Central Bucks East and Central Bucks South join Council Rock North in the boys’ District One AAA semifinals Wednesday while Upper Moreland will play in the Class AA title game on Thursday. Pennridge and Council Rock North will represent the SOL in the girls’ semifinals. To view photos of the CB South/Strath Haven game, visit the Photo Gallery.
BOYS SOCCER
CLASS AAA
#2 Central Bucks East 3, #23 Souderton 0
Though tensions and emotions may have run high on the field -- as evidenced by the four yellow cards assessed during play -- in the end, Central Bucks East and Souderton are two squads that have nothing but respect for each other.
That was never more obvious than when East coach Mike Gorni, on his way off the War Memorial Field turf, stopped to embrace Souderton coach Tom Quintois and offer words of praise.
While the two Continental Conference mates may have met for the third time in Tuesday's district quarterfinal, with East winning all three matchups after taking a 3-0 victory, Gorni had nothing but kind words about the opposition.
"Souderton's a great team, they deserve to be here," Gorni said of the Big Red. "It's hard to argue the strength of Continental this year, with two teams in the Final Four and four in the final eight. But I would have rather seen anybody but Souderton tonight. We didn't want to see Souderton tonight, while we're still in single elimination and the semifinals on the line."
The Patriots burst out of the gate on this night, pressuring the Souderton defense from the opening tap. East had three early corner kicks, and got on the scoreboard on a corner when Sean Jenkins scored off a Chris Gomez corner in the 11th minute.
Never letting up, East had a couple of near-misses on attempts by Eric Vare and Ben Marks. With 5:36 left in the half, Miguel Diaz found the back of the net, drilling home the rebound of a long cross from the side of the field.
"This is a group that didn't want to be denied," said Gorni, whose team clinched its fifth consecutive berth in the state tournament as well as the district Final Four. "I think they did a terrific job tonight coming out. They were prepared from the beginning. I thought we could have even buried a couple more."
"This was a huge game, the most important game of the season and we wanted to make it worth it," Jenkins said. "It feels awesome. I couldn't ask for anything more right now. We're definitely excited. This was one of our goals from the beginning so this is a huge achievement for us. But there's still more to go."
Souderton picked up the pressure in the second half, and, with Ran Molyneaux leading the charge, had several chances to cut into the East lead. But Patriot keeper Jacob Nesteruk made the saves he needed to, and the smothering East defense did the rest, keeping chances to a minimum and denying Souderton rushes throughout the game.
"At this point in the season when you play a Central Bucks East team that's this loaded, you have to have some things happen right for you and you have to get a little bit of luck and we didn't tonight," Quintois said. "They're a veteran team that knows how to win and they took it to us all night tonight. They have some really good players. (Nick) McGarry was just awesome and he took away a lot of what we do in the air. When he's playing that way and that aggressive and assertive, it's hard for us."
East made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute. Diaz was taken down while aggressively pursuing a ball, leading to an indirect kick. Marks booted the ball in, and a sliding Jenkins redirected it to the far side just inside the goal post.
"I was just in the right place right time," Jenkins said. "My players got it to me and I was able to put it away."
"Ben Marks was phenomenal tonight," Gorni said. "Miguel and Ben are a chore right now. They're a lot to deal with for two forwards. They work hard and pressure the ball."
While the Patriots advance to the next round, the Big Red go home following an outstanding playoff run and high hopes for the future. Souderton will graduate six seniors, but will return an experienced junior class that includes Molyneaux and standout goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach.
"I'm proud of our guys, we'll be back here next year," Quintois said. "This is a young squad that's gotten better and better and continues to get better and better. We hit some big moments during the season when the chips were down and people stepped up. Luke Hartzel had a huge goal against Central Bucks South, (Neil) McGarry had a huge goal to get us here. Once we got past those things, we started to win games. I'm really proud of this team and I'm looking forward to the future."
For the Patriots, the future is Wednesday, when they face sixth-seeded Council Rock North at 8 p.m. at Harriton High School.
"There's no question we're at a little bit of a disadvantage," Gorni said, "but we're not going to make excuses about that. We're just going to go and play."
#12 Central Bucks South 3, #13 Strath Haven 2 (OT)
Regulation ended with Central Bucks South senior Michael Serban holding his head in his hands. The overtime ended with Serban's hands raised high in victory.
