Council Rock South girls soccer blanks Souderton to keep season alive

HOLLAND – Council Rock South kept its season alive, bouncing back with a 5-0 triumph over visiting Souderton in a District 1 Class 4A consolation matchup with the 7th-seeded Indians, who saw their season come to a close at 15-6.

Coming off a 1-0 heartbreaking loss to Pennsbury in the D1 Quarterfinals, the Golden Hawks know, this time of the year, it’s win or go home.

“That definitely motivates us for every game,” said CR South senior Callie Deola. “We have the potential to make it far this year and we know that each game, we have to play our best because it could be our last.”

The 6th-seeded Hawks played like a team on a mission, getting a pair of goals in the first half from senior Paige Mikula to take a 4-0 lead by the intermission.

Midway through the second half, CR South senior Keira Flanagan headed a feed from junior Carly Hickey into the back of the net to push the score to its final.

“We knew one way or another, this was going to be the last game the seniors got to play on their home field,” said Hawks first-year head coach Nick Heim. “Four years of hard work for one final game together, it was really nice to see them come out and get a win.

“I think we set the tone and we were aggressive right from the beginning. We were able to get a few (goals) early on so it was nice for the seniors; I was glad they were able to play their last game and come out with a solid victory against a really good team.”

Six minutes into the elimination playoff, Mikula took a feed from CR South sophomore Alex Jones, putting her team on top 1-0 early on. Then, with 2:20 left in the first half, she took a feed from classmate Callie Deola and converted, putting the Hawks up, 4-0.

In between, CR South senior Julie Rebh poked home a rebound of a Sara McDonald shot off a cross from Jones in the 25th minute.

In the 36th minute, South junior Sierra Tarantino took another one of those crosses from Jones – Alex recorded three assists in the contest – and converted.

“We just played more of our game,” said Deola. “We really passed the ball around more.”

Playing without its leading scorer, senior forward Allie Trick who led her team this year with 18 goals and 14 assists, Souderton was able to push the ball into the Hawks’ end of the field a lot more in the second half.

After getting outshot 9-2 in the first half, the Indians recorded an even number of shots – six – to those launched by CR South after the intermission.

Still, that failed to net a goal for the visitors.

“It was a real tough game for us, obviously,” said fourth-year Souderton head coach Chris Felber. “They got an early goal and that put us on the back foot.

“We struggled to maintain a high standard of play throughout the game.”

From here, the Hawks head to Unionville, where they will face the fourth-seeded Indians. The Ches-Mont rival swept through the American Division with a 13-0 mark, a record that included a late season 3-1 triumph over Downingtown West.

The Whippets were one of only two teams to topple CR South during the regular season. The other was Neshaminy and they blanked Unionville in a D1 quarterfinal battle to earn a berth in states.

Regardless of previous results and matchups, Coach Heim likes his team’s chances in Saturday’s battle for the fifth and final PIAA state playoff berth.

“I haven’t seen Unionville play all year but they were obviously doing something right,” the coach said. “They were the number four seed, Souderton was seven, but we feel if we play our style of soccer, we can hang with anyone.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Unionville outpaced No. 17 seed Quakertown, 4-2 to keep its season alive. The Indians got goals from Veronica Hineman, Sam Ciccarelli, Jackie Hug and Claire Matson.

NOTES: The duel at Unionville is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.

DISTRICT 1-AAAA PLAYBACK

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 5, SOUDERTON 0

(Nov. 2 at CR South)

Souderton (15-6)              0 0 – 0

CR South (17-3-1)                         4 1 – 5

FIRST-HALF GOALS: CRS – Paige Mikula, from Alex Jones, 6th minute, Julie Rebh, from Sara McDonald, Jones, 25th minute, Sierra Tarentino, from Jones 36th minute, Mikula, from Callie Deola, 38th minute; S – none.

SECOND-HALF GOALS: CRS – Keira Flanagan, from Carly Hickey, 60 minute; S – none.