Council Rock North rolled to a 4-1 win over Northeast in an opening round game of the PIAA Class 4A Tournament on Tuesday.
#1-2 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 4, #12-2 NORTHEAST 1
The Indians’ magic carpet ride through the postseason continued on Tuesday night. Unfazed by the rain and 40-degree temperatures, Rock North rebounded from Saturday’s loss to Conestoga in the district title game to manhandle the District 12 runner-up. Northeast's frustration surfaced as time wound down. The Vikings were on the receiving end of six cards in the final 12 minutes of the contest – four green and two red. The Indians maintained their composure.
"The whole group did the right thing," coach Joe Stackhouse said. "They huddled together when the first incident occurred. Of course, I screamed from the sidelines, 'No nonsense. We're up 3-1, there's no need. Just play,' and they did.
"They just responded that way. It is quite easy for 17-18 year-old boys to put their hands up. They did a great job."
The Indians established the tone for the game when Conor O’Donnell scored his first of two goals in the opening minute of the game. Carter Steckbeck had the assist.
In the 15th minute, Sean Finneyfrock turned a pass from Justin Scharf into a goal, and the Indians led 3-0 when O’Donnell connected for his second goal. Northeast’s Sidiki Fofana broke up the Indians’ shutout bid with a goal in the 29th minute, but Ryan Pave got that back when he scored the only goal of the second half in the game's final minute.
"They have very good individual skill sets, but there's no cohesion into a team concept," Stackhouse said of the Vikings. "They play a lot of long ball they run onto, which is fine because we can defend that fairly well.
"They probably did not have any more than two passes coming out of the midfield. We controlled the midfield all day. Eighty percent of the match, I would say we had possession."
Council Rock North (16-7-1, 10-1-1 SOL) will face District 3 champion Hempfield in a state quarterfinal game on Saturday at a time and site to be determined. The Indians are one of eight 4A teams in the state still standing.
"If you piece it all together from day one – coming out of the gate 0-2, then the Truman (forfeits) happen," Stackhouse said of his team's journey. "At the seeding meeting, we had to correct our seeding because someone didn't have the correct record.
"Then we run the table to get to the district final. We know what Conestoga is all about. We knew we would have to play an A-plus game and they would have to play a B-minus game to pull it off. We go into tonight and basically played an A-plus game.
"We're still not healthy. One of our best players – Justin Scharf, who's a D I recruit to Lehigh – plays 20 minutes a match. We're platooning people up top to buy his time. In and of that, we have to have people fresh in anyway. Luckily being up 3-1 at halftime last night helped us a lot because it allowed us to extend the bench."
Northeast 1-0 1
Council Rock North 3-1 4
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