CB East, CR North and CB South all were winners in Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament. To view photos of the CB East/Cedar Cliff Game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
It was a good day for the SOL and District One.
All three SOL girls’ soccer teams won their opening round PIAA Class AAA Tournament games, and all five District One teams were winners in Tuesday’s opening round of the state tournament. Five of the eight teams still alive in the state tournament are from District One.
#1-1 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, #3-4 CEDAR CLIFF 0 (OT)
Hannah Zach scored the game winner in the 94th minute, propelling the Patriots to the overtime win in Tuesday’s state opener at War Memorial Field.
“After continuously pressing them and missing breakaway shots, after near-miss corners, we actually scored on a shot from 35 yards out that just beat the keeper, and it was a brilliant goal,” coach Paul Eisold said.
Don’t be fooled by the final score. The district champion Patriots controlled play. Their dominance is underscored by their 25-3 advantage in corner kicks.
“We were brilliant in the whole field except the final eight,” Eisold said. “We played extremely well, but we just couldn’t connect the final pass.
“Their goalkeeper came up huge, but we probably should have taken care of the game in the first 10 minutes. That being said, we let it go on and we didn’t finish appropriately, and it came back to haunt us because as the game wore on, they started getting life, and our chances became more and more pressured.”
Eisold lauded the performance of his entire squad.
“The whole team played well,” he said. “Our defense was awesome – Paige Weiss, Emily Horn, Megan Mannato, Katie Bloom and Abby Brown.
“Our midfield dominated pretty much most of the game. Maddie Myrtetus played outstanding. Hannah Zach moved up a little bit to forward and midfield, and Bri Talbot was outstanding in the midfield.
“We ended up moving some players to make things happen, and after all the opportunities we should have put away, we put away the most brilliant goal, which was spectacular.”
Katie Dolf and Kristen Obetz combined for the shutout in goal.
“They were outstanding,” Eisold said. “Kristen Obetz had an absolutely phenomenal save to keep us in the game late in the second half.”
Central Bucks East (22-0-1, 13-0-1 SOL) will face Council Rock North in a second round game on Saturday.
Cedar Cliff 0-0-0 0
Central Bucks East 0-0-1 1
#1-3 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, #2-1 WALLENPAUPAK 0
Not a whole lot can get in the way of a Council Rock North squad that has been on a roll, and the Indians proved that in Tuesday’s state opener, surviving a long road trip and inclement weather to earn the convincing win.
“It was wet and it was cold, but I didn’t see any complaints from our sidelines,” coach Wendell Beres said. “The first 15-20 minutes they were all over us and had more of the play, but once we got through the first 15-20 and kind of settled in and adjusted to the elements and got rid of the state playoff jitters – we kind of took over and did our thing.
“To our kids’ credit, they stayed with it and took care of business.”
Taking care of business is what the Indians have been doing a lot of these days. Tuesday’s win was their eighth in their last nine games.
“We started 2-3, and we’ve come a long way since that first week of the season,” Beres said. “We’ve got a lot of character, and although our senior class is very small, we’ve got great leadership, and the kids are just having fun.
“They’re having fun with it, they’re not taking it too seriously, but at the same time, they’re focused and working hard every day at practice with the exception of Monday and Tuesday of last week when we didn’t train very well, and it showed against Downingtown East on Wednesday. That was kind of a wake-up call.”
In Tuesday’s win, Kayla Robinson – who had a pair of goals – put the Indians on the scoreboard in the 23rd minute, turning a Tori Hill pass into a goal. Four minutes later, Hill found the back of the net, benefitting from a Becca Margolis assist. The Indians took that 2-0 lead into halftime.
In the 59th minute, Robinson (Casey McAlister assist) tacked on an insurance goal for the 3-0 final
“I was pretty pleased with all of the intangibles,” Beres said. “They had to battle a three-hour bus ride. We got there at 4:30 and had a meal, but you sit around, you’re waiting patiently, it’s raining and cold.
“Then you get out there and the other team is bringing it to you a little bit. They just battled through all of that and stuck with it. I’m very pleased with the effort. That’s how we got here, and that’s how we’re going to continue to carry on. If we go out at any point, we’re going to go out leaving our best effort on the field.”
Beres acknowledged the play of several players.
“Caitlyn Duffy for the second game in a row – she was the one who was really able to settle things down in the midfield,” the Indians’ coach said. “I don’t know that she’s ever played center midfield before Saturday, but she’s done a great job of winning the battles and kind of settling everything down in there and giving us a little bit of a jump start.
“I’m very pleased with the way she’s been playing in there. Kayla (Robinson) did a great job tonight, and Casey McAlister also was a very good offensive weapon coming out of the back and set up what was the third and most important goal in my eyes.”
Council Rock North (16-5-3, 9-3-2 SOL) will face Central Bucks East in an all-SOL quarterfinal match in Saturday’s second round. The two teams are hardly strangers – both teams worked together at a summer camp run by East coach Mike Gorni.
“Paul (Eisold) and I are very good friends – we go way back,” Beres said. “I spent two weeks of the summer with our kids and their kids at the same camp.
“A bunch of my players are there and the majority of the CB East players are there, so we’re very familiar with each other, and we’re very excited at the opportunity to go up against those guys.
“We’ve been saying all along – just like when we play Pennsbury in our league, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. We have the opportunity to do that Saturday. We know we’ll have our hands full, but we’ll be prepared and we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
Council Rock North 2-1 3
Wallenpaupak0-0 0
#1-5 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, #3-1 DANIEL BOONE 1
Betsy Bullock called her team ‘the cardiac kids,’ and they certainly fit the bill in Tuesday’s state opener, scoring the game winner with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
Courtney Taylor set up the game winner by Alexsa Peev to propel the Titans to the heartstopping win.
“I told them at the half we had to settle down and play more possession, which we started to do,” Bullock said. “There was a combination in the middle – two nice passes, and then Courtney threaded the ball off to Alexsa Peev who was playing forward.
“She literally got a toe on it and it went right around the goalkeeper and trickled in. It was slow motion.”
Bullock admits she was figuring out her overtime lineup when Peev scored the game winner.
“I’m very happy we’re not in OT because it’s cold and wet,” the Titans’ coach said. “It’s extremely exciting because everyone wrote us off.
“I really felt from the beginning that we had a good core of talent, and if we put it together right, we could go pretty far. I’m not sure I expected we would go this far, but I’m delighted that we are.”
Take away the dramatic ending, and it was a game of limited opportunities for both squads.
“It was kind of an ugly game because of the weather and the conditions,” Bullock said. “We’re a real nice possession team, and with these kind of conditions and the team we were playing who really tended to play big, over the top, lots of long balls, we couldn’t really settle into a rhythm.
“They had a couple of opportunities, but we contained them, and we didn’t have that many opportunities ourselves.”
Bullock credited the performance of her midfielders.
“They really helped us out today,” she said. “Lindsay Weiss – on the outside – did a really nice job with controlling the ball, but it was a real team win.”
Sophia Boggs once again came up big in goal in the shutout.
“She had two outstanding saves that kept us in,” said Bullock. “They were very dangerous. They had a girl (Alayna Roesener) who had a very long throw that was like a corner, so our defenders had to really step up.
“They’ve won a lot of games on set pieces like that, and we didn’t allow it, which was good, but we couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Central Bucks South (15-7-2, 7-5-2 SOL) will face Upper St. Clair, the District 7 runner-up, in a second round game on Saturday. Upper St. Clair defeated District 10 champion McDowell 3-0.
Central Bucks South 0-1 1
Daniel Boone 0-0 0
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