play with the experience these guys have had.
“And just a credit to my assistants – Aaron Rapsinski, Dan Caya and Shawn Velez. My three assistants were fantastic all year. Guys that don’t get any credit everytime but do everything behind the scenes from scouting to coaching to stepping up when I’m running late for family stuff. Just an outstanding crew, and I’m so happy and proud to have been able to share this run with the three of them.”
DePeppe also had high praise for his seniors.
“You’ve got a senior class with guys like (captains) Hunter, Mindy and Alex – if you go back and look at it, they obviously have won the conference every year, but they’ve lived through a pandemic year, and to just never give up this year and to have that pride in the program and the team,” DePeppe said. “I salute our three captains, and I salute all the seniors – guys like Jake Myers, Jovani (Gonzalez), Jack Gorham, Gabe Kemp. These guys were just together – it’s the best chemistry we’ve had in years. It’s just a really fun team to work with. They deserve to go on and play in states, and I’m happy for them.”
North Penn (17-5, 13-3 SOL) will face the winner of Saturday’s District 3 championship contest pitting top-seeded Central Dauphin (19-0) against second-seeded Dallastown (19-2-1). Pennridge (11-2-3 SOL) closed out its season with a 15-4-3 record.
Pennridge 1-1 2
North Penn 0-3 3
Third place game
#5 ABINGTON 3, #19 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 2
(Abington information will be added when it is received)
In a contest with district seeding at stake, it was the Ghosts eking out a win over the visiting Golden Hawks.
“It was a hard fought game that could have gone either way,” Rock South coach Alan Nicholl said. “Abington scored two minutes into the game, which was very disappointing – just a lack of concentration with a ball across our box.
“We recovered well and tied it at 20 minutes with Stepan Kovalev connecting on a Josh Nikolaevsky corner kick.”
The two teams were deadlocked 1-1 at the intermission.
“We started the second half really well and had multiple chances to break the game open, but it was Abington who scored against the run of play to take the lead,” Nicholl said. “It was a real gut-punch because we were the better team up to that point.
“Abington scored a quick third (goal) with that momentum.”
Down but not out, the Golden Hawks battled back.
“We finally got our deserved second goal off of Gavin Hagan (Josh Nikolaevsky) at the 20-minute mark,” Nicholl said. “It set up a frantic race to the finish line, but we just couldn’t find the tying goal – we hit everything but the back of the net. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort as the boys worked their tails off and had Abington on the back foot for the closing frame.
“Isaac Burenga was terrific in keeping their dangerous #7 (Thiago Lage) off the board, especially late in the game as we pushed forward. Abington’s counter-attack is potent and we weathered a few close calls. Full credit to my backs and goalkeeper for keeping us in it as we pushed for the win. I think we were very unlucky today, but we’ll use this feeling to fuel our tanks for Tuesday.
“On a side note, the referees were outstanding today, knowing we both had big games next week. Their decision making, player management, and communication was as good as I’ve seen this year, and it allowed for great fluidity and a really well played game. Kudos to them.”
Abington (18-3-1, 13-2-1 SOL) will face District 11 champion Emmaus in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA 4A State Tournament. Council Rock South will take on District 12 champion La Salle.
Council Rock South 1-1 2
Abington 1-2 3
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