Pennsbury was back on the road Wednesday, after a hard fought home battle against Neshaminy Monday night. It was time to face Council Rock North for the second time - another Patriot division rivalry. The first time the Falcons and Indians met, PHS walked away with a 6-0 win, but October always bring unknowns as teams often have a much different look late in the season and every game is a heightened challenge. The orange and black didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard going up 1-0 in the first three minutes of the game. "It was an Iacona, Burdette, Harrison trio of great heads up playing," said Coach Curtis. "Mallory Harrison broke up a pass coming across the middle and Iacona was there to pick it up off the CRN stick. Iacona made an incredible quick deception decision to reverse dump the ball out to Burdette who was charging up the left. It was a beautiful pass. Burdette touched the pass ahead to Harrison who had cut into the circle and Harrison dodged the goalie and sent it home." Curtis adds, "That type of connecting, passing, and awareness is so special and fun to watch." Pennsbury struck again with one minute left in the first quarter on a goal that went from end-to-end starting at the defensive 10 yard line. "Ava Pinto took a smart, super fast free hit coming out of the backfield and got the ball up to Regan Rodriguez. Rodriguez carried it up the right with speed hitting Iacona on the run. Iacona cut off the defender and sent the ball into the circle at stroke. The CRN goalie broke up a one time shot at the stroke, but Regan Rodriguez swooped in picking up the rebound and notched the goal to put PHS up 2-0," explained Curtis. "We were really proud of the way the girls were finding each other and working together in all of the layers on the field."
The score was 2-0 going into the second quarter and the visiting side was looking to widen the gap even more. But the gap did not widen in the second quarter - a scoreless battle all over the field with a Pennsbury team that seemed to slow and lose some oomph. The Indians were knocking on the door earning a few corner opportunities and proving that they are not a team to ever back down. "If there is one thing we know about CR North, it's that they will sneak up on you, find ways to stay in the game, and make you work for what you want. We were not comfortable with a two goal lead and so much game left to play," said Curtis. And Curtis' intuition was right. Things got interesting late in the third quarter as Pennsbury watched the two goal lead change to one on a scrappy goal by Ella Moore. It was a 2-1 game with two minutes left in the third and an entire quarter left to play. "We had not scored in almost thirty minutes after scoring two within eleven minutes in the first quarter. It was a very uneasy feeling," said Curtis. That uneasy feeling worsened as the Rock took command at the start of the fourth, scoring the tying goal in the first 45 seconds. "We were very disjointed and it led to a breakdown defensively, but at the same time, we we were struggling to find a way to put the ball in the cage as the clock continued to tick the minutes away. It was a bad combination and the 2-2 score stared us down with each passing second," said Curtis. The Falcons exhaled slightly when Mallory Harrison cleaned up the trash in front of the pads during a corner play and reversed the ball into the cage past all of the chaos. The orange and black did the work to keep the corner play going and took the play from start to finish to put them up 3-2 with eight minutes left in the game. "Harrison is doing a great job in the forward position and has really helped to complete our offensive puzzle in the past few games," Curtis said.
Despite the ping pong play from circle to circle, Pennsbury was able to hold CRN for the remaining minutes and secure the division win. "Council Rock lived up to their fierce determination style and really forced us to dig deep and figure ourselves out today," explained Curtis. "We will take the win, but will continue to evaluate, do the work, and keep our eyes looking forward toward the next step."
Pennsbury will travel to New Jersey to face Notre Dame on Saturday morning.