By Alex Frazier
Hustle.
Sometimes there’s just no substitute for it.
Central Bucks South entered Tuesday’s non-league matchup with Pennsbury, arguably one of the top four teams in District One and currently commanding the National Conference, as an obvious underdog.
But the Titans were not to be toppled as they hustled their way to a 1-0 upset.
“It feels pretty good,” said defender Dane Smith after the game. “They’re one of the best in the other conference. Just to come out here and beat them 1-0 is a hard win, but we got through it. It proves to the other teams we’re for real.”
The Titans’ aggressive approach in the first half forced the Falcons out of their favored short passing game. Pennsbury backs and midfielders launched long balls to their attack, but they were often run down by the speedy Titan defenders rather than their own linemen.
“This was probably the worst performance this season, without a doubt,” said Pennsbury coach Peter Hughes. “I could maybe point to three players who made the required effort and that’s disappointing.”
Hughes, however, was quick to credit South.
“They were scrappy and they always are,” he said. “They play hard and they play well, and they try to move the ball around. They deserved to win.”
South’s defense also did a good job of playing the trap, which caught Pennsbury in eight offside’s situations in the game.
“We have to do a better job of holding the ball up top and letting things happen,” said Pennsbury midfielder Joe Bucantis. “They did well with the offside’s trap and caught us a lot on it, more than usual. We have to recognize it earlier and adapt to it.”
As is often the case in soccer, it was a set play that produced the game winner.
In the 24th minute, South was awarded a corner kick from the left side of the field. Christian Rosero launched a perfect strike to the near post, and Mike Lambing headed it inside the post.
“We came out a little slow,” said Bucantis. “It was a long bus ride here. Every time we come here, we come out slow.”
Although the game did not bear on league standings since the two teams are in different conferences, it may have a bearing come district seeding time.
“We want to try to get a bye in the first round of the playoffs,” said Bucantis. “It was a big game for us to win.”
South coach Don Brady was impressed with his team’s performance in the first half.
“The possession was really good,” he said. “We were getting forward as a group, defending well. We did a great job in the first 40.”
Pennsbury came out on the attack in the second half, but the resilient Titans were able to withstand the assault, and in fact came within a whisker of going up 2-0.
In the 17th minute, Tom Stackhouse collected a clear from Pennsbury keeper Evan Kastrenakes on the left flank and fired a shot over the goalie’s head, only to have it bang off the crossbar.
“They turnedit up a notch,” said Brady. “That’s what a good team does. We had our moments where I thought we did a good job. If that second ball goes in, we probably would put them under pressure a little bit more.”
In the last 19 minutes, South defenders Zach Snavely, Smith, Justin Daniels and Rick Pieri held off a furious Pennsbury attack.
“We dropped back a couple of midfielders and just kept playing hard and getting it up to our forwards and keeping it out of trouble,” said Smith.
Goalie Dan Fritch also did a great job of corralling loose balls. He robbed Eddie Adams of a shot in the 21st minute, tipped a laser shot by Kyle McDonald overthe crossbar in the 25th minute and dove on a loose ball denying Bucantis an easy shot with less than three minutes to play.
“Fritch played well today,” said Smith. “That’s probably one of the best games I’ve seen him play. He came out, was real aggressive and luckily hung on.”
“We have to finish our opportunities a little bit more,” said Bucantis. “We couldn’t get it in the net.”
Pennsbury (11-3-1 overall, 9-2 SOL) now holds a five-point advantage over Council Rock North for the National Conference lead. The Falcons meet C.R. South Friday.
“If we win that, we should be all right for the playoffs,” said Bucantis. “We have to take every game at a time. Hopefully we’ll come out stronger in the playoffs than past years.”
For C.B. South (8-5 overall, 6-3 SOL), the win extended its current streak to four in a row. The Titans had last week off due to an unplayable field at Hatboro-Horsham and a lack of officials for their Friday game. They play archrival C.B. West Friday and have four games next week, and are still in the playoff hunt with Hatboro-Horsham, North Penn, and Pennridge.
“We’re playing the best soccer we’ve played this whole season,” said Smith. “We’re doing everything we can to get in the playoffs. I hope we can keep playing this well.”
Central Bucks South 1, Pennsbury 0
Goals: Michael Lambing (CBS)
Assists: Christian Rosero (CBS)
Saves: Dan Fritch (CBS) 10, Evan Kastrenakes (P) 3
Corners: Central Bucks South 4, Pennsbury 6
Fouls: Central Bucks South 5, Pennsbury 10
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