Pennridge edged North Penn to advance to the District One 4A title game. CR South earned a berth in the state tournament with its playback win over Pennsbury. (Pennridge/NP photos provided courtesy of Althea Tomlinson/Pennridge soccer)
DISTRICT ONE CLASS 3A semifinal
#1 Pennridge 2, #13 North Penn 1
There wasn’t a whole lot the Pennridge or North Penn coaching staffs had to say or could say prior to Tuesday’s semifinal match.
The Rams knew what the Knights were bringing. The Knights knew what the Rams were bringing. Their previous two meetings had come down to a single goal, so there wasn’t a tactic or formation that would dramatically turn the tide.
It would simply be a matter of which team did one more thing right.
“It’s doing the little things better than the other team,” Rams coach Audrey Anderson said. “I harp on first touches, positive touches, communication, all those things, and I think tonight when we could have fallen apart, we stepped up. There was a lot of good leadership out there, and when push comes to shove, those girls will do those little things well, even under pressure.”
During the regular season, the teams split their two meetings with each side claiming a 2-1 win on its home field. North Penn, which handed Pennridge its only loss of the season on Oct. 17 as part of a nine-match unbeaten run, looked primed to top the Rams again.
Just five minutes in, Liv Urban rang the crossbar on a shot from deep and the Knights clanged another effort off the post as they put the top seed on its heels early. While the score at the half was a level 0-0, the Knights certainly had their share of quality chances.
“I’m super-proud of the way the girls have played all year, and even tonight, I thought we played a fantastic game,” Knights co-head coach Mike Rio said. “We lost it there for a few minutes and Pennridge is too good of a team where if you don’t play a complete 80 minutes, they’re able to put two goals in on you.”
Neither team was able to get much from its forwards in the first half for a variety of reasons. On the Pennridge side, the Rams front line was just off and couldn’t connect with the passes coming from the midfield.
Of course, the Knights were doing a good job of pressuring the ball and winning tackles, but the Rams forwards felt they needed to be better.
“At halftime we talked about the forwards having to make better runs and get in the right spots for the midfielders to play the right balls because it’s hard for them to play the right balls when we’re not making the right runs,” sophomore Emily Kriney said. “It was kind of timing, going into the right places and cutting behind them at the right time.”
For North Penn, speedster Emily Varilla just had a shadow following her. The striker, who had scored twice and drew two penalty kicks this postseason, was covered all match by Pennridge junior Maddie Angelo, who played the matchup extremely well.
“Maddie Angelo was amazing,” Anderson said. “She was clean on the ball, she was clean on (Varilla). It’s personal to these defenders and it’s fun to watch them because they don’t want to get beat. I was so proud of Maddie, I thought she was a stud.”
Of course, it’s near-impossible to hold a player like Varilla totally in check and she continued her torrid postseason with a well-taken goal that wove its way into the net with 16 minutes left in the second half.
Instead of wilting, the score seemed to galvanize the Rams in their coach’s eyes.
“We knew they were going to come with a lot of energy and we talked about momentum shifts and knowing it would change throughout the game,” Anderson said. “We said to keep working no matter what was happening. When we were scored on, the momentum shifted but in our favor surprisingly and we took advantage of it.”
Angelo isn’t a senior, but she wanted to make sure Tuesday was the last time the Rams played on their home field this season and they wouldn’t be hosting a seeding game.
“We said from the beginning we don’t lose at home and we don’t lose on this field, so when they scored, we knew we had to give it everything we had in the last 10 minutes to make sure we don’t give up anything on this field,” Angelo said. “It was the seniors’ last game here, so we played for something more.”
Set piece play is crucial any time of the year, but it escalates even more in the postseason. After going the entire first half without a corner kick, the Rams got three in the second half.
The second didn’t yield an attempt on goal, but it did give them a consecutive corner kick. That one cashed in when Leah Malone got up over two defenders to hit a line-drive header into the near post.
“We were working on PKs and struggling on them but our corners in practice were amazing,” Anderson said. “I think out of the 30 we took, we scored on half so I was feeling pretty confident. Then, we get zero corners in the first half so we talked at halftime about getting corners, and it was nice to see them fight for a corner then score off it.”
Having tied the match with eight minutes left, the Rams went ahead less than two minutes later. After Ashley Gordon won a 50/50 ball and poked it ahead to Kriney, the sophomore went to work.
Keeping her touch perfectly weighted, the sophomore was able to beat a defender and just at the edge of the box, fired a shot that found its way into the back corner on the far post.
“I’m not sure there’s many people who finish that but that’s her shot,” Anderson said. “Most people end up missing the goal and she puts it in. It seems fitting that was her goal.”
“That’s probably one of the best goals I’ve had this season because it was a game-winner,” Kriney said. “It felt pretty good to score in a big game like this.”
North Penn (12-8-2, 6-4-2 SOL) will visit No. 3 Conestoga in a seeding game on Friday.
“They should be confident,” Rio said. “Overall, our defensive form, we did really well and kept them at bay for most of the game but they’re such a good team, you give them a couple opportunities and they finish them. That’s what the difference was tonight.”
Pennridge (19-1-1, 10-1-1) will face No. 2 Boyertown, the PAC champion, in the final on Saturday at Spring-Ford in a 4 p.m. start.
“We wanted to get to the district final,” Angelo said. “Our whole team dynamic this year, everyone’s buying into the same thing and we want to get back to Hershey so everyone flipped the switch and was all-in.”
