Pennridge & North Penn earned wins in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA Class 4A Tournament. (Pennridge/Wilson photos provided courtesy of Althea Tomlinson/Pennridge soccer)
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#1-1 PENNRIDGE 4, #3-3 WILSON 1
The dust had not settled on Pennridge’s district title win over Boyertown when the subject of the ‘curse’ came up. The Rams made it clear they had no intention of being the fourth consecutive District One 4A champion to lose in the opening round of states.
“My seniors assured me they were going to break the curse this year, so we shouldn’t be afraid,” coach Audrey Anderson said.
That resolve was apparent in the Rams’ no-doubt-about-it win on Tuesday.
“Once we won districts, we knew we wanted to break the curse,” senior Maddie Anderson said. “We want to make it to Hershey, we want to finish what we didn’t get to do last year.
“I think just going into this game knowing that we don’t want it to be our last game, we want to be the team that breaks the curse. We had to put everything in that we could to get the end result.”
Anderson certainly did her part, scoring less than four minutes into the second half on a highlight reel free kick from 20 yards out that eluded the leaping Wilson keeper and landed in the opposite corner of the net.
“I thought it was either going in or going wide,” Anderson said. “I tried to at least get it into the box so someone could finish it.
“Once the first goal went in, we were like, ‘We can do this. We just need to finish our opportunities.’ In the first couple minutes of the game, we had three opportunities, and we missed each one or the keeper made a huge save.”
The significance of getting on the scoreboard first was not lost on coach Audrey Anderson.
“Whenever you get that first goal, it opens up everything,” the Rams’ coach said. “Teams have to change the way they play if they’re coming from behind.
“You can sometimes counter a little easier, but I definitely think anytime you get that first goal it just opens up options you didn’t have before that goal happened.”
Once the Rams started scoring, they didn’t stop. Midway through the half, Lindsey DeHaven converted a penalty kick. With 10 minutes remaining, Leah Malone scored, giving the Rams a 3-0 lead and keeping her personal streak alive of scoring in all five postseason games.
Malone’s second goal of the night gave the Rams a 4-0 edge before the Bulldogs answered with a goal by Emily Magalotti 14 seconds later for the 4-1 final.
“We talked at halftime about taking advantage of our opportunities,” coach Anderson said. “The difference in postseason is being able to take those opportunities and turn them into goals, be composed in front of the goal and play our style of soccer, connect and attack their defenders.”
What was the Rams’ coach most pleased with in the win?
“Our versatility and just our ability to play good soccer and not quit,” she said. “We’re a pretty young team. We only have four or five girls that were part of this last year playing big roles, so asking these young girls to step into that role is pretty important. I think they’re doing a pretty good job of it.”
“Everyone works so hard,” Maddie Anderson said. “From the minute we stepped into the first day of preseason, everyone just put 100 percent in.
“There were a lot of young kids coming up, and they had to step up. I think they did a really good job, especially in the league that we play in. It’s so hard, there are so many quality players. They have been such a key part of this team after losing so many key players last year.”
Coach Anderson went on to laud the play of several of the team’s unsung heroes.
“I think Maddie Angelo and Lauren McIntyre do not get the credit they deserve,” the Rams’ coach said. “Those two center backs have been really, really good for us all season long.
“They’re not the goal scorers, they’re not usually the assist players, but they definitely keep us in games.”
Pennridge (21-1-1, 10-1-1 SOL) will face North Penn for the fourth time this season in Saturday’s state quarterfinal contest.
Wilson 0-1 1
Pennridge 0-4 4
#1-4 NORTH PENN 5, #4-1 WILLIAMSPORT 0
The Knights decided if they were going to make the two-and-a-half hour trek to Williamsport, they might as well make it worthwhile, winning their first state playoff game since 2007.
“It’s fantastic,” co-head coach Mike Rio said. “To win a state playoff game is a phenomenal achievement for the girls. Obviously, it’s quite the long bus ride up here, but we’re proud of the way we played today.”
After being held off the scoreboard in the first half, the Knights – sparked by Kloey Carminati’s hat trick – more than made up for that after the intermission, erupting for five unanswered goals to win going away.
“We’re super proud of the improvement they’ve made as a team and individually throughout the season,” Rio said. “To come out here and put five goals in the back of the net – at this point in the year, everybody is pretty good.
