Battle with Pennsbury prepared Council Rock South for District 1 playoffs

Often, the mark of a good team is their ability to handle adversity. You can either succumb or come roaring back. After some tough early season action, the Council Rock South girls soccer team is roaring loud and clear in the District One playoffs.

In the opening round of the PIAA District One tourney, they knocked off the defending district and state champ, Neshaminy by a 1-0 score. Junior co-captain Emily Wilkinson nailed the winning shot with 35 minutes left in the game. On Saturday, Oct. 25, the Golden Hawks soundly thumped No. 3 seed West Chester Rustin 2-1 on goals by Kasey Schlupp and Julie Rebh.

Yet, the road to district success has presented coach Kim Francis’s charges many a speed bump. Before the start of the school year, the whole school suffered an emotional blow when three of their peers died in an auto accident. Goalkeeper Allison Taub, senior co-captain, felt the down moments actually helped bond the team.

“This is my third year playing and I’d say this is the closest our team has ever been, especially since the beginning of the year after what happened at our school. We came together as a team. We had our struggles in the middle of the season but now, we’re getting our flow back. My teammates are all really good players and they play for the person next to them and not themselves.’

As convincing as the whitewash win over Rustin was, Allison felt the real key to the season took place in their regular season finale against Pennsbury. “Beating Rustin was great. We played our best game of the season. But the real turning point was our last game against Pennsbury.’

The night before the battle with the Falcons, the Hawks had lost a heartbreaking 2-1 duel against Neshaminy, a team they had beaten 3-1 in their first match-up.