With the game tied 2-2, Titans' co-captain Serban had a sparkling chance inside the Strath Haven box in the waning seconds of regulation, but lost control of the ball and was unable to get off a shot.
"That was very frustrating to me," Serban said. "I felt I had to redeem myself so I told my teammates to find me. I had to make it up to them."
It took him less than three minutes to do so. After turning aside an early rush by the 13th-seeded Panthers, the Titans broke down the field. Serban received a lead pass, got a step on his defender and headed to goal, firing a shot that bounced off the goalkeeper's hand and continued across the goal line to give the 12th-seeded Titans a thrilling 3-2 victory at War Memorial Field in Tuesday's district quarterfinal.
"The ball got put across past the defense and it was just me and the keeper," said Serban, who also scored the Titans' first goal of the game. "He came out and he hesitated and he tried going back to his line and I just tried to hit it hard enough that even if he got a piece of it, it went in the net."
The historic victory earned the Central Bucks South soccer team -- in its eighth year of existence -- its first ticket to the district semifinal round and its first state playoff berth.
"Every year we've gone to the quarterfinals. We haven't made that next step," said Titans' coach Don Brady, who has been with the program since Day One. "Five times we've gone to quarterfinals and haven't gotten it done. That's what we've been working on, the mental toughness. They're tough mentally, they showed that tonight. This was a definite obstacle we wanted to get over."
The Titans might have made it a little more difficult than it needed to be. Serban opened the scoring in the sixth minute, and Patrick Berneski made it a 2-0 lead not even 20 minutes into the game. Early South pressure resulted in several more quality scoring chances that didn't end up in the net.
And then Strath Haven battled back. The Panthers made it 2-1 in the 26th minute, and knotted the game with 12 minutes left in the second half.
"You've got to finish those final chances," Brady said. "Early on, it should have been 4-0, but we didn't take care of that business. The first two were easy and then you could seal the deal and be done with this game early but we didn't do it tonight. So that put us under some pressure and they got some rhythm."
But the South defense stood tall, and goalkeeper Matt Weigner made several outstanding stops to keep the score deadlocked and set up Serban's overtime heroics.
"This means everything to me," Serban said. "The past three years we've been trying to do this. This means a lot to my teammates and me and (fellow co-captains) Stephen Pieri and Todd Rainey. We've been playing together a while so this means a lot."
The Titans will be right back on the field Wednesday. South will face top-seeded Conestoga in the district semifinal match scheduled for a 5:45 p.m. start at Harriton High School.
CLASS AA
#3 Upper Moreland 1, #2 Harriton 0
Tyler Foerst set up Nate Roberts' goal off a corner kick in the 10th minute, and the Upper Moreland defense provided all the protection the team would need to earn the 1-0 victory and advance to the District One Class AA Final, where the Golden Bears will meet Holy Ghost Prep in a rematch of last year's district final.
"The first 10 minutes we controlled a lot of things," said Upper Moreland coach Jack Knauss. "Harriton is a very, very good team. I give them a lot of credit. But we knew what we had to do."
With Harriton on the attack in the second half, the Golden Bears' defense stepped it up and kept the Rams off the scoreboard.
Sweeper Kyle Lynch was outstanding in controlling the defensive end of the field. Outside backs Tyler Kleinart and Nick Perkins provided solid play on defense, and Matt Foley and Brian Baist controlled the wings. Goalkeeper Kyle Walder made five saves, including a couple difficult stops, to preserve the shutout.
"The second half, Harriton really took it to us," Knauss said. "They kept on the offensive pressure.
"Our senior leadership really showed tonight. We've been saying to everybody, 'Protect your brother, Take care of the task at hand.' The seniors are making sure everybody understands that."
The next task at hand for Upper Moreland is a rematch of last year's district final. The Golden Bears (13-4 overall) will take on Holy Ghost Prep at 5:45 p.m. Thursday at Central Bucks West. The district title and the lone berth in the state tournament are on the line.
"We'll be prepared," Knauss said.
GIRLS SOCCER
#1 Pennridge 2, #8 Council Rock South 0
Pennridge and Council Rock South had more than each other to worry about when the two teams met Tuesday in a district quarterfinal. The two squads also had to deal with the effects of a long layoff, the result of several postponements due to weather and field conditions.
