By Alex Frazier
Peckham to Shubert.
That’s been a winning combination all year.
The two Central Bucks East players hooked up once again Monday afternoon to help oust Strath Haven in the quarterfinal round of the District One playoffs, 1-0.
“They’ve been the two leading scorers the last couple of years,” said coach Mike Gorni. “That was a great set-up and a crushing finish. If either team had to lose 1-0, at least it was a legitimately great goal.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday evening at William Tennent, but it rained so hard in warm-ups that the game was postponed, which allowed the Patriots to play on their home field at War Memorial Stadium.
The two teams battled for 77 minutes and 52 seconds of scoreless soccer before Sean Peckham found Alex Shubert about 30 yards from the goal.
“I was just trying to get to the ball,” said Peckham. “I just laid it back and Shubert came running through and hit a rocket. We were just pushing to get a goal before overtime. We didn’t want to play another 20 minutes.”
Shubert collected the ball and fired it into the right side of the net.
“The ball got played into Peckham and he had a man on his back,” said Shubert. “I saw the right side open and hit it that way as hard as I could, and luckily it went in.
“Peck’s definitely the catalyst of the game and he’s our target player when we’re moving up offensively, so we try to play it into his feet and he’ll dish it off to us.”
Key to Strath Haven’s offense were two players, Dennis Zoncher and Matt Kadoch.
“They’re phenomenal players and I don’t know if they got a clean look today,” said Gorni. “They had a couple of nice shots.”
Zoncher played up top and was clearly a dangerous player. He was also well known by the East defense, some of whom know him from club ball.
Zoncher had four of the Panthers’ five shots, but none really tested keeper Jake Pickering, who recorded his 14th shutout.
“He was real dangerous every time he got it,” said Peckham. “We knew we had to contain him and the defense did a good job on him.”
Actually his shadow was Fran Miller, who marked him one on one.
Zoncher became a non-threat when he was issued a yellow card with 4:06 left to play.
That meant he was off the field following Shubert’s goal, when the Panthers were pressing hard to tie the game.
There was an anxious moment in the final minute of the game when Strath Haven was given a corner kick with 49 seconds left. Ryan Myers sent the ball high in front of the goal, where Whittaker headed it away, and then the ball was cleared upfield.
“I wasn’t happy with that,” said Whittaker. “We weren’t concentrating too much there. The ball came in and we kind of panicked. A corner is a scary thing especially with a minute left.
“We knew once we got that goal, it wasn’t going to be easy because they were going to come at us, they were going to push forward. We needed to play better than we were playing throughout the game and throughout the season.”
The first half was evenly played, though Strath Haven controlled much of the midfield play.
“They had a lot of big guys that were winning a lot of balls,” said Peckham. “At halftime, we worked on making sure the midfielders and forwards come back underneath their midfield so we could win the second ball and get it up to our forwards.”
Once East penetrated the final third, the Patriots were able to maneuver around the Haven defense, though they managed only one dangerous shot. Shubert struck a ball past Panther keeper Kelsey Beck-Cullen toward the left side of the net. Unfortunately, Bradley Pratzner booted it away from the goalmouth at the last second.
Haven didn’t get its first shot for 26 minutes and then Pickering made an easy save on a long try by Zoncher.
East did a better job in the midfield in the second half, but then the Panther defense also stiffened.
Shubert had a great opportunity with 9:45 left but missed the goal to the right. Fortunately, he made amends.
“It was a lot easier of a shot and I played it wide,” he said. “I had to make up for it.”
East will host No. 2 Downingtown West at 8 p.m. Wednesday, following the Neshaminy-Lower Merion game, which begins at 5:45 p.m.
The two teams are no strangers to each other. Last year West won both meetings, including a 2-1 win in the consolation game for third.
In that game the Patriots were battered with injuries, including Whittaker, Shubert and Rich Lee.
This year East lost to Downingtown late in the season, again without Whittaker, but the Patriots will be pumped to end their skid against the Whippets.
“It’s a good feeling winning,” said Peckham. “Now all the pressure is off to get back to where we were last year. And with all our injuries last year, we’re just hoping to have a good showing this year. We’ll just go out and work hard at practice tomorrow.”
Central Bucks East 1, Strath Haven 0
Goals: Alex Shubert (CBE)
Assists: Sean Peckham (CBE)
Shots: Strath Haven 5, Central Bucks East 10
Saves: Kelsey Beck-Culle (SH) 5, Jake Pickering (CBE) 3
Corners: Strath Haven 1, Central Bucks East 2
Fouls: Strath Haven 17, Central Bucks East 15
Yellow cards: Dennis Zoncher (SH)
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