Pennsbury punches ticket to District 1 final with OT win over CB West

NEWTOWN — For 84 minutes, 13th-seeded CB West held top seed Pennsbury off the scoreboard, pushing the District 1 semifinal battle to overtime, despite being outshot 15-5 in regulation.

In overtime, the Lady Falcons were not going to be denied however with senior Uche Onuoha nearly ending the duel 30 seconds into the extra session with a rocket directed to the left side of the Bucks’ goal. Junior Jadyn Peto also missed a golden opportunity 3-and-a-half minutes into overtime. Forty five seconds later, it was all over, with Peto getting onto the end of a through ball launched at the 20 by Onouha and booting it up and over CB West goalkeeper Grace Bendon for the golden goal Thursday night, Oct. 30 at Council Rock North.

We knew that when that ball got in there, she was going to put it away,’ said senior captain Megan Engeland. “That’s definitely her job and she finished.’

Pennsbury dominated the last 45 minutes of the contest, outshooting West 14-3 in that span. However, the Falcons certainly didn’t start the game the way they finished. The Falcons looked flustered at times in the first half where they enjoyed only a 4-2 shots advantage.

Engeland attributed Pennsbury’s timid play in the first half to her team looking back as opposed to ahead to Saturday night’s District final against No. 2 CB East, a 3-0 winner over 14th-seeded Council Rock South.

Who could blame them, really? This group is the first bunch from the school to make states since 2006. They did so in improbable fashion, posting a pair of quick goals by sophomore Caroline Foley and Engeland Tuesday, Oct. 28 at home against No. 8 Spring-Ford, a district and state finalist in 2013.

“We were cherishing the fact that we just clinched our state spot and we weren’t really focusing on the next step which is the district championship,’ said Engeland.

“At halftime, our coaches told us we needed to focus and everybody really got into the game and we started to get up the field really well from there.’

After playing a lot of dump and chase in the first half, the Falcons came out and possessed the ball in the second. The switch seemed to work with Pennsbury outshooting the opposition 11-3 after the intermission. A free kick from the 40 along the right sideline by senior Amy Blazejewski nearly found the goal in the 44th minute after deflecting off the head of a CB West defender.