In the best late-season matchup of the week, Council Rock North scored twice in the first half then added a third in the second half to win 3-0 on Pennsbury’s senior night. Tej Petel, Max Henry, and Will Loudon scored for Rock (9-2-5), who moved up to No. 6 in the District 1 power rankings, which will likely give them home-field advantage until the quarterfinal stage if they advance. Pennsbury, the Patriot Division champions, slid to No. 8, but will still host the first two rounds if applicable.
Pennsbury came into the game riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, which dates back to an early season 3-1 loss to North. During that period, the Falcons only conceded three goals. Last weekend, after clinching the division title following a win against Bensalem (No. 16), they picked up a crucial non-league win against Downingtown West (No. 11), scoring twice in the final two minutes to earn a 2-1 victory.
With the win, North carries momentum heading into the post-season. They’ve now beaten all four SOL division champions, including defending state champions Abington (Liberty), CB South (Colonial), Springfield Township (Freedom), and Pennsbury twice. North had been hampered by a few early-season ties and a late-season loss to Bensalem, but they’ve otherwise proven to be one of the more formidable teams coming out of the SOL and have the evidence to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Pennsbury created some of the game’s early chances, but Rock took the lead seven minutes into the game. Keeper Elias Berman sent a booming goal kick well into Pennsbury’s half that Shane Murphy flicked on with a header to put Petel through to goal. Petel took the ball off the hop and beat James Purdum with a volley to give North the lead and take some of the steam out of the emotional home crowd.
After the goal, North maintained a high level of pressure going forward, and four minutes later Ben Purcaro broke free toward goal, running onto a dicing through-ball, but Purdum made a sliding save. In the 19th minute, Pennsbury had a great chance to draw level when Ajnur Curevac dribbled multiple North defenders inside the penalty area, but Berman shut his angle down with a sliding stop.
In the 30th minute, North doubled their lead on a well-executed team goal. Purcaro beat his mark down the right side and slipped a ball across the six that rolled toward Henry at the back post. The sophomore midfielder cracked the sitter first-time, beating Purdum low to the corner.
“Pennsbury’s a good team. We came out here on senior night wanting to give it our all,” Henry said after the game. “The ball came in. Jason Foulke did a little dummy, and then I just slapped it first-time. Had to take care of business.”
Henry’s provided North with a spark off the bench in many games this season, blending his creativity and skill with seniors Purcaro and Matt Brozyna, who all provide North with a balanced possession-oriented attack from all sides.
Pennsbury responded to the goal by applying some pressure in the North end, and in the final minutes, they had another great chance to get on the board. But Berman made a diving save to push aside a distant shot off a cleared corner to keep the two-goal cushion into the break.
Early in the second half, Pennsbury nearly closed the gap when Nathan Gradziel finished off a free kick after Finnegan Burke’s header reached him at the back post, but the referee ruled him offside.
In the 55th minute, Brozyna split three Pennsbury defenders and fed Shane Murphy at the spot, but Murphy’s shot sailed high. North continued to push for a third. Loudon had a blocked shot in front, and Brozyna had a blocked deflection at the near post cleared away, but North found the net again in the 60th minute. Petel stole the ball and beat a Pennsbury defender down the left side then cut a ball back to Andrew Foulke. After he absorbed multiple defenders, Foulke rolled the ball to Loudon, who drilled it past Purdum to extend North’s lead to 3-0.
Three minutes later, North nearly had a fourth when Brozyna cut in from the right and curled a shot inside of the far post, but Purdum made a spectacular diving save to keep the ball out.
With more soccer still to play for both teams, the game shifted into cruise mode in the final minutes, with multiple personnel changes to rest tired legs and gain quality minutes form less experienced players ahead of the postseason.
North and Pennsbury will await their first-round opponents following the district seeding meeting on Saturday.
“We feel very confident going into it,” Henry said. “We know we’ve got to put in a lot of hard work. Nothing comes easy. We can’t go in feeling cocky or arrogant. We have to go in with the mentality that we’re going to give it our all no matter what.’
North coach Joe Stackhouse said that although his team fell short in their goal of winning the league, they can take solace heading into the post-season knowing they’ve beaten all of the SOL division champions.
“We’re not the best because we didn’t do it,” he said, “but I think we’re one of the top teams in Suburban One. This helps us.” Until their loss last week to Bensalem, North had a 10-game unbeaten run that included wins against Pennsbury, CB South, and Abington within the span of eight days.
With less than a week until the playoffs begin, Stackhouse said North will use the time to rest some players with nagging injuries, but not much will change. “We’ve done a lot in terms of some real nice short stuff to open things up and then go.” He tells his players he wants a little less Barcelona and a little more Celtic. “We want to go from back to front without bypassing the midfield, but go as quickly as we can because high school soccer is a fast pace.”
North lost to Souderton in the first round last season and lost to rival CR South in the first round in 2024. In 2023, North finished third in districts then advanced to the state semifinals, falling to eventual champions Conestoga.
“I don’t think we ever really were able to get into our game,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “Our game is to get the ball forward and try to out-possess the other team, be patient, and wait for a crack.”
Stoddart said that while North handled the emotions from an energetic crowd, his team played a little more rushed and was balancing a little more minutes for senior players who earned their time from a season of hard work. “Tonight, we ended up on the short end of it, but we got out healthy. They got out healthy. Both teams are starting the second season next week. The hardest part of the PIAA playoffs is getting started.”
Last season, Pennsbury entered the playoffs as the final team in and lost to Lower Merion 3-0 in the first round. In 2022, Pennsbury advanced to the Round of 16 after beating Unionville then fell to West Chester Henderson, who finished third.
“I told the boys at the end of the game, we’re not the team that’s going to go out and dominate a lot of games, but that being said, we can play anybody, and we’ve ended up on the positive end so many times this season that if we can carry that kind of good spirit into the playoffs, we certainly have a chance to get ourselves moving.”
