Angelo’s strong start helps Pennridge outlast CB East

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EAST ROCKHILL >> There’s a different Tori Angelo on the soccer pitch for Pennridge this fall.

The speed on the wings, the physical jostling with defenders and the aggression haven’t changed but it’s the way the Rams junior forward is combining them that’s paying dividends. Angelo has gotten off to a flying start this fall and in no coincidence, played her best game of the season Wednesday night as Pennridge faced its biggest test so far against Central Bucks East.

Angelo delivered two strong goals in the first half, then helped her side fend off a furious charge by the Patriots in the final act as the Rams took their home opener 2-1 in the first of two meetings between the SOL Colonial contenders this fall.

“I’m kind of known to be an aggressive player in club and I’ve worked to carry that over to the high school team here,” Angelo said. “I’m working to try and keep getting the ball in the back of the net. A lot of times I’ll do a lot of work and especially last year, I didn’t have nearly as many goals as I wanted, so I’m trying to do more of that.”

Angelo, who as usual had her older sister Maddie’s name written on the tape wrapped around her right wrist, emerged as a jolt in the attack as a freshman while scoring some pivotal playoff goals as the Rams won a state title. Taking up a starting spot last fall, she never found a consistent scoring form and only had four total goals on the season.

After Wednesday’s accounting was finished, Angelo is already at four goals in just three games — a good return on investment in any market. She’s helping her own stock too, with an assistant coach from St. Joe’s at Wednesday’s match to watch her play.

If it’s not anything new in skill or style, what’s the difference in Angelo’s ability to impact play this fall? Rams coach Audrey Anderson had one word for it.

“Maturity,” Anderson said. “She’s got four goals in three games and last year, she probably had a total of four goals. That’s a sign of her maturity, she’s stronger this year and she’s more focused so we’ll definitely take it.”

Wednesday’s result was a frustrating one for the Patriots, who dropped to 1-2 in the division with a pair of one-goal losses to Central Bucks West and Pennridge. Having played mostly on the defensive in the first half, with Pennridge’s press and connectivity in the middle limiting their looks, the Patriots fought back after halftime.

East (2-2-0, 1-2-0 SOL Colonial), which split the SOL Colonial silverware with Pennridge (3-0-0, 3-0-0 SOL Colonial) last fall before qualifying for the state tournament, has certainly played a difficult early schedule that also includes win over Abington and Central Bucks South in the Central Bucks rivalry triangle. However, that doesn’t meant the team is satisfied with a 2-2 record and senior Gwyn Krystkiewicz feels her team is close, just needing to capture a sense of urgency in every day going forward.

“I think we’re definitely getting there, I think the next step is at practice, we just need to bring it a little more,” Krystkiewicz said. “We need to have a purpose with our practice, to emphasize what we want to do in the games but I definitely think we’re doing a really good job of keeping our heads up and pushing through the game.”

Pennridge had the first chance of the game with junior Liv Grenda firing a shot that somehow caromed off both posts but never crossed the goal line thanks to a timely grab by East keeper Mae Leedy. Leedy, who took the first half and Aralynn Patterson after the break combined for six saves in the game with Patterson making a couple terrific stops on Grenda and Casey Malone by the fingertips of her keeper gloves.

Angelo’s opening tally embodied the approach Pennridge is trying to take offensively this year. After receiving the ball on the flank, Angelo cut in and powered through a tackle attempt before tapping a pass to Sophie Craig. Craig, the ball and a defender’s leg all met with the loose ball clipping Angelo in the midsection as she continued her run at the top of the box.

Taking a touch in, the junior let loose a shot just as a pair of backs converged, tucking the finish into the bottom corner 10 minutes in.

“Not every goal is going to be pretty,” Angelo said. “All that matters is that the ball goes in the back of the net.”

Five minutes later, she would double the tally thanks to a well-timed run and a sublime play from a teammate. A second ball out of the Rams’ defensive third came Grenda’s way, with the midfielder nodding it down and taking off on the dribble, wrong-footing a defender before spraying a diagonal pass into acreage on the right flank.

The ball found Angelo in stride, the forward took a big touch out in front then as she caught up to it, struck a low snarling, sidewinder of a shot that found the far corner.

“Everyone knows Liv Grenda is a great dribbler and can get through anybody so when we all see when she gets the ball, it’s time to get open for her,” Angelo said. “We’re all pretty positive she can get it to us.”

Pennridge tallied seven corner kicks the rest of the first half but had to settle for a 2-0 lead at the half. After applying another spell of pressure to start the second half, tacking on a few more corners for good measure, the Rams’ one-way traffic flow started coming back the other way.

East made some tactical changes but it was mostly due to effort. The Patriots were battling for the ball at every turn and their work yielded a free kick about 35 yards on the left side with a shade less than seven minutes remaining. Senior Elliot Forney dropped a strong service at the edge of the six-yard box where it met a mass of bodies and came out on the other side where Jessie Bernabe — who a few minutes earlier had stung a shot just high — hammered home the finish.

“We worked our butts off to get it to 2-1 instead of settling for 2-0,” Krystkiewicz said. “We talked at halftime, it was a consensus of ‘we see what they have, we’re still in this game.’ It’s not like we were going to totally fall behind, we saw the potential we had and we brought it all out there and gave it all we’ve got.”

The Patriots return to play Saturday morning against Souderton and are eager to get on a positive run so when they meet the Rams again next month, the stakes will still be high on the outcome. Likewise, Pennridge goes from one test to another as it faces CB West on Friday a little wiser from Wednesday’s experience.

“It was gritty at the end and we talked about how we need games like this early in the season,” Anderson said. “They have to learn from those moments and when we’re saying ‘don’t panic,’ it’s because there’s no need to panic. I was happy with how they played and we’ll need it because we’ll see teams like (East) and even see them again, I just hope we don’t have to see them again after that in the playoffs.”

PENNRIDGE 2 0 – 2

CB EAST 0 1 – 1

Goals: P – Tori Angelo, Angelo (Liv Grenda); CBE – Jessie Bernabe

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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