DOYLESTOWN – One hundred and 10 minutes of soccer was not enough playing time to decide a victor between No. 7 Central Bucks West and 19th-seeded Council Rock North in a District 1 Class 4A Semifinal Wednesday night, Nov. 1 at War Memorial Field.
But after outplaying the Bucks in regulation, the Indians came out on top 3-2 in penalty kicks. Jon Pugh, Jeremy Smithline and Zach Saifer tallied for CR North while the Rock’s netminder Eddie Mancinelli made saves on the first, second and last attempts by the Bucks.
Mancinelli has yet to give up a goal in regulation in four district playoff games and three overtime periods.
“They played better than us tonight, top to bottom; I’d say the play was 65 percent them and 35 percent us,” admitted CB West head coach Stefan Szygiel. “We were always on the back foot tonight.”
“We wore down in the end and they were better in possession.
“They had us chasing a lot and they were the better team tonight.”
The Indians advance to the District 1championship where they will take on top seed Conestoga, a 3-0 winner over No. 13 Kennett. The D-1 finale is set for 7 pm Saturday night at Garnet Valley.
The Bucks fall to the playback round where they will take on Kennett this Saturday in a battle for third place.
The Indians missed a solid chance to score in the second half when senior Conor O’Donnell hit the left side post in the 58th minute of play.
CB West’s best opportunity to score came with 10 minutes left in regulation. Junior Carson Snyder banged a shot off CR North Keeper Eddie Mancinelli that went high in the air. With Mancinelli out of position, Snyder had the open net. But by the time the ball came crashing down to earth, the keeper was back in position to make the save.
North’s best chance to score in the first half came in the 28th minute when senior Dylan Akay got a foot onto the end of a free kick from 30 yards out from Conor O’Donnell. Akay slid into the keeper as he got the shot off.
The Indians outshot the Bucks 8-5 in the first half though seven of the Rock’s shots were on frame and only one shot for West was on goal.
Rock North toppled Upper Dublin, North Penn and Wissahickon to reach the semifinal and earn a berth in states for the second consecutive season. In a 1-0 win over the Trojans in the D-1 quarterfinals, it was CRN junior Sean Finneyfrock who tallied the golden goal in overtime.
The third place team in the SOL Continental Conference, CB West earned a bye in the first round of districts after earning the seventh seed in the tournament. The Bucks topped No. 10 seed CB East 3-2 in the Round of 16 and blanked No. 2 Lower Merion 1-0 in a D-1 quarterfinal matchup.
Central Bucks West 0, Council Rock North 0 (CR North wins PKs, 3-2)
(Nov. 1 at War Memorial Field)
CB WEST (16-5) 0 0 0 0 – 0
CR NORTH (15-6-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0
First-half goals: none.
Second-half goals: none.