Brett Miller comes through for Council Rock North in win over Truman

BRISTOL TWP. — These have been tough times for the Council Rock North boys soccer team. A squad that made it as far as the state semifinals in 2011 has found wins in the regular season tough to come by in the three years since.

That’s what makes Wednesday’s triumph over Suburban One National League (SONL) rival Harry S Truman a big one. Eighteen and a half minutes into the second half, junior Brett Miller gathered in a through ball booted into the Tigers’ end of the field by classmate Max Myhylyk then slid it past the outstretched arms of Truman keeper Fernando Mendez.

The lone goal by Miller proved to be all the Indians would need to get past the home team Tigers and push their way to 4-6 in the SONL, 4-8 overall.

“At halftime, our coach said we had the majority of the play in the first half,’ said senior co-captain Josh Hinton. “And we knew this game was crucial for possibly moving on past Oct. 15.

“So we came out with a little bit of extra hype that this game was a necessity for our season.’

When North first entered the game, the players put a little extra mustard on some of their shots, narrowly missing a pair of golden opportunities in the first few minutes of the skirmish which took place on the turf at Henry Morgan Stadium.

“We had two chances in the first five minutes and should have been up two-nothing; we just didn’t finish,’ said Indians head coach Joe Stackhouse.

In addition to those early opportunities missed, the Rock failed to put the ball in the back of the net in the opening minutes of the second half, despite numerous chances.

Junior Jared Scharf booted a wicked shot from the top of the left-hand corner of the box and remarkably, the ball stayed out of the net after glancing off the right-hand corner of the crossbar.

Sophomore Eric Levine missed an open net after being served with a perfect ball from the corner by Scharf. Myhylyk missed a point-blank shot that went high over the cross bar and Scharf’s shot off a corner kick from Noah Ehlin was just wide-left only moments before the goal by Miller.

Served up by Myhylyk from deep inside North territory, Miller beat Truman senior Angel Rodriguez, who was the only Tiger defender standing between the Indian forward and the goalkeeper. Mendez came way outside the box in an effort to limit Miller’s options but literally had no chance of keeping the ball out of the back of the net.

“When we have guys missing three inches left of the post or two inches above the crossbar, we were on the edge of our seats,’ said Hinton.

“When (Miller) finally put the ball in the back of the net, it was a sign of relief.

“We knew eventually one would fall, it was just a matter of time.’

It was the second time this season that North emerged with a win over Truman. The other victories have come at the expense of Bensalem, a 3-0 shutout and CR South, which went to overtime.

With three straight losses at the outset, Rock’s season started off slow. Most of the Indians’ losses were close. A 2-1 opening loss to Wissahickon, sandwiched around a 2-0 loss to William Tennent, led to a 3-2 double overtime heartbreaker suffered at the hands of SONL rival Pennsbury (8-2), currently in second place behind unbeaten Neshaminy (9-0).

With less than three minutes left in the second extra period, Falcon midfielder Keion Randolph poked home a rebound of a Zach LaBosso shot for the game-winner.

A Sept 27 night game at Owen J. Roberts was another one that got away from the Rock. The Wildcats put a pair of goals into the back of the net on strikes by Bruce Dowling who tallied in both the fourth and the 15th minute.

A goal by North junior Arthur Vasyluk cut the deficit in half but after neither side tallied in the second half, the score stood.

Today (Oct. 2), North faces another tough non-league foe in Strath Haven, a tough Central League opponent that shut Pennsbury out early on in the season. On Monday, Oct. 6, the Indians face defending Philadelphia Catholic League champion Father Judge.