For those who thought moving girls’ soccer from spring to fall would represent the end of the SOL’s dominance, guess again.
The SOL is alive and well.
Three of the four teams in Wednesday’s District One AAA semifinal round are from the SOL. Pennridge was the first team to punch its ticket, downing Central Bucks South 1-0. Top-seeded Council Rock South followed with a 2-0 win over Conestoga, and in the day’s most exciting game, Central Bucks West downed Strath Haven 2-1 in overtime.
In Wednesday’s semifinals, Pennridge will face West Chester East, a 1-0 winner over Unionville. Council Rock South and Central Bucks West will meet in the other semifinal game.
#1 Council Rock South 2, #24 Conestoga 0
In a game of limited scoring opportunities, Council Rock South benefited from a pair of Paula Jurewicz throw-ins to score a pair of goals in the Golden Hawks’ 2-0 win over Conestoga.
“Conestoga has a nice team,” Rock South coach John Oberholtzer said. “They had some good soccer players, and it was a well-fought game.
“We had the better side of shots, but they were very, very good possession-wise at midfield. Our defense held – there might have been more close calls, but we pretty much handled the pressure.”
The win vaulted the Golden Hawks into not only the district semifinals but also the state tournament.“We want to see if we can get into the final game of districts where we were last year,” Oberholtzer said. “That’s one of the kids’ goals – to get to the championship game.”
The Golden Hawks took a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the game on a goal by Erica Mikula (Jurewicz assist), and they took that lead into halftime.
“The first half we didn’t play well, and they controlled the midfield,” Oberholtzer said. “We weren’t playing our game. We were not possessing the ball, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that they were pressuring us.
“We talked to them at halftime and put an extra midfielder in, and that helped a lot. I don’t know that we got any more offense out of it in terms of shots on goal, but we did maintain better composure the second half.”
Twenty-five minutes into the second half, Alexa Crosier – also the beneficiary of a Jurewicz throw-in – flicked the ball into the back of the net for a goal that gave Rock South its final margin of victory.
“Paula Jurewicz’s throw-in was nasty,” Oberholtzer said. “We were running her all over the place, and when she was 30 yards from the goal, she was throwing it right into the goal.
“She was very effective and so were our corner kicks. We were knocking on their door. We had a couple of balls inside the 10 – if someone gets a foot on it, it’s dangerous. The kids really had good second half. Alexa Crosier, Cara Deola, Erica Mikula and MaryKate Callahan played well.”
The Golden Hawks held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks. Rock South goalie Samantha Lawson was not forced to make a save.
#4 Central Bucks West 2, #5 Strath Haven 1 (OT)
The Bucks won a thriller on Saturday night when – with 40 seconds remaining in the first overtime - Kalin Ojert turned a free kick from Bree Benedict into the game winner. Benedict was pulled out of goal to take the free kick about 40 yards from the goal.
“She served the ball in, and Kalin collected the through ball and went in on the keeper,” coach Chris Freudig said. “They tried to trap us – they sent everyone running up the field, so it was literally Kalin and their goalie. She beat their goalie to the ball, went around the goalie and knocked it into the net.“It was unbelievable.”
The big news of the night, however, may have been the fact that the Bucks scored two goals against a team with a winning record for the first time this year.
“Before we scored, we had gone 400 minutes – or five complete games without scoring,” Freudig said. “Scoring is great, but this team – it’s a total team effort. Everything we do is about the team.
“I know the cliché – There’s no ‘I’ in team, but this group is very even keel. It doesn’t matter if we’re up or down or go a game without scoring or a week without scoring - they just keep going out and working and working and working.”
That hard work has paid dividends in the form a defensive unit that has few equals. The last time the Bucks were scored upon during a game – prior to Saturday’s win – was on Oct. 2 when they fell to Council Rock South in a non-league contest before the start of the second go-round in league play.
Benedict turned away 13 shots in a stellar outing in a contest that saw Strath Haven hold a 15-6 advantage in shots on goal.
“We’re very good defensively obviously to only give up four goals in a season,” Freudig said. “When you look at the stats, they’re pretty amazing – the futility in scoring and also not surrendering goals.
“We have a very good goalie and a very good defense, and I’m starting to think we have a great goalie and a great defense. We have a lot of girls that work very hard, and they totally buy into the team concept. They step up and accept their roles. We tell them all the time – it’s never about the individual.”
