It was Monday night lights at Falcon Field as the Pennsbury Falcons hosted Council Rock North to kick off the week. The PHS JV team set the tone with a 1-0 win in the opening game. With a shortened warm up to hit the 7pm varsity start, the orange and black were chomping at the bit to get out there and play. The first quarter was back and forth with the Falcons and CRN each earning attacking penalty corners and putting the ball on cage. "We were really pleased with the way our girls were playing - patient, poised, and confident," said coach Traci Curtis. "They were passing and connecting, but we knew we needed to step it up and continue to adjust. The North goalie was cutting off our angles and we had to start moving around her and be smarter in the circle," Curtis added. The score was 0-0 going into the second quarter and Pennsbury knew it was going to be a battle to the very end. It is never a choice to get complacent against CRN - they have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it. The second quarter opened up with Pennsbury continuing to get into the red zone and step up the pressure. Around the ten minute mark, Rock's goalie had an amazing save with her glove that resulted in a corner for PHS. After the insert it was an all junior combo as Joley Hohman put the ball to stroke where Ava Pinto got her stick on it and deflected it around the goalie and Nandi Ntshalintshali hit the back of the cage with force to put the Falcons up 1-0. Despite the attacking power of Pennsbury, North kept it a 1-0 game going into halftime. CR North's goalie was not making it easy to finish and the Falcons could feel CRN breathing down their necks. "A 1-0 game going into the third quarter against North is unsettling in so many ways. They are tough and are really good at smelling a team's let down and capitalizing on it. We were making sure our girls understood the work that needed to be done to not slow down and allow them to get a goal and tie it up," explains Curtis. But the third quarter was scoreless as well and now that lone goal hung on the scoreboard heading into the final fifteen minutes - the digital numbers seemed to be mocking PHS and illuminating the pressure of stepping up the performance another notch in this contest. Ava Pinto stared that pressure in the face and sent a ball into the circle three minutes into the fourth where Regan Rodriguez got a touch on it and Abby Iacona, ready and waiting, collected a rebound off of the goalie's pads and shot it with force, upping the lead to two. "I believe there was a collective exhale by us coaches because we felt like we had a second to breathe, but just for a second," said Curtis. And breathe they did because the Falcons continued to score almost every three minutes for the remainder of the game. The third goal started with a great backfield transfer and junior, Ryan Burdette, dodging through the midfield to hit Iacona up front. Iacona dodged the goalie and reversed it past her to put the orange and black up 3-0 with ten minutes left to play. Pennsbury widened the gap to 4-0 with eight minutes left on a well executed penalty corner play by Nandi Ntshalintshali, sophomore, Leila Curtis, and junior, Ava Pinto tallying the goal. Junior Cailyn Reilly set up a beautiful end-to-end goal for Pennsbury when she took the free hit from the backfield connecting with Ryan Burdette, who fed the ball to Iacona in the middle. Iacona made the final dump pass to Harrison who was waiting patiently on the post to deflect it in - the perfect selfless, teamwork progression. The Falcons covered 100 yards in seconds and led 5-0 with a few minutes left in the game. Ryan Burdette added one more unassisted goal to finish off the scoring and end the game 6-0. "We are beyond proud of our girls for coming out and executing like that, completely as a team, leaving no questions and taking care of business on a Monday night," said Curtis. "Our goalie, Abby McCole earned the shut out with the help of an awesome defensive save by Joley Hohman right on the goal line. That level of effort is what every girl gave us tonight and for that we are extremely grateful and proud," said Curtis with a smile. "Yesterday we all met at the Princeton - UNC field hockey game at Princeton to watch an incredible high level college game and we believe a lot was learned and taken away from that afternoon," explains Curtis. "Our girls observed, listened, and applied all of the things we talked about that we saw those collegiate players doing so well - not only was a it a great day out as a field hockey family, it was beneficial to our game today without a doubt. The hard work is paying off, the attention to detail matters, and the connection we are building in our game is giving us confidence and momentum." Curtis adds, "We are taking one step at a time and learning and growing together along the way." Pennsbury will travel to face Council Rock South on Wednesday for a mid-week match up.