Falcons are winning the close ones

BucksiocalSports Editor It’s too early to tell but Pennsbury appears to have picked itself up off the mat after a disappointing finish last year.

The Falcons are winning and they’re coming out ahead in the close ones.

Add a recent (Sept. 14) overtime win over Council Rock North to their latest in a series of one-goal triumphs.

In addition to the Indians, Pennsbury has emerged victorious over Strath Haven, Bensalem and William Tennent, winning all of the duels by the slimmest of margins.

In the battle with Rock North Sept. 14 in Newtown, the Falcons actually trailed, 1-0, at halftime. With four minutes to go in regulation, Pennsbury had drawn no closer on the scoreboard. A minute later however, the Falcons got the equalizer they were looking for when junior Charlie Rushing put a ball into the back of the net.

Four minutes into the extra session, off a throwin, senior forward Colin Waldner put a rebound into the back of the net for the game-winner. The goal pushed Pennsbury to 4-1 on the season, its only loss coming at the hands of CR South.

“It was a heads-up play. He was in the right place at the right time and executed well,” said Rushing.

“It was good that we came back from being down; we showed a lot of heart and determination.”

At halftime, the Falcons spoke of retaining composure.

“We were sort of getting a little antsy – playing too fast. We just needed to calm down,” said Rushing.

Still, the game came down to the wire.

“I knew we’d get there; we were knocking on the door the entire second half,” said Rushing.

North entered the contest without a win so maybe Pennsbury thought the game would be a little easier than it actually was.

“We sort of thought it would be pretty easy coming into the game but I knew, when it’s an in-league game, North is going to be tough,” said Rushing.

“We came out a little slower than we expected,” said left-side backfielder Ben Immordino. “I just hoped that we would have tried to play them harder because we didn’t expect them to come out as hard as they did.”

“They played a great game – probably the best they played all year,” said Rushing.

Looking back to last season, this group is cautiously optimistic about their team’s chances in the current campaign. After getting off to a S-1-1 start, the 2011 Falcons lost 10 of their last 11 matchups and made a first-round exit at the hands of Downingtown West.

“I feel like we have a strong team – if not, stronger than last year so expectations are high,” said Rushing.

In goal in place of 2011 goalkeeper Pat Listingi is senior Spencer McCullough. The new netminder says Pennsbury lost just three starters to gradu-

a a beat.

Stepping up defensively for Pennsbury in addition to Immordino and Matt Chapuis is center back Onid Pervick.

“He’s winning every ball in the air,” stated Immordino. “He’s a really big kid and he’s really stepping the whole team up from the back.”

After a 1-0 win at home Sept. 6 in its SOL National League opener against Bensalem, the Falcons were given a scare four days later in a very close duel at William Tennent.

“We had

couple

of mistakes where we just shouldn’t have let the ball go through,” said Immordino. “But every time they scored, we were right back at them, down their throats, scoring right after they did.”

“We scored last so we won.”

The winning strike against the Panthers came with 10 minutes to go so plenty of time for Tennent to come back and score, a goal that never materialized for the home team.

“We just kept it strong in the back and nothing got through,” said Immordino.

Seems easy enough. Now all the Falcons have to do is follow through.

The group stepping up for Pennsbury this season includes Brendan Cooper, Co- lin Marks, Matt and Doug Chapuis, gerry Lan and Greg Stam.