The Pennsbury Falcons took their game across the river on this rainy Saturday morning to face Notre Dame HS for the first time. The teams were set to play at the end of the 2024 season, but there were circumstances that hindered the opportunity and the game never happened. The anticipation for this match up was building for a year and was predicted to be a great battle. And that it was. The opening whistle blew just as the rain dissipated. The pace was speedy from the start as Pennsbury set the tone with beautiful fast passing connections all over the field. The defense was locked and loaded and great hockey was being played on both sides. The orange and black struck first halfway through the first quarter on a well executed passing combo between Abby Iacona, Ava Pinto, and Ryan Burdette. "Iacona set up the first pass out to Pinto and she sent it across into the circle to a waiting Burdette who one timed it with power past the keeper," explained head coach, Traci Curtis. The Falcons went up 1-0 and held that lead going into the second quarter. The second fifteen minutes was a back and forth battle with the fans' heads on a swivel as if they were watching a tennis match. Both sides had scoring opportunities that were not amounting to any goals - Pennsbury still holding much of the advantage, and so close so many times. "Our girls were playing beautiful hockey and working together really well. We just were not putting an exclamation point on our scoring chances. Close is never enough," said Curtis. The scoreboard was lit with the 1-0 score going into halftime - it was a much needed breather for both teams as they strategized and hydrated. Pennsbury had yet to earn a penalty corner, while the Irish had a couple in the books. Shots on goal were pretty even. It was a neck-and-neck game despite the PHS lead. "It was obvious that Notre Dame were fighters and they had skill in a lot of key places that were challenging us the entire time. Their goalie was making saves and we definitely had to work for everything, but our team was giving it right back and it was just fun to watch the level and intensity," Curtis said. The Falcons earned their first penalty corner of the game about half way through the third quarter, but unfortunately didn't execute with precision and the Irish found themselves on the attack at top speed turning defense into a breakaway run. "Payton Worth broke up the play nicely as they came down the field, but there was some confusion about the ref's call with an incorrect hand signal, and an additional missed foul in consecutive moments that lost us possession. We found ourselves in trouble on our heels and Notre Dame was given the advantage and put one past goalie, Amelia Fernandes during a scramble at the stroke. It was a very frustrating series of events and allowed them to tie it up halfway through the quarter," said Curtis. "We still had plenty of hockey to play so we just had to keep pushing and work double time," she added. It was still tied at one going into the final quarter and it was anyone's game. The tight battle lasted for fifteen more minutes without a decision in regulation forcing the game into overtime. Ten minute sudden victory was pushing the players to dig in for over sixty minutes - the barometric pressure may have been sinking with impending storms, but the pressure on the pitch was rising high. The Falcons had several great opportunities in the first few minutes of the 7v7 to notch the winning goal, but the ball wasn't rolling their way. They earned their second penalty corner of the game and despite creative execution, couldn't find the back of the cage. The Irish refused to back down and returned the pressure ten fold. Four minutes into overtime Notre Dame dribbled onto a quick free hit, passed into the circle to their forward who took a sharp reverse shot from the left and hit the far corner with authority. Game over. "Games like that are so exciting and awesome to be a part of, but they sting like crazy and sit heavy for a long time," said Coach Curtis. "We played great hockey in so many ways, but need to also clean up many pieces of our game. The girls fought hard, worked hard, and did it together - we will take the lessons learned and apply them on Tuesday when we close out our regular season against Council Rock South." Pennsbury will celebrate their seniors Tuesday night at Falcon Field under the lights.