Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday.
SOL teams open 2016 season
By Jarrad Saffren
Fourteen Suburban One League boys’ soccer teams played non-league games Friday.
Some won. Some lost. Two tied.
Quick aside: American soccer should not have ties. That should be our little twist on the world’s game. If futbol is really going to replace football - and that becomes more of a possibility each season - we should at least Americanize it somehow.
Back to reality, where ties still exist.
How much can we really learn on opening day? Hope springs eternal, but more so for Friday’s winners, and less so for Friday’s losers.
Let’s find out who they are and how they did it.
North Penn 4, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh came out strong.
“We did not control the first 10 minutes,” North Penn coach Paul Duddy said. “We were a little bit shaky defensively. PW had a couple of very good chances. (Goalkeeper) Tyler (Rothmann) made one great save and the defensive line bailed us out too.”
Knights defenders Noah Kwortnick and Eric Szilagi won balls in the air and prevented easy shots on goal.
“Noah had a very good game,” Duddy said. “Eric did too. The pressure was on and they relieved it.”
“We settled in after that and started playing. We controlled the game from that point on.”
Minutes 11-80 were all North Penn. Luke McMahon kicked the ball past the keeper in the 14th minute. Aidan Jerome, who assisted on the first goal, blasted the ball by the goalie in the 35th minute to send the Knights into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
The Colonials still had hope until the 48th minute. But this is soccer. Three-goal deficits are insurmountable.
Mike Kohler, who assisted on the second goal, booted the ball into the back of the net on a penalty kick.
“That broke their backs,” Duddy said.
Nate Baxter found the back of the net in the 68th minute. Kohler – who had two assists and a goal - assisted.
“He’s a special player,” Duddy said. “He’s very good on the ball and is as talented as anybody.”
Duddy especially liked Kohler’s first assist.
“He beat a couple guys down the line to the ball and put it back to the middle,” Duddy said. “Aidan was there.
“Kohler is just a technically good and smart player. He can finish too. He can do it all.”
Duddy was most pleased with Kohler, but he liked the other offensive players too.
“They are all team players as you would expect. They are all pretty good technically and pretty fast too,” the Knights’ coach said. “I hope we continue to be very balanced on the score sheet.”
Rothmann made five saves in the first half. Jake Millevoi played the second half and stopped four shots.
“The first game it’s always very good to get the W and post a shutout,” Duddy said. “Despite the shaky play at the beginning, posting a shutout in the first game is good for our confidence.”
PW goalie Patrick Corpus made 13 saves.
PW coach Jeff Heaton credited Gavin Hendrick and Alex Lefkowitz for playing well and also lauded the strong play of North Penn’s Rothmann, McMahon and Kohler.
North Penn (1-0, 0-0 SOL) plays defending PIAA Class AAA champion Central Bucks East Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. North Penn finished second to the undefeated Patriots in the SOL Continental in 2015.
“We know what that game is all about,” Duddy said. “We won’t be resting on an initial victory, believe me.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (0-1, 0-0 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
North Penn 2-2 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-0 0
Abington 1, Cheltenham 0
The old cross-town rivalry. This may be the best one in the SOL.
Underdog Cheltenham hung with favorite Abington for 77 minutes Friday.
But in the 78th minute, Cheltenham’s keeper ran out to kick the ball away from the net. The ball hit the side of his leg and soared out to the 35-yard line. Abington’s Juan Castillo settled it on the right flank near the end line. As the keeper was running back to the net, Castillo bent the ball into the net with the keeper’s back turned.
“It’s a shame that’s how it ended because Cheltenham’s keeper was absolutely brilliant,” said Abington coach Randy Garber, noting that Ghost keeper Justin Grady also saved three other shots on breakaways. “It could have been 4-0. He was very, very good.”
Abington’s keeper also turned in a strong performance.
“They didn’t put a lot of shots on goal,” Garber said. “Nick (Brownholtz) dealt with balls coming across that he intercepted before they got the opportunity to shoot the ball.”
Brownholtz made six saves in his first varsity start. One was memorable.
“They had one close chance,” Garber said. “Nick came out, slid and knocked the ball out of bounds.”
Abington’s midfielders and defenders kept control of the ball for most of the game. Garber praised them one by one.
“David Mazio played center mid and did a great job defensively. Blair Barber played extremely well in the midfield,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Reese Gibbs did a nice job and won a lot of balls. Nevins Baer created a lot of chances in the midfield. And Mika Portis won all the balls in the middle on defense, and in the air. He’s quite a good defender.”
