CR South & Upper Dublin were winners in SOL boys’ soccer action Tuesday. (CR South photo provided courtesy of Kat Barry/CR South soccer)
SOL Patriot
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
In Tuesday’s annual Unity Cup battle, the Indians got on the scoreboard first and held a 1-0 lead for the better part of the contest.
Tyler Dobson put the Golden Hawks on the scoreboard midway through the second half, a goal that swung momentum in Rock South’s favor for the first time. The Golden Hawks went on to add a pair of goals in the final four minutes to take home the coveted Unity Cup.
“If I’m being honest, the game could have gone either way,” Rock South coach Alan Nicholl said. “North could have won by five – it wouldn’t have surprised me. It was a tight game, and we were fortunate.
“Once we scored it gave us the onus to really go for it. We were trying to get back into the game, and it gave us a little bit of adrenaline, the little bit of a jolt we needed. We just started playing with much more purpose, a little bit more conviction to what we were trying to do. We started taking care of the ball a little better and matched what North was doing. It was like we belonged for the first time.”
Rock North got on the scoreboard less than 20 minutes into the game,
“They were all over us in the first half,” Nicholl said. “They just knocked the snot out of us up and down the field. We limped our way into halftime down a goal. I thought we were lucky to only be losing by a goal.
“We looked every bit the team that played 100 minutes yesterday against Neshaminy (a scoreless tie). We looked tired, and they were up for it. They came out, and they mopped the floor with us. We made a couple of changes in the middle of the first half just to try and weather the storm. It was looking ugly.”
The Golden Hawks made additional adjustments at halftime in an attempt to get back in the 1-0 game.
“We made a couple of changes tactically to try and withstand the pressure they were bringing to us,” Nicholl said. “I don’t know if we won a tackle the entire first half. Their physicality dictated the play. I challenged the guys at halftime and said, ‘Guys, you have to start winning some tackles, win some headers and then see if you can flip this field because right now we’re getting beat up pretty good,’ and they really did.
“Stefan Kovalev, Josh Nicholevski and Mike Burns – all three of them in the center of the field really stepped up and flipped the field for us.”
Midway through the second half, Dobson found the back of the net with the equalizer.
“Once that goal went in it kind of felt like we had the bit between our teeth and looked a little more organized, more confident and played with bit more conviction, a little more purpose,” Nicholl said.
With overtime looming on the horizon, Gavin Hagan scored to give the Hawks their first lead with only four minutes remaining in regulation.
“Frankie Rafferty made a great run down the flank, flipped it into the box, and Gavin Hagan got on the end of it to finish it and give us a 2-1 lead with four minutes left,” Nicholl said. “They were a lot more than a goal better than us up to that point.”
Rafferty scored the final goal that put the Golden Hawks on top 3-1 with 23 seconds remaining.
“Frankie Rafferty chased down what looked to be a futile run, and he hit the lane hard, he tackled the goalkeeper 30 yards from goal and put it into an empty net to seal it,” Nicholl said.
The Golden Hawks’ coach had plenty to be pleased about after this win.
“It wasn’t even the fact that we got all three points – the manner in which we got it, being down a goal and not looking good,” Nicholl said. “We looked tired, we looked like we played 100 minutes of a hard, hard game yesterday.
“I was really afraid that we just didn’t have the gas. This is a grind, our whole schedule is a grind, and I just felt we were running out of gas. Tyler Dobson’s goal to tie it really was the trigger for us to get back into the game. I’ll even go so far as to say his goal came against the run of play. The last 20 minutes I thought we were the better team. It was a very good win.”
Council Rock South (9-5-1, 7-5-1 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Friday, and Council Rock North (5-8-5, 5-7-1) will host Bensalem on Thursday at 7 p.m.
SOL Liberty
UPPER DUBLIN 5, QUAKERTOWN 0
Zach Berman had himself a game.
The Upper Dublin senior – dubbed ‘The Magician’ – connected for a hat trick and also had an assist. They were Berman’s first goals of the season.
“Today going into the game, I had a chat with the boys,” UD coach Noah Johnson said. “Yesterday he balled his heart out, and he just could not get a goal, and I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to reward Zach Berman today. We’ve got to look for him and see if we can find him.’
“He’d been losing confidence because he didn’t score all season, so the boys took notice, and every time we got into an offensive spot, we looked to find Zach Berman’s feet. The boys got behind him, every time Zach had the ball – ‘Zach, take him on and shoot.’ Everybody being behind him gave him that extra boost that he needed and confidence he needed to keep shooting as much as he possibly could.”
Berman scored a pair of first-half goals five or six minutes apart midway through the opening period to send the Flying Cardinals into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, the Cardinals received single goals from Christian Broome and Miles Bondi. Berman assisted on Bondi’s goal, and Berman completed his hat trick with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Johnson credited the efforts of several players who have just returned to the lineup.
“Christian Broome is coming back from an injury,” the UD coach said. “He’s been out for a very long time, so it was nice to see him come out and step up big time for us and then get us a goal, especially because we were really sluggish today coming off the loss yesterday to Abington and playing another game less than 24 hours later.
“Chris McMeel came back off of injury. This is his third game back. Him being back on the field gave us some extra energy, some extra laughter and just happiness all around. Those three guys (Broome, McMeel and Berman) really brought it today.”
Upper Dublin (7-8, 7-6 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday.
“We have no training tomorrow,” Johnson said. “I told them to chill and relax. Our objective tomorrow is to go support our girls’ team, cheer them on when they go and play Quakertown.”
Quakertown (1-13, 1-12) will travel to Palisades for a non-league game on Thursday.
Quakertown 0-0 0
Upper Dublin 2-3 5
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