CR North & Quakertown were winners in SOL girls’ soccer action Tuesday. CR South photo provided courtesy of Council Rock South girls soccer.
SOL Patriot
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 4, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
The Indians saved their best for last in Tuesday’s Unity Cup game against the Golden Hawks, scoring all four of their goals in a 13-minute span late in the second half.
“We spoke before the game – if you look at our scores and our games, we’ve played all the way through the game,” Rock North coach Gavin Flannigan said. “(Almost) every game this season has been a one-goal game. The girls have an incredible ability just to play and keep playing and playing regardless of the score. Whether it’s up or down, they always keep going.
“We said at halftime, ‘It’s 0-0, we haven’t played great’ and just stressed to them to keep going and going. Once we got one, I think that lifted some of the pressure.”
With 25 minutes remaining in regulation, the Indians broke through and got on the scoreboard on a goal by Taylor Brennan.
“Our first goal came down the right-hand side,” Flannigan said. “Maya Raghunandanan played a ball down the right, Kyra Del Signore crossed it – it was a little bit of a misplay. The ball was going toward the goalkeeper, and Taylor Brennan just willed herself to get there first and got there before the goalkeeper and shot it in from a wide position.
“If you had been watching the game at that point, you wouldn’t have thought that was going to be a goal, but Taylor saw something that she could get there, and she got there and just made it happen. That’s a big moment in a game like that – it’s the first goal.”
Two minutes later, the Indians tacked on another Brennan goal.
“We had a couple of corner kicks, and Sara Tyler, our freshman right back, sent a ball to the back post, and again, Taylor got up and headed it back across past the goalkeeper – it was a pretty good goal,” Flannigan said. “The third goal with 18 minutes left was another corner kick. I think it was an own goal. Nobody is really sure. Sara (Tyler) hit it in, everybody was in the box, and there was a scramble.”
Alyssa Tyler scored Rock’s final goal, capping a remarkable four-goal tear by the Indians.
“It was very nice,” Flannigan said of the game’s final goal. “We possessed the ball a little bit. Jayne Bogle got down the left-hand side, she picked her head up, and she drilled it across right to the middle. Alyssa Tyler was there and first-time finished it past the goalkeeper.”
And what brought about the dramatic change that resulted in four goals in short order?
“I think a couple of things, honestly,” Flannigan said. “South played at Neshaminy last night. It was a seven o’clock game, and any game in our division is a battle.
“We knew going in – and we spoke about it with the girls – that this doesn’t have to be immediate, and hopefully, our energy, our pressure and our work will grind them down a little bit and make a difference, and maybe that’s the outcome.”
Flannigan credited the play of his defense in the shutout win.
“Our defense has been very solid,” the Indians’ coach said. “With Riley Hamilton, Morgan McCaffery in the back in the middle and Danielle (Eden) in goal, we feel now we have a settled defense. They work together well. I think the girls feel the confidence behind them because it’s been proven in the games we’ve played and our number of clean sheets.
“Taylor (Brennan) in the middle of the field is a luxury. She’s a committed Division 1 athlete – she’s going to Michigan, and I think the girls are learning to play to her level and with her as opposed to hoping she will do something to change the game. That’s a two-way street. She believes in them as much as they believe in her, and we’re starting to see the rewards of that. She definitely gives belief to the group. She’s not the only one, but they look at her and see where she’s heading, and they take a lot from her direction basically.”
The win was the fifth in a row for the streaking Indians, and this one brings the Unity Cup back to Rock North after Rock South won it last year.
“We’ve been on a good roll, but North/South – we seem to trade these games, but (Rock South coach Nick Heim) still has the upper hand on me,” Flannigan said. “When we play this game, one of us obviously wins, and when we both write (about the game) – we have great respect for each other, and it’s really true.
“We have this rivalry because we’re sister schools, but we stand on the sideline and we joke and we coach and we see the game the same way, but it also translates over into school. Nick teaches at North, and he knows most of the girls in my program. He sees them day in and day out, and they have great relationships with him. It’s a rivalry, but it’s a very fair, very friendly and very respectful rivalry that we have.
“Even tonight, they lose the game. They obviously weren’t ecstatic about that. My girls were celebrating and took their pictures. Nick stuck around, and he talked to a couple of my girls after the game, congratulated them on a great career at North. It was a classy move. He could have wandered off into the night and been done with it, but he took the time to say those things and talked to those kids which shows you the coach he is, the person he is and the program he has.”
Council Rock North (9-4, 8-3 SOL) – 15th in the latest District One 4A power rankings – will travel to Bensalem on Friday, and Council Rock South (6-5-1) will host Pennsbury on Friday. The Golden Hawks were ranked 24th after Tuesday’s game.
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Council Rock North 0-4 4
QUAKERTOWN 3, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 0
The Panthers erupted for three goals in final 10 minutes of regulation, turning a scoreless tie into an impressive three-goal non-league win with goals in the 72nd, 74th and 76th minute.
“We had a little bit of a blitz right at the end,” coach Jon Gingrich said. “We pushed a little harder, we changed the formation a little bit. We wanted to try to get the win.
“We took a girl from defense to striker, and it worked out.”
Callie Abel broke the scoring drought for both teams when she turned a Lauren Harwick pass into a goal in the 72nd minute.
“We had a lot of pressure in the second half, and we just could not finish,” Gingrich said. “I wanted to not lose our sheet, but I wanted to go for the win.”
Two minutes later, Harwick found the net.
“It was a cross that popped off the goalie, and she was in the right place to pop it back in,” Gingrich said.
In the 76th minute, Abel connected on her second goal, this one unassisted.
“She got the ball on the outside and just pretty much went down to the corner, came across, shot it into the corner – goal,” said Gingrich, going on to praise the Panthers’ defense. “I want to give a special shoutout to our three center backs – Carolyn Sipprell, Ang Calvanese and Mackenna Calabria.
“They played strong the whole game. They kept it 0-0 for us the whole time, and that’s why I thought I was able to move our one outside wing back up to striker because they were playing so strong.
“I’ve been telling the girls – ‘This is the time we really need to get the wins.’ We’ve been struggling to put some goals in, and this one was where we needed to have that breakout. We’ve been pretty lucky the last two games to have girls stepping up and doing what they need to do.”
Quakertown (7-4-2, 6-3-2 SOL) – 22nd in the latest District One 4A power rankings – is back in action on Wednesday at Upper Dublin.
Archbishop Carroll 0-0 0
Quakertown 0-3 3
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