Council Rock South notched an important win over Neshaminy, and Springfield picked up a non-league win in SOL girls’ soccer action on Wednesday.
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 2, NESHAMINY 0
On Sept. 19, the Golden Hawks beat Pennsbury for the first time in the careers of the current senior class.
Wednesday, CR South followed it up with an equally impressive victory under the lights at Neshaminy. With wins over the Falcons, last season's SOL National champ and Neshaminy, the reigning District I champion, the Hawks have made quite a mark in the first half of the season.
Topping Neshaminy on its own turf was the payoff of a season's worth of building toughness.
"It's a very tough venue," Hawks coach Nick Heim said. "Since preseason we've been preaching mental toughness. It paid off tonight. We were able to make adjustments and put together close to 80 full minutes of soccer."
If South has designs on the postseason, it will face plenty of environments like the one it went into on Wednesday.
"That type of environment is a great test for us. When it's under the lights in front of a good crowd, the players can react out of the ordinary," Heim said. "I was proud of how the girls handled the situation; they didn't get too emotionally high or low and stayed mentally tough."
Sierra Tarantino found Jordi Rubkah on a diagonal ball 12:07 into the first half with Rubkah sneaking it inside the post for the first score. CR South doubled its advantage in the 59th minute when Julia Goldberg put home a ball from Sammy Jones off a corner kick.
Neshaminy's offense is capable of scoring multiple goals, so the Hawks had their work cut out defensively.
"They're a very talented team. They're big, fast and skilled," Heim said. "We wanted to focus on staying organized in the midfield and keeping possession to help alleviate defensive pressure. Our back line works well together and keeps our defensive shape where we want it."
South's back line of Callie Deola, Grace O'Kane, Carly Hickey and Emily Kavash was up to the task and had plenty of help from their keeper.
"Emily Helmich in goal is also a huge asset for us," Heim said. "She's able to keep us in good positions by calling out shifts and she's a calming presence for our back line."
Heim noted the play of midfielders Julie Rebh, Sammy Jones and Paige Mikula.
"They seemed to always be around the ball, closing passing lanes and generating our offense," Heim said.
While the Hawks have put together an impressive first half of the season, they aren't looking any further than Thursday.
"The last thing we said tonight was to make sure we get a good practice in tomorrow," Heim said. "We preach to win the day, if it's a game day or not. We want to make sure we get a little better every time we are together."
Council Rock South (10-0, 7-0 SOL) will host Hopewell Valley Central in a non-league game on Friday, and Neshaminy (5-4-1, 3-2-1) will be on the road at Unionville for a non-league game Friday.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1 1 – 2
NESHAMINY 0 0 – 0
Goals: CRS – Jordi Rubkah, Julia Goldberg
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 1, UPPER MERION 0
DJ Bosca scored with five minutes remaining in the first half. The Spartans made that goal stand the rest of the way.
“We dominated most of the game, and we shot 20,000 different ways and we couldn’t do it,” Wolf said. “We had a tough game yesterday. We played Quakertown and lost 5-0, so we were pretty tired. We were playing a little bit backwards, but I don’t think they had a shot on goal.”
Putting a damper on the win over the Spartans’ former conference rival was an injury to outside midfielder Emily Cooney with time winding down.
“That was a big loss for us,” Wolf said. “She played a great game.
“We’re hoping it’s nothing severe. She’s involved in almost every single play.”
Springfield Township (3-6, 1-5 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Thursday.
UPPER MERION 0 0 – 0
SPRINGFIELD 1 0 – 1
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