PENNRIDGE 0 2 – 2
NORTH PENN 0 1 – 1
Goals: P – Leah Malone, Emily Kriney; NP – Emily Varilla
Playback
#9 Council Rock South 2, #5 Pennsbury 1 (OT)
The season series against the Falcons had not been kind to Council Rock South.
In the first meeting, the Golden Hawks saw a three-goal lead erased in five minutes in an eventual 4-3 loss while the second was a defensive clinic by Pennsbury in 1-0 setback. Yet, even with nothing breaking their way the first two meetings, the Hawks stepped into Tuesday’s playback game ready to continue their season.
After yet another tight battle, the Hawks emerged with a hard-fought victory and a coveted bid to states while Pennsbury’s great season came to an end.
“We just stressed that the girls worked hard enough this year to get to a point where they still had a second chance to qualify. We wanted to be sure that work didn’t ‘get wasted,’” CR South coach Nick Heim said. “We tell them during preseason we will test them physically and more so mentally and it will pay off in the long run. It paid off today – our girls, on the field and the bench, were terrific.”
The game played to a scoreless draw through 40 minutes, also the host side certainly had the better of play going to the intermission.
“It was a typical South- Pennsbury game. I felt they had the better run early, and Sydney Mandel came up huge for us in goal right away to start the game,” Heim said. “Pennsbury is really good, and we knew it would be a battle today. Hats off to them; they won the league and had chances to win it today. They’re well coached and organized and have really dangerous players.”
Pennsbury, which used those two wins over the Hawks to help lock up a sixth-straight SOL National title, left everything in its tank out on the field one final time.
“We are just incredibly proud of this team and senior class for what they have accomplished this season. It’s tough to see your season end in overtime, but our girls fought until the last whistle. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way, but there is no doubt our girls really wanted it today,” Pennsbury co-head coach Kim Lindemann said. “Our seniors have meant to so much to this program. Ashley Conlow, Erika Hansen, Kate Hansen, Rosie Bostian, Evie Ciaccia, Gabby Zalot, and Maddie Karabell are not only great soccer players, but are also some of the best young ladies we have had the pleasure of ever coaching. They have helped breed a culture of excellence, and will leave an imprint on this team and program for years to come.”
Despite being on the defensive to start the game, the Hawks’ coaching staff didn’t panic or even try to dramatically change things up.
“In all honesty, we didn’t do anything on the sideline,” Heim said. “It’s the benefit of having an experienced roster. We trusted the girls to make the adjustments and settle down and it worked for us. We’re incredibly proud of the resiliency of this group.”
In what should be a shock to no one, CR South senior Sammy Jones took the lead in the second half to put her team on the front foot.
“We were able to get Sammy Jones into a dangerous spot and she spun a few defenders and put us up 1-0 with 19 left,” Heim said.
Pennsbury managed to tie it up with about six minutes left, leaving the Hawks to try and regroup during the five-minute break before the start of overtime.
“To our girls’ credit, they didn’t let it get to them. At the intermission we told them it would come down to who wanted it more,” Heim said. “All of the work they’ve done, all the sprints in August, was for this.
“Aubrey Hondros drew a free kick that Sammy put in a dangerous spot. A scrum led to the ball kicking back out, and Sammy got end line and found Madison McDowell at the six for the winner.”
The goal ended an extremely successful run for Pennsbury’s senior class that included four conference titles and a District I championship.
“We are so thankful that these seniors committed to this culture years ago and exemplified the hard work and sacrifice day in and day out,” Falcons co-head coach Kaitlyn Battiste said. “This ending felt particularly cruel to a group of seniors who identify themselves as soccer players and wear the black and orange with immense pride. As old ladies, we can step back and tell them they’re going to be all right, but we know they’re going to grieve over the loss of this game and the end to their high school soccer careers, which have been such a large part of their identities.
“When the time is right, we hope they can appreciate how much they impacted their teammates and coaches. Only one team gets to end its season without this feeling, but it doesn’t keep us from coming back each year. I hope they remember the game and this journey with teammates is always worth it.”
While Sammy Jones led the way with the goal and assist, it was assuredly a team-wide effort for CR South.
“Claudia Steinmetz was terrific on Rosie (Bostian), who is a very dangerous player,” Heim said. “Dana DeDominicis, Karly Wunder, Carly Irvin, Skylar Nowmos, and Kim Speiser were very compact in their defending and limiting chances.
“The midfielders Kim Herritt, Aubrey Hondros, Lauren Smith, and Jordi Rubakh put in fantastic performances, as we asked serious minutes and effort out of each. Truly was a very complete team win.”
Council Rock South (14-5-1, 9-3 SOL) will face No. 7 Unionville in a seeding game for the fifth and sixth District I spots on Friday. The Hawks met Unioville a few years back when the district only had five bids up for grabs, but even with states determined, CR South is looking to build momentum for the final tournament of the fall.
“We have a competitive group, we’re going to try to keep it rolling,” Heim said. “Unionville is a good team and we met them in the 5/6 game two years ago at their place Luckily we both have bids this time around.”
Pennsbury closed out its successful season with a 16-4-1 record overall and an 11-1 record in National Conference play.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 1 1 – 2
PENNSBURY 0 1 0 – 1
Goals: CRS – Sammy Jones, Madison McDowell
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