NEWTOWN- Battling through a game that was moments away from getting out of hand, the Knights’ soccer team (No.5) was able to win the fight against Council Rock North’s soccer team (No.3), placing third in the District One 4A Finals. The game was pretty equally matched both having a record of 2-1 in the District 1 playoffs, making for a good battle on the field.

Council Rock started off the first half with possession, but the Knights’ strong defense turned the possession over to their side for most of it. Senior Noah Kwortnik saved a breakaway by Council Rock blasting the ball out of Knights’ territory (26:59). Junior Jack Johnston and sophomore Christian Snyder also contributed to the strong defense. All 3 defenders hustled hard and were not subbed out at all the first half.

The ball control and speed by sophomore Luke McMahon and senior Mike Kohler kept the pressure on Council Rock’s defense. Nate Baxter was able to help up top with McMahon and Kohler, pressuring the defense, and passing the ball around creating more open space amongst the three of them.

“We knew they would like to try to possess the ball into the middle, so we tried to contain them and force them out wide to create mistakes, so we could get the counter-tackles,” said McMahon.

Following this plan, Goalkeeper Bobby Dean did not get much action the first half, besides the strong throw in that he saved from going in the goal (Noah Ehlin 25:44). The score remained tied 0-0 at the end of the first half.

McMahon tapped the ball to Kohler to start the second half, hoping for a stronger half than the first. The pressure began with a breakaway down the right wing by Kohler and a cross to McMahan, who takes a shot on goal only to be saved by Council Rock’s Goalkeeper (Anthony Caruso 36:29). Being in Council Rock’s territory caused for another attempt to score for the Knights. Freshman Carter Houlihan threw the ball in and Kohler shot, the ball bouncing off a Council Rock player and into the goal (Akash Shah 33:34).

“Mike drove that ball across the goal mouth and it hit one of their players, so he still gets credit for the goal. When you hit a ball from 5 yards away and it hits you, there is nothing you can do about it,” said Head Coach Paul Duddy.

The Knights were fired up now. Houlihan took another throw in over to McMahon, who flicked the ball to himself and volleyed it into the net for goal number 2 (26:05).

“I read that the kid was going to try to jump [the ball] so I tried to turn around and hit it the best I could, which I did,” said McMahon.

Council Rock was beginning to get slightly too aggressive and the game started to head out of control. Grant Bonas from Council Rock gave the Knights a nice shove, receiving a yellow card (17:38). The Knights tried to even out the aggression, but got a little pushy inside the 18-yard box, giving Council Rock a penalty kick. Bobby Dean could not read which way the player was going to kick it and this resulted in a goal for Council Rock (Sean Finneyfrock 8:09).

With only 50 seconds left in the game, McMahon and Finneyfrock both received yellow cards for over aggression, and Council Rock player, Shah, received a red card for foul play after the play was over.

“I thought we played a pretty average first half, and a very good second half. I think we turned it around the second half. We played more of the North Penn soccer we are capable of playing that we played most of the year,” said Duddy.