North East girls soccer coach Matt Roberts says Rising Sun is the team to beat. That's exactly what the Indians did Tuesday night, October 17. North East topped the Tigers 2-1 to claim a second straight Susquehanna Division title and the top seed in the region tournament. "I'm very proud of them," Roberts said. "I told them how proud I was and I thought we did a great job of hanging in there. Rising Sun controlled it and we were chasing them. I think we kind of flipped the script in the second half. We were a little more composed than we were in the first half and it was an even battle up and down the field. We got an opportunity and capitalized. They had plenty of opportunities as well. It was a well-played game. In soccer sometimes, it's the way the ball bounces and we capitalized on our opportunity and won the game." Tabbs tallied the eventual game-winner with 11:50 left in regulation following an excellent cross by Mia Cudmore. "It went through the outside back and then it went through the mid and they just crossed it to the middle and I just touched it around the defender and shot it," Tabbs said. "[Coach Roberts is] always like, 'Stay in the open space and make runs through the defense and not straight into the defense'." "Awesome athlete as you can tell," Roberts said of Tabbs. "Awesome soccer player. Evan a better person. She's a great kid and I'm just happy for her that she had that opportunity. Earlier in the year she wasn't finishing those. We were hitting hitting it to the keeper a lot. Last couple games, she's been nice and composed and putting the ball where she wanted. And it was a great build-up and she was the recipient on the end and put it in the back of the net." Rising Sun struck first. Senior Jackie Ayers unleashed a rocket into the net in the 15th minute after stealing an Indians' pass and taking a couple of dribbles. "It made us a little nervous but then we got that pep talk at halftime and it just upped our game a little," said Tabbs. Jada Fulton scored the equalizer 3:05 into the second half on a seemingly harmless shot that trickled past the Tigers' keeper. Neither team had a golden opportunity before Tabbs got the go-ahead tally. "Personally for me, it's my last game with North East because I'm transferring so this win really meant a lot to me, to get division champs for the second year in a row," Tabbs said. "Moving forward I think this win can get our heads right on our shoulders, up our game, up our practices, and hopefully make it through playoffs." Roberts was willing to allow his team to relish the big win for a while before the Indians turn their attention to the region tournament. "They're the measuring stick," Roberts said of Rising Sun. "They're the team to beat until somebody beats them. This might not be the last time we play them this year so I'm not for a second counting them out. They've got some quality players over there, quality coach. We're going to enjoy this for [Tuesday night] and the rest of this week. We'll worry about the playoff season starting next week. But it means a lot. It's a big deal. You can see how our girls reacted. It's the first time we've beaten them since I've been here and I think it's a credit to how our girls played." Interviews with Coach Roberts and Jade Tabbs
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