But when the first ball was tipped to begin the matchup, top-seeded Pennridge answered the call. Council Rock South didn't.
"We didn't show up," said Golden Hawks' coach John Oberholtzer. "I was disappointed in our mental approach. Pennridge is a good team and they have some good offensive weapons, but I think had we come ready to play, it would have been a tougher game."
And the Rams made the eighth-seeded Hawks pay for their slow start en route to a 2-0 victory. Natalia Pinkney fired a blistering shot that went off South keeper Sam Lawson's hands and bounced into the net in the 12th minute to put the Rams on top. The hosts kept up the pressure through much of the first half and had numerous chances to add to their lead. Shannon Chynoweth hit a crossbar and shot just wide of the far post midway through the period.
Pinkney made it a 2-0 game with just under four minutes left in the half when she took a long lead pass from Stevi Parker, sped past her defender and beat Lawson for the goal.
"We knew our speed would definitely be a key," Pinkney said. "We wanted to get through their backs and put pressure on right away. When I get in on the goalie, I usually kick it a little farther than they expect me to so they have to commit and at that point I just pick a side, go around them and shoot it in."
And while the junior forward remains as dangerous a scoring threat as ever, her coach believes her increased awareness and maturity has helped make her a more complete player in ever sense.
"Natalia has been the biggest difference this year," said coach Jorge Rodriguez. "She's made the adjustments. Stevi's pretty consistent, you can't win without her. But Natalia -- from the first two years to now -- has matured, she's learned to play the game, understand the game and understand the responsibility of being a forward a little bit more. She's put in the work."
The Hawks came back from halftime fired up, and put some pressure on the Pennridge defense, but were unable to maintain any serious pressure in the offensive end.
"I thought we did a pretty good job of attacking their backs and getting the ball through and over the top," Rodriguez said. "But I think the frustration came from our backs and midfielders putting pressure on them and not allowing them to play their game, which is a possession game and finding (Paige McDowell). We disrupted their rhythm."
Indeed, the Hawks' stellar forward McDowell was closely guarded through much of the game and not permitted to get many touches on the ball.
"We definitely knew Paige and how good their offense is," Parker said. "Our focus was to not let her get free. We tried to have two people on her at one time. We didn't want to let her turn and get open. I think we did pretty well."
"Our defense stepped up, especially in the second half when things got a little shaky up top," Pinkney added. "We couldn't really get anything through, but our defense stepped up and kept everything out of our half."
Parker and her defensive mates kept the Golden Hawks from mounting any serious threats, save for one instance midway through the second half when a miscommunication resulted in a scoring chance, but the shot sailed wide of the net.
"I felt pretty confident with our back four, they're organized extremely well," Rodriguez said of his defense. "Stevi and Julia Rufe, I think the two of them are playing the best I've seen them here. They organize everyone here. And Audrey (Butcher) and Caitlyn (Sheva) know how to play exactly where we need them."
Liz Eagan replaced Lawson in goal in the second half and held the Rams off the scoreboard. Oberholtzer said he doesn't yet know if he'll rotate the two keepers when the Hawks face Bishop Shanahan at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Council Rock North in the consolation round.
"Last year I used to change goaltenders," Oberholtzer said. "This year I really haven't because Liz is coming off an injury from a year before. So rather than disrupt it, I kept it the same. But after the first half today, she deserves a shot. She's loyal and there's not a big difference between Sam and Liz.
"I thought we had a good second half, we had some good offensive chances. But that first half just killed us."
The Rams, meanwhile, advance to the district semifinal, where they will face fourth-seeded Strath Haven at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at West Chester East. In doing so, the Rams dispatched the team that defeated them in last season's district final.
"We talked about it a little bit," Parker said. "We talked about it for the younger girls that might not have known. We all knew it was a big game and we came ready to play. It felt nice."
Still, the Rams know their work is not yet done. They've got two more wins in the district tournament on their To Do list, followed by a run in states. But first ... Strath Haven.
"We're not where we want to be yet," Parker said. "It was nice to get this win but now we have to focus and get ready for (Wednesday), so we have to forget about it now."
"We haven't finished yet," Pinkney said. "We're looking for our game (Wednesday) to take the next step."
In other games:
#7 Owen J. Roberts 3, #18 Bishop Shanahan 0
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