North Penn clinches PIAA berth with PK win over Pennsbury in District 1-4A quarterfinals

FALLS >> It took 110 minutes of scoreless soccer and six penalty kick attempts by either team, but eventually a winner was crowned as No. 13 North Penn and No. 5 Pennsbury met in Saturday’s District 1-4A quarterfinal.

In the end it was a save by North Penn goalie Anna Fiore in penalty kicks that pushed the Knights past the Falcons, 1-0, advancing them to the semifinals and booking the team’s first trip to the state tournament since 2007.

“It’s been maybe 15 years since the girls soccer team has made it this far, yet alone qualified for states,” North Penn co-head coach Mike Rio said. “It’s something all these girls dream about, and talk about but to actually have them realize that goal is a special moment.”

After a scoreless regulation and two scoreless 15-minute overtime periods, the two teams stood at midfield and prepared for penalty kicks.

Cynthia Sheehy, Emily Varilla, Lauran Blanch and Emily Schurr all scored for the Knights in penalty kicks, but four of the first five Pennsbury players also scored, meaning Rio would have to pick someone outside his first five to take the team’s next kick. He chose senior Casey Cavanaugh, who stepped to the spot and drilled a shot past Pennsbury keeper Erika Hansen.

“Usually I’m part of the first five (to take PKs), but today my leg was hurting a lot and I didn’t want to risk that for the team,” Cavanaugh said. “But then when it goes to six I know I have to do it for my team. We’ve been working so hard and I just knew I wanted to finish it there.”

Cavanaugh’s goal set the stage for Fiore’s heroics, giving the sophomore goaltender a chance to win the game.

Pennsburry’s sixth penalty taker, senior Ashley Conlow, hit a driven, low ball right at the feet of Fiore, who dropped to her knees to save it before sprinting toward her team at midfield to celebrate the win.

“What was going through my mind was just that I knew if we saved it we would win,” Fiore said. “I knew we couldn’t go into more PKs, it was just adding more stress for everyone and we needed a stop.”

The game started with Pennsbury controlling possession for much of the first half, winning balls in the midfield and using their skill players to apply pressure on the North Penn defenders.

Pennsburry midfielder Rosie Bostian had two first-half free kick attempts from scoring range, but neither found the net as the two teams went into halftime tied.

The second half was a different story for the Knights as they settled in and started to get more chances.

About midway through the second half, Sheehy found Varilla on a perfectly timed flick that sent Varilla down the field with just the goalie to beat, but Hansen made the stop on North Penn’s best scoring chance.

“It was a really tough, back-and-forth game that both team’s played really well defensively and limited chances,” Rio said. “We started slow in the first half but in the second half I thought we really started playing well and finding each other on runs.”

The Knights are now unbeaten (8-0-1) in their last nine games, and a season that started with ups and downs has turned into the school’s deepest postseason run in more than a decade.

“It’s really amazing,” Rio said. “We started off the year slow, trying to figure some things out, and we started with seven games in two weeks. It didn’t give us a lot of time to practice, prepare and work on things in the training ground. Once the season opened up for us it gave us some time to work on things and I think we found the formula with our personnel.”

The Knights advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 9 Council Rock South and top-seeded Pennridge.

North Penn is the only team to beat Pennridge this season, topping the Rams, 2-1 on Oct. 17.