Mazio, a junior, is a third-year starter. The rest were starting on varsity for the first time. Baer and Gibbs are freshmen. Abington lost 16 seniors from its 2015 SOL National championship team.
“We are a very young but talented group. The kids are used to playing age pure in club soccer,” Garber said. “This is their first experience playing older guys. Some of these kids are 14 years old. The speed of the game is a lot different against 17, 18-year-olds. It becomes more of a challenge to get rid of the ball quicker. But we passed the first test today.”
There was only one area where Abington can improve a lot…
“I was happy we had so many opportunities to score goals. But we struggled with the most difficult part of the game - putting the ball in the back of the net,” Garber said. “It didn’t land for either team. But we had the bulk of the opportunities.”
Abington (1-0, 0-0 SOL) plays Lansdale Catholic Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Cheltenham (0-1, 0-0 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Abington 0-1 1
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Harry S. Truman 3, George Washington 1
Harry S. Truman matched its 2015 win total on opening day, upending a George Washington squad that defeated the Tigers 5-2 last season.
“That’s a huge step forward for us,” Truman coach Jack Kinloch said. “We were a little nervous. We didn’t do well in our last scrimmage against Tennent. That wasn’t even in the back of our minds. It was in the front. This gave us some confidence.”
The Tigers scored two goals in the first 10 minutes and led 2-nil at halftime. Ilyas Nashid buried a penalty kick in the second minute. Ilhan Zivali scored on a busted play in the seventh minute.
Truman’s prettiest goal came in the 57th minute. Diego Rodriguez kicked the ball to Nashid, who aired it to a crossing Zack Hopely, who headed it home.
“That was one of the few times we strung four or five passes together,” Kinloch said.
Zivali is a senior transfer and Hopely is a freshman.
“Seeing new guys perform in a game that counts was huge,” Kinloch said.
Truman lost All-SOL National keeper Fernando Mendez after 2015. Dawson Black and Mert Avci split time Friday. Black stopped seven balls in the first half. Avci stoned five in the second half.
“I still don’t know which one will get the majority of the time. Both are pretty equal,” Kinloch said. “Mert’s a better shot stopper. Dawson reads the game better and is better on balls in the air. Both are trying to replace Fernando, who was phenomenal.
“Both had their ups and downs the last couple weeks. More ups. It was a coin flip before the game. I went with my gut and gave Dawson the first half. I thought about keeping Dawson in for the second half. But I didn’t want Mert to think I didn’t have confidence in him.”
Avci gave up GW’s goal.
“There was nothing he could have done,” Kinloch said. “It was a really good head ball.”
Kinloch did not have to use four or five defenders against GW. But he did to prepare for league play.
Juniors Jesse Gayle and Kevin Bucklind clogged the middle.
“They won the ball, got it on the ground and passed it to our skill guys,” Kinloch said. Gayle came back to the program after not playing in 2015. Bucklind started as a sophomore because other players quit.
“He was one of the guys that got valuable experience when older guys wouldn’t buy into our new system,” Kinloch said.
CJ Weed, Badr Faske and Pablo Torres controlled the outside for Truman’s back line. “They were all great today,” Kinloch said. “Much better than against Tennent in the scrimmage.”
Truman (1-0, 0-0 SOL) battles Council Rock North Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
“Our conference is one of the toughest around,” Kinloch said. “We needed this confidence booster going into that game.”
Harry S. Truman 2-1 3
George Washington 0-1 1
William Tennent 1, Archbishop Wood 0
William Tennent coach Ryan Todt was prescient before the season started.
“I think we’ll be in a lot of close matches. We’ll compete. It depends on how many balls we can put the back of the net,” Todt said.
The Panthers were in a close match Friday, and they won it, thanks to Billy Hanratty’s goal in the 11th minute.
Tennent outshot 16 of the 18 teams it played last season. But the Panthers finished 9-8-1 and narrowly missed the playoffs.
“We just weren’t putting the ball in the net enough,” Todt said.
Friday was a similar story. The only difference: One goal was enough. Todt does not think Tennent can win enough games that way.
“We scored 20-25 goals the last two years,” Todt said. “We need to double that total. We need to be in the 40s.”
William Tennent (1-0, 0-0 SOL) buses to Central Bucks West for its SOL Continental debut Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
William Tennent 1-0 1
Archbishop Wood 0-0 0
Council Rock North 1, Wissahickon 1
Soccer is funny game sometimes. Hockey can be also.
