District 1 4A fifth place game
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 7, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
Ari Pollack connected for a hat trick to lead the Indians to the rout of a Titans’ squad that trailed by just a 1-0 score at halftime.
“At halftime, I said to them, ‘There are two things about this that we need to look at as a positive. If they’re not going to trot a team out there that can play with you guys, one of two things: 1) We’ve had difficulty playing with the wind in our face and playing more small ball, possession based. This is a chance in the second half where we’re going to have the wind in our face, and I want to see you control play, and they did it,’” Rock North assistant coach Brian Hoffman said. “I told them, ‘Secondly, we’ve had difficulty with teams that have recognized our skill level and have chosen to park the bus and put 10 guys behind the ball for large portions of the game. If they’re going to do that, this is our chance to practice it. Let’s work on what we’re good at and try to hone that skill.’ Clearly, they did that, scoring six goals in the second half.”
Adding one goal each for the Indians were Windsor Varady (Mike Pinho assist), Isaac Morais (Pollack assist), David Igval (Logan Adams assist) and Landon Lentz (Chris Pinho assist). Assisting on Pollack’s first goal – which was scored in the first half and turned out to be the game-winner – was Keertan Palayam while Varady assisted on his third. His second was unassisted.
“I’ll put my 11 against any 11,” Hoffman said. “We’re playing really well, and I’m really proud of the way our guys come to play for each other every single moment they step on the pitch.
“If we’re going to play this fifth place game, we’re going to do what we’ve been doing. There’s no reason to switch it up because we’re a very good team, and I’m not afraid to say that. When we get to this point in the season, there are not a lot of bad teams still playing. I’d rather go out fighting.”
Council Rock North (17-3-2, 12-2-2 SOL) will take on District 12 champion La Salle in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA State Tournament. Central Bucks South (16-5-2, 11-3-2) will face the winner of Saturday’s District 3 title game pitting Manheim Township and Cumberland Valley.
Central Bucks South 0-0 0
Council Rock North 1-6 7
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