By Alex Frazier
Thursday’s SOL games settled one conference title and muddled another.
Council Rock South locked in the National Conference title with a whopping 9-2 win over Pennsbury.
Central Bucks South, meanwhile, kept afloat in the Continental Conference race by defeating Central Bucks West 1-0.
Council Rock South made it 12 in a row without a loss in a dominating performance.
The Golden Hawks haven’t lost since April 8 when Neshaminy beat them 1-0.
“We knew going into this particular match that it would create separation from everybody else for the remainder of the year,” said South coach Tim Keddie. “It was a big highlight and a difficult game because Pennsbury is a fine team. They have excellent players.”
Pennsbury has suddenly cooled off after a sizzling win streak that put the Falcons in contention for the title. Tuesday William Tennent defeated the Falcons 4-3 in overtime.
“High school soccer, in my opinion, is who’s going to be able to play consistently,” said Keddie. “Our players went through this last year.”
Council Rock South went up 2-0 before Pennsbury’s Molly Phillips cut the deficit to one.
Rock keeper Jess Levy came up with some incredible saves to silence the Falcons, while the Hawks scored two more goals to take a 4-1 lead into the half.
“At halftime we distinctly reminded the girls that they needed to keep their foot on the gas pedal,” Keddie said.
Seven minutes into the second half, Lauren Heath scored the backbreaker on an assist from Alexa Crosier, and the Hawks kept the pedal to the metal.
“Once we scored No. 5 the game was pretty much over,” said Keddie.
Heath finished with five goals (four of those came in a span of 16 minutes in the first half), Paige MacDowell notched three and Cara Deola, who had three assists, chipped in one.
Council Rock South finished with 14 shots to Pennsbury’s seven. Levy had four saves, while Casey Meade and Shannon Kehoe combined for two.
“The whole team played well from goalkeeper to forwards to anybody coming off the bench,” said Keddie. “That’s what I truly care about. Individual efforts are special, but the bottom line is the whole team just jelled tonight.”
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After two 1-0 losses and a 1-0 overtime squeaker against Souderton, Central Bucks South got back on track Thursday.
“We needed that to re-assure ourselves that we are legit,” said coach Joe Bocklet. “It was a good game. Both teams played well.”
Most of the game was played between the 18s.
South scored in the 25th minute when Maddy Vitelli dribbled between a West central defender and outside back and slid the ball across the goal to Buchanan Dwyer, who turned on her defender and buried the shot from about eight yards out.
“It was a good goal,” said Bocklet.
From there on out, The Titans played “conservative attack.”
West had one good opportunity in the second half on Sam Moyer’s breakaway, but Meghan Kaminski came up with the save to preserve the shutout.
“We scored on our biggest opportunity, and our keeper came up with a big save on theirs,” said Bocklet. “Other than that it was pretty much up and down.”
South finished with 10 shots to C.B. West’s 2. Kaminski stopped two shots, while West keeper Bre Benedict saved seven shots.
The Continental Conference is a logjam at top. With the win, the Titans catapult past West at 9-2. Pennridge, which defeated Hatboro-Horsham 1-0, also moved to 9-2 to keep pace with South. The Bucks are now one game back at 8-2. The conference title could go down to the last day of the season when West and Pennridge play a makeup game.
Any ties at the end of the season will produce co-champions, but tiebreakers will be in effect for district seeding.
“As long as we’re playing how we are, I’m not concerned about first, second or third,” said Bocklet. “I think we have a shot. We won the division last year and we’d like to win it again, but the girls just want to get to the playoffs.”
Other games
North Penn 1, Quakertown 0
The Maidens used a first-half goal by Meghan Kelley (Katie Huber assist) to down the visiting Panthers. The Maidens held a 19-1 advantage in shots, but Quakertown keeper Sarah Fothergill kept the game close, turning away 15 shots.
Pennridge 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Pennridge’s Mollie O'Brien scored the game-winning goal on an assist from Natalia Pinkney in the 52nd minute of Thursday’s game.
The Lady Rams outshot Hatboro, 15-9.
The Rams are now 9-2 in the Continental Conference (12-2-1 overall) with a key matchup against Central Bucks West in the final game of the season (May 13).
Upper Moreland 1, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Upper Moreland’s Alyssa Wasson scored the game winner on an unassisted left-footed, follow-up blast.
Golden Bears’ keeper Leslie Weaver recorded the shutout with nine saves.
The Bears had 10 shots overall.
Wissahickon 4, Cheltenham 1
Alex Schaefer scored three goals for the Trojans and Cailen Grey added a fourth. Rachel Stone made three saves to preserve the win.
Council Rock South 1, Central Bucks East 1 OT (Monday)
After Central Bucks East took the lead on a toe-poke, no-angle shot Monday, the Hawks’ Chrissy Vollrath came back to knot the score.
“We actually played a fantastic soccer game,” said South coach Tim Keddie. “We struggled putting the ball in the back of the net, and they played well defensively. They had one shot on goal.”
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