The day was not especially kind to Upper Dublin and Council Rock North in Tuesday’s playback games. Both teams came up short in their bids to earn a state tournament berth, and as a result, the two SOL schools will do battle on Thursday for the one remaining state berth.
#4 Harriton 12, #9 Upper Dublin 11Heartbreaking.
That was the only word to describe the Flying Cardinals loss to the tournament’s fourth-seeded squad. With the score deadlocked 11-11, the Cardinals were holding the ball for the game’s final shot, but an errant pass gave Harriton possession.
With four seconds remaining, Harriton’s Carli Sukonik scored the game winner, leaving the Flying Cardinals to deal with the devastating defeat.
“It was a back breaker,” coach Dee Cross said. “We had the ball. We were working the ball around, and we ended up losing it.
“We were right there. We absolutely could have and should have won the game. It’s just the little things.”
The Flying Cardinals actually trailed 6-3 at halftime but opened the second half with a 5-0 run to go on top 8-6.
“They were pulling out on us on defense and were playing us way out,” Cross said. “We wanted them to challenge, take them one-on-one, and that’s what they did.
“We started running our plays better, and you could see they were gaining momentum and confidence, taking better shots and taking what the defense gave them. They started looking for each other and really started to click on offense whereas in the first half we were forcing the ball in the middle when it wasn’t there.”
Harriton rallied to go on top 11-10 with six minutes remaining, but Brooke Callahan knotted the score 11-11 with 2:07 remaining, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
The Flying Cardinals were down a starter when the game began since Meg Rock had missed practice on Monday because of illness. Freshman Kendall Couch started in her stead and was assigned the task of face-guarding Sukonik.
“The last time Kendall Couch played in a varsity game was against Abington in our first game of the season,” Cross said. “She played the whole game and held her to three goals, did exactly what we asked her to do and did a great job.”
The Flying Cardinals also lost Emily Hitchings for the entire second half to a strained quad, although Rock entered the game at halftime.
“They gave everything they had today, everything,” Cross said. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, but I was so proud of their effort.”
Kelly Cross led the Flying Cardinals with four goals and two assists. Callahan and Kaley Weinstein both contributed the hat trick. Michele DeVincent had one goal while Taylor DeVincent had one assist.
Goalie Anna Lauer was credited with 10 saves.
“Anna Lauer had another great game today,” coach Cross said. “She played out of her mind. She had some key saves at the end of the game and was unbelievable.”
On Thursday, the Flying Cardinals will face Council Rock North in a winner-take-all game for the final state berth.
“In the last two weeks, they have raised their game as a team,” Cross said. “They knew they had the game today, and we as a coaching staff have to figure out how to get them ready for Thursday because they were demoralized. Our job is to get them fired up again.”
#10 Boyertown 16, #11 Council Rock North 10
Talk about worst case scenarios – this was it.
Rock North junior Kara Magley was injured just 10 seconds into Tuesday’s playback game. Things were never the same for the Indians.
“I think that mentally just wiped everybody out,” co-coach Pat Toner said. “She tried to fight through it and play.
“I think the hard part is I felt we were prepared to try and beat them, but it was very difficult without Kara, and everything went down the tubes. We just didn’t play as well as we would have liked to play. It was disappointing.”
The Indians trailed 8-6 at halftime but rallied to knot the score only to watch the Bears go back on top.
“Today I think they had the right attitude, they went out there ready to go – they had control of the draw, and all of a sudden, 10 seconds into the game Kara is hurt,” Toner said. “They tried their best to fight back, but without having Kara, that meant I had to readjust on the fly offense, defense and midfield.”
According to Toner, the Indians – minus Hannah Plappert for much of the season and Molly Doyle the entire season – all but exceeded their own goals when they captured sole possession of the National Conference crown.
Their next goal was to get beyond the first round of districts, which meant defeating Abington for a third time. They accomplished that and then surpassed possibly even their own expectations when they sent sixth-seeded Radnor home for the season.
“I think we could have made the state tournament today, but it wasn’t meant to be for whatever reason,” Toner said.
Plappert led the Indians with four goals while Lindsay Rheiner added the hat trick. Magley, Kara Le and Erica Green each had one goal.
Goalie Taylor Beck was credited with six saves for Rock North.
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