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Penns Valley boys push past PO in D6 opener

Photo/ story courtesy of Penns Valley Athletics
Penns Valley kept the momentum rolling into the District 6 Playoffs Tuesday night after surging through October with a 10 game winning streak. The Rams made it 11 in a row with a huge victory over Philipsburg-Osceola in Spring Mills after winning the home field advantage as the 2nd seed in D6 AA.

“I tell my guys all the time that the best teams always find a way to win – and that’s what they did again tonight.” said Rams coach Ken Gore. “Our game plan was simple – keep doing what got us here. And what got us here is playing simple, controlling the ball, linking play from the back to the front with smart passing, and putting all 11 players back on defense! Of course, I’m kidding – everyone knows that’s not real soccer – but we did play real soccer with all those other tactical measures.”

Gore said that first 15 minutes or so of play was frankly kind of boring – but the Rams finally decided to get some urgency when Michael Johnson took a brilliant ball in the middle from Connor Martz over top of the Mounties’ defense and used his usual all-out hustle for a one-on-one precision finish past the keeper.

In the second 40, Aidan Culver finished a perfect feed from Caleb Narber on the right side and Zach Heckman used his head twice – on the initial shot, then a follow-up – to put the Rams up with their 3rd and final goal of the night.

“We’ve been having a lot of fun out here on the pitch these last few weeks – but we’re working really hard too,” said Coach Gore. “And I just have to say that I have a brilliant coaching staff that has helped us get to where we are. Brian [Markle], Bob [Statham], and Sean [Herrmann] are excellent teachers – and students – of the game and I am very fortunate to have their soccer minds in our program.”

The 2nd seeded Rams (13-3) will go again next Monday night in the D6 AA bracket against 3rd seed Westmont Hilltop (13-2) in what should be a great semifinal matchup. The winner of that match will play for the D6 AA Championship later that week.

(Image caption) Penns Valley junior midfielder Cole Felker (#7) prepares to inbound the ball midway through the first half during Penns Valley’s first round District 6 playoff match against Philipsburg-Osceola on Tuesday October 27. (photo credit: Jordan Anderson Photography)

Overall Record: 13-3 (including 1-0 in the playoffs)

Next game: District 6 Playoff Semifinal vs. Westmont Hilltop, Monday 11/2 6:00 pm – location TBA

10/27/20

Philipsburg-Osceola @ Penns Valley

Final

Penns Valley 3

P-O 0

Goals:

Penns Valley – Michael Johnson – assist: Connor Martz 24:59

Penns Valley – Aidan Culver – assist: Caleb Narber 48:36

Penns Valley – Zach Heckman – assist: Michael Johnson 71:48

Shots: 

Penns Valley – 11

P-O – 4

Saves: 

P-O – Caleb Pellerite 7

Penns Valley – Dristen Wolfe 4

Corner Kicks:

Penns Valley – 4

P-O – 3

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