“For us to come out here and take care of business shows a lot about the quality of these girls and the way they’re playing together as a team. We just couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Knights controlled play in the first half but found themselves locked in a scoreless tie at halftime.
“I think it took a little while to get our legs under us,” Rio said. “Obviously, all the girls were playing in their first state playoff game. We had some chances and just couldn’t finish them. Maybe it was not nerves as much as rushing our passes, rushing our touches a bit.
“We were given a lot of space – it was a huge field, and I think that was something we had to get used to too, realizing we had tons of time on the ball, let’s make sure we’re using it, let’s find the open players.
“Everything kind of settled down at halftime. We talked about just relaxing, doing what we were doing. We felt like we were controlling the game, and if we relaxed and started playing to feet and possessing the ball a little bit and looking for our opportunities, we could take advantage and then the goals just started to come for us.”
It was Carminati finding the net five minutes into the second half, and the Knights were off and running.
“Landry Holt, our left back, played just a beautiful early cross into the box, and Kloey flicked it right over the goalie and into the net,” Rio said.
Just over two minutes later, Carminati scored again to the put the Knights on top 2-0. The play began with a Grace Sacchetti free kick.
“Lauren Blanch flicked it past the goalie, and Kloey finished it,” Rio said.
With 26 minutes remaining, Sacchetti buried a free kick from 28 yards out to put the Knights on top 3-0. Twelve minutes later, Carminati completed her hat trick when she connected from just outside the box. Another Sacchetti free kick set up the game’s final goal, this one by Amy Patkos with 4:17 remaining.
When it was over, there was plenty of credit to go around.
“Obviously, Kloey scoring three goals is fantastic,” Rio said. “Grace Sacchetti has been phenomenal in the back for us, just consistently the energy in that central defensive spot. She’s just keeping us glued together.
“In the middle of the field, we had some good center mid play as well. Emily Schurr, Liv Urban, Cynthia Sheehy played really well and held it together for us. It was an all-around team win. I felt really good about it.”
North Penn (13-9-2, 6-4-2 SOL) will face Pennridge in a state quarterfinal contest on Saturday.
North Penn 0-5 5
Williamsport 0-0 0
Goals: NP – Kloey Carminati 3,
#11-1 FREEDOM 3, #1-3 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1
Endings are never easy. Bidding farewell to a special senior class makes it even harder.
“This senior class is incredibly special to us,” coach Nick Heim said. “We have ten seniors in total, and on the bus ride home, I got the chance to sit with each senior and thank them for what they’ve done for our program.”
Making the loss even harder to swallow was the fact that the outcome could have been different in a contest that saw the Golden Hawks have the better of play.
The Golden Hawks allowed an early goal but knotted the score 1-1 by halftime, thanks to an Allie Jones goal (Sammy Jones assist). A tough break to open the second half changed the Hawks’ fortunes, and Freedom capitalized, going on to earn the opening round win.
“I think we came out a bit nervous and gave up an early goal,” Heim said. “We settled in and dominated play for the rest of the game. We got on the end of a corner kick to tie it up at one before halftime.
“We came out firing in the second half and put one across the line on a corner kick that unfortunately no ref was near to see. About thirty seconds later, Freedom scored on a beautiful free kick given, rewarding a dive. The momentum completely shifted. We pushed numbers forward and gave up a counter.”
Heim bids fare well to a senior class that includes Allie Jones, Sammy Jones, Skyler Nowmos, Victoria Rizzo, Jordi Rubakh, Madison Schmidt, Madison Slubowski, Claudia Steinmetz and Jordan Sweeney.
“Having this group as the core group my first three years at the helm has been fantastic,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “They have bought into everything we want the program to be, have never questioned what we’re trying to build, have taken academics seriously, and have been role models for the younger girls in the program.
“They’re an incredibly special group that individually have overcome adversities like season-ending injuries to create the family atmosphere we have now. We are very proud of them, and proud that they are the ones wearing CR South across their shirts.”
Heim gave a special shout out to his manager, Amanda Zimmerman.
“I told her tonight that I could not be at a game and it could run smoothly because of how vital she is to us,” the Rock South coach said.
Council Rock South (9-3) closed out its season with a 15-6-1
Council Rock South 1-0 1
Freedom 1-2 3
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