Council Rock South rallies back, stuns North Penn

TOWAMENCIN >> Down 7-4 in the second half, Council Rock South didn’t panic but rather plotted.

“We kind of just talked it out,” said Cailey Hiscox. “We got our defense together and got that sorted out. We just made sure their players were covered and made sure we weren’t forcing it on our attacking side.

“We were taking it a little slow, making sure we had an open shot, or just pulling out and waiting.”

The Golden Hawks came all the way back to even things up, then went ahead for good with about four minutes to play on a goal by Hiscox.

Council Rock South then wore out the clock with a tremendous passing display, holding on for a satisfying 8-7 victory over the Knights.

“I’m proud of them. They came back from a deficit and worked really hard,” Rock South coach Madison Hurwitz said. “They played 50 straight minutes and gave us everything they had.”

Hiscox led the way with four goals, Rianna Shields had three and Carley Irvin added a tally, as Rock South forced a three-way tie for second place in the Suburban One League National Conference.

The Golden Hawks, North Penn and Central Bucks South all finished at 8-2 in the conference, with Pennsbury taking the title at 9-1. The Knights had a chance to earn a share of the title with a win over Rock South on Thursday, but their second-half lead slipped away.

“Our defense did a nice job today, marking up on their girls and fighting through some of their plays,” Knights coach Heather Mellow said. “We didn’t take care of the ball when we needed to, and made some bad shooting decisions and it cost us.”

Both squads are playoff-bound. North Penn entered the contest ranked 19th in District 1-3A, with Rock South at No. 10.

Said Hurwitz, a former player at Rock South who has guided a turnaround for the program: “We’re ready for the playoffs, for the first time in many years. And we know that this win helps us with our seeding, so we’re pumped.”

Patience paid off for the Golden Hawks at the offensive end, especially in the final minutes.

“I was glad to get the last goal,” Hiscox said. “That was really exciting. A few of our girls were getting double teamed so I think we handled that well, trying to find the open player at the end and just going to goal.”

The win was cemented by the defense and keeper Sophia Kutsaya, who came through in the clutch.

“She had two really huge saves in the final four minutes of the game,” Hurwitz said, “so that was pretty awesome.”

“This is a huge win,” Hiscox said. “We came off a tough loss yesterday (to Pennsbury) so it was really important we win today. We were really fighting for that.”

Things looked good for North Penn when Emily Varilla (four goals), Jordan Baily (one goal), Danielle Preston (one goal) and Kayla Stressman (one goal) combined their efforts to produce a 4-3 lead at the half and a 7-4 advantage midway through the second half.

“There’s been parts of our game that’s been great in the last couple games,” Mellow said. “And then there’s been parts of our game that we really need to focus on cleaning up.”