Council Rock North outshot Wissahickon 23-3 Friday. But that final score you see above is not a typo. 23-3. 1-1. That goes against the very concept of mathematical probability. It’s also insanely frustrating for the team that took 23 shots and clearly dominated the game.
But keepers are part of this game too. And Wissahickon’s — Jun Yuh — almost singlehandedly kept his team out of the loss column. Yuh made 16 saves in his first varsity start. He is replacing First Team All-SOL American keeper Brad Schwartz.
Schwartz is still on the team. He plays forward now. He never wanted to be Wissahickon’s keeper last season.
“He has always preferred the field,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. “But we were looking for a keeper and he was in the mix. He became the starter as the season went on.”
“Brad is hoping the switch works out so he doesn’t have to return to goal,” Malcolm said before the season.
Brad must be pretty happy so far.
Wissahickon’s Tom McHale scored in the first minute to put the Trojans up 1-0. Joe Maiale assisted on the goal.
CR North’s Eric Levine answered in the 70th minute. Noah Ehlin got the assist. Wissahickon (0-0-1, 0-0-0 SOL) clashes with Quakertown Wednesday at 7 p.m. CR North (0-0-1, 0-0-0 SOL) plays Truman at 3:30.
Wissahickon 1-0 1
Council Rock North 0-1 1
Hatboro-Horsham 3, Cardinal O’Hara 1
Hatboro-Horsham went up 3-0 and cruised to a season-opening win Friday.
Five Hatters players got on the score sheet.
Danny Harmon assisted Danny Bateman’s goal in the second minute. Colin Davis set up Joe LaRouche in the 24th minute. And Nick Hatzenbeller assisted Harmon in the 46th minute.
Harmon led all scorers with a goal and an assist.
Cardinal O’Hara scored in the 59th minute.
Hatboro-Horsham (1-0, 0-0 SOL) goes to Council Rock South Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. start.
Hatboro-Horsham 2-1 3
Cardinal O’Hara 0-1 1
Council Rock South 3, Harriton 2
Ethan Benedict put Council Rock South up 2-0 with two goals in the first half. A sloppy second half – according to coach Alan Nicholl - let Harriton back in the game.
Harriton scored twice to tie the score. But with two minutes left, Kevin Bowers scored the game-winner.
Nolan Gaudet stopped six shots for the Golden Hawks.
CR South (1-0, 0-0 SOL) hosts Hatboro-Horsham Monday at 3:30 p.m.
Upper Dublin 2, West Chester East 1
Upper Dublin lost seven starters from its 2015 SOL American championship team.
One of those starters was leading scorer Nick Browndorff.
Coach Derek Preist is depending on a returning forward to pick up the slack. Anthony Wisdo did just that Friday, scoring twice to lead UD to its first win of 2016.
Upper Dublin (1-0, 0-0 SOL) opens league play Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Cheltenham.
Pennridge 3, Southern Lehigh 1
Pennridge ended 2015 as the hottest team in the SOL besides CB East. The Rams won eight straight games to qualify for the District One Class AAA playoffs as the No. 24 seed. Then they upset No. 9 seed Boyertown in the first round.
The Rams lost senior leaders Brody Giblin (Keeper), Cayce Giblin (Center Midfielder), Cameron Sheva (Center Midfielder) and Dylan Henry (Forward).
Even without those guys, the Rams picked up where they left off Friday. Three players—Kenny Estep, Sebastian Perkowski and Adam Rapsinski—scored goals. Perkowski and Rapsinski are newcomers. Estep was an All-SOL Continental midfielder in 2015.
“He has a ton of games and experience under his belt,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “He’s my leader if I have one.”
Pennridge (1-0, 0-0 SOL) plays Saucon Valley Saturday at 7 p.m.
Father Judge 5, Springfield 0
Springfield played Father Judge to a nil-nil tie in the first half.
But Father Judge scored five goals after halftime. Five different players scored. Only one goal was assisted.
Meder has a young team. He even said, “We are going to take our lumps,” before the season started. So he saw this coming.
“Getting our sophomores this experience will help down the line,” Meder said. “That’s the goal at least.”
Springfield (0-1, 0-0 SOL) travels to Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday for a 7 p.m. start.
Father Judge 0-5 5
Springfield 0-0 0
- Log in to post comments
