CB West defeated Cumberland Valley in penalty kicks to advance to the PIAA 4A semifinal on Tuesday. Council Rock North saw a memorable postseason come to an end. Photo provided courtesy of Marge Bullock Photography (https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Marge+Bullock+Photography&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8).
#1-4 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0, #3-2 CUMBERLAND VALLEY 0 (CB West 4-2 in PKs)
Penalty kicks are familiar territory for the Bucks, who had twice seen district games decided by PKs, so after battling the Eagles to a scoreless tie after 110 minutes in Saturday’s PIAA 4A quarterfinal at Tulpehocken High School, they were ready.
All four of West’s players – junior Carson Snyder, sophomore Bailey Moyer, senior Tarin Morris and sophomore Colin Burn – converted their penalty kicks. Burn’s turned out to be the game winner.
“That was really a big step in maturity for them,” Szygiel said. “It’s still a young group.”
The Eagles buried their first two shots, Dylan Smith stonewalled the third and their fourth attempt sailed over the bar, setting the stage for Burn to connect on the game winner.
“For me, PKs don’t come from the shooter, they come from who your goalkeeper is,” Szygiel said. “Having Dylan – if he makes a save or shows he is close to making a save, that gives your shooters confidence. They just need to step up, they need to be calm and just convert. Tonight they were able to do that.
“I do think we were the slightly better team tonight. With PKs, you’re never sure what’s going to happen. I think what was supposed to happen did happen. I think we did enough to win tonight.”
The Bucks are one of four Class 4A teams still standing in the state. Each win is historic for a West squad that last made the state tournament in 1980 and 1982 but lost on both occasions in the opening round.
“I think it’s one of those things right now – it’s new territory for us and the program, but at the same time, I think they’re just ‘all right, let’s go on to the next one. Let’s keep going,’” Szygiel said. “Three months from now maybe we’ll take a look back on it and go, ‘That was pretty cool.’ For now, we still have a lot of work to do.”
Earlier, it was a game of limited opportunities for both sides.
“In the first half, we had a few better looks than they did,” Szygiel said. “They had one really good look from outside the box, and Dylan (Smith) made a good save in the first half. We had probably two very good chances in the first half.
“In the second half, maybe with five minutes left, they cleared a ball off the line, and we dinged the post. We were hunting, we were getting close.”
A pair of overtime periods could not determine a winner, and the stage was set for penalty kicks.
“In overtime, we had maybe one good chance and maybe a half chance for them,” Szygiel said. “The boys were tired, it was a big field, it was a big surface.
“We were still going for it. We didn’t bunker in, we weren’t mailing it in. I think we were just tired. I don’t think we were great in the offensive third. I also thought Cumberland Valley defended extremely well and frustrated us. That was noticeable in the way we were not connecting the final pass or pulling off the final shot on goal.”
The Bucks’ coach went on to laud the strong play of Cumberland Valley’s goalkeeper.
“He was incredible – you have him on one side and Dylan (Smith) on the other,” Szygiel said. “I think we tested him more than we were tested. He just did such a great job.”
According to Szygiel, Saturday’s win was a team effort.
“There wasn’t a standout tonight,” he said. “I think it was just a group of players that were just grinding it out and just working for each other.”
If Szygiel had written a script for the season, he couldn’t have written a better one.
“Last year, we had a little bit of a youth movement,” the Bucks’ coach said. “The boys that are the juniors – last year, they were on the field. They were starting, they were playing, they were logging impactful minutes.
“We talked about it at the end of last year – we lost in the second round of districts, and the first thing we said was, ‘Okay, next year we’re going to states.’ I don’t think it was a cocky thing at all. They were motivated, they believed they could do it, and that’s where they wanted to be.”
Central Bucks West (18-6, 9-3 SOL) will square off against District One champion Conestoga in a state semifinal match Tuesday. The defending state champions defeated District 11 champion Parkland 1-0 in a quarterfinal game.
“Frankly, for us, we will go out, we’re going to play our game, and I think the chips are going to fall where they fall,” Szygiel said.
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0 0
Cumberland Valley 0-0-0-0 0
#3-1 HEMPFIELD 1, #1-2 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0 (OT)
A direct kick just over seven minutes into the first overtime period set up a goal by Drew Johnson, breaking a scoreless tie and propelling the Black Knights to the dramatic win over the Indians.
“They were about 40 yards out from our goal, a kid served it into the box, it got headed around, and the kid finally buried it,” coach Joe Stackhouse said. “Listen, they’re a good team. They’ve got 21 wins, but we didn’t bring our ‘A’ game today.
“We were flat from start to finish. We had chances, but we just didn’t finish the opportunities we got. They’re a good team, and I wish them well.”
The loss brought an end to an almost magical postseason run for an Indian squad that was seeded 19th in the District One 4A Tournament but advanced to the district title game.
“I think what happened was we finally hit the wall,” Stackhouse said. “The way we have been doing this with smoke and mirrors – you can only rely on that for so long.
“At one point in time, we had three 15-year-old kids on the field today. We have a lot to look forward to.”
Council Rock North closed out its successful season with a 16-8-1 record (10-1-1 SOL National Conference champions).
“I think this team played a better brand of soccer than last year’s team,” Stackhouse said. “Last year’s team had more athletic warrior-type kids than this team. This team was just more methodical with how they took care of things.
“I’m extremely pleased. The last thing I said to them was ‘Get your heads up, hold your heads high. You achieved more coming out of the gate 0-2 than anyone every thought you would.’ We peaked at just the right time, but we just didn’t get a gas fill-up today.”
For the Indians, this year’s trip to the state quarterfinals was the second in as many years.
Council Rock North 0-0-0 0
Hempfield 0-0-1 1
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