In the Bucks’ second round district win over Bishop Shanahan in PKs, their third PK kicker was Quinn McNamara who played jayvee all year.“Now she’s our starting center mid,” Freudig said. “Part of it is that Erin McQuade’s hurt, but Quinn has played unbelievably, and before playoffs, she played 10 minutes of varsity soccer.
“We have three girls like that who played almost no varsity and are now playing major minutes.”
A look back at Saturday’s game will show that it was Alexis ‘Tex’ Haug (Liz Kirchner assist) who broke the Bucks’ scoring drought with a goal at the 50-minute mark. Strath Haven knotted the score with 12 minutes remaining in regulation, setting the stage for overtime and Ojert’s game winner.
“Strath Haven was as good a team as we have played all year,” Freudig said. “We just go about our business, and it’s great to see the success they have. If we win our next game or lose our next game, they’ll still be even keel.”
Saturday’s win assured the Bucks of at least three more games this season.
“We have had many successful teams,” Freudig said. “We told this team – you can stamp yourself as one of the great CB West teams. We’ve won a league title without surrendering a goal, and that’s the first time I can remember anyone ever doing that.
“The kids have bought into the fact that we need to do things in a special way. We can’t go out and outscore teams. At the same time, every time we go out we have a chance to win, and that’s all you want.”
#7 Pennridge 1, #15 Central Bucks South 0
PERKASIE - Andrea Caya found herself on the receiving end of a whole lot of hugs when the final horn sounded on the Rams’ win over the Titans. Those hugs were well deserved.
The Pennridge freshman saw extended minutes because of the move of Stevi Parker from midfield to the back after Aislinn Roberts was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury, and it was Caya who scored the game’s lone goal.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “These girls are what’s keeping me going right now. I couldn’t have asked for a better team or a better coach.”Caya scored the game winner in the 47th minute when she turned Carly Henry’s throw-in into a goal, finding the back of the net from about 20 yards out.
“It was there,” Caya said. “When you have those opportunities, you just have to take it. Mollie (O’Brien) pretty much shielded it away from me. I couldn’t have been luckier.”
Caya might have had luck on her side, but she had something equally important working in her favor – the wind.
The wind was a major factor in Saturday’s game, and the Rams were happy to survive a first half of playing into the wind with the score deadlocked 0-0.
“The wind is huge and the sun also,” Pennridge senior Bridgette Hess said. “The sun was shining in our goalie’s face in the first half, and all we were trying to do was stick with it in the first half because we knew they would have to deal with it in the second half.
“We knew we could play our soccer in the second half, but it was definitely a huge factor for both teams.”
The Titans – after generating eight shots in the first half but coming up empty against Ram goalie Ashley Schoellkopf – never really challenged at all in the second half.
“We were able to survive their numerous attacks in the first half,” Pennridge coach Jorge Rodriguez said. “Ashley came up with a couple of saves.
“There were some questionable calls that could have gone their way, but overall, with the way the defense toughed it out and a little bit of luck on our side, we were able to get out of the first half exactly the way we wanted.”
Titan coach Joe Bocklet also pointed to the wind as a factor.
“It was a tale of two halves with the wind,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think there was anything we could have done to change our ability to get behind them with the wind.”
Bocklet couldn’t help but wonder aloud if things might have been different if his team had gotten a call early in the game when one of his players, Molly Grove, appeared to be taken down inside the box. Grove was injured on the play and was sidelined the rest of the game.
“I hate to complain, but it’s embarrassing that the official can’t make that call in the box,” the Titans’ coach said. “I have yet to see as blatant a penalty as that, and it’s embarrassing that – at this level – it is overlooked.
“Pennridge plays hard, and they finished the one chance we gave them. Congrats to them. That’s what you hope to do – finish chances. Pennridge played well. We looked a little tired, but overall, I’m very pleased with the effort the girls are giving me. They’re working and for the better part of the game, they kept their composure and hung in there.”
Saturday’s meeting was the third of the season for the two Continental Conference foes, who split during the regular season.
“We love these games,” Hess said. “As a whole team, we look forward to playing CB South and CB West every year. They’re our rivals, and we love playing them.
“We know it’s going to be intense, and those games are the best.”
The win not only propelled the Rams into the district semifinals but ensured them their third berth in the state tournament in as many years.
“It’s really exciting,” Hess said. “When I started off here as a freshman, it was completely different. They never really played as a team before.
“Jorge (Rodriguez) came in and got us playing as a team. To accomplish this during my high school career in soccer is just awesome – going to states three years in a row.”
The Titans are one of four teams still in the hunt for three playoff spots.
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