Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Wednesday.
American Conference
Wissahickon 2, Upper Dublin 1
Wissahickon's Cole Kropnick has now scored goals in all but one game this season.
The Trojans' senior captain scored his ninth goal of the year – this one good for the game-winner – in a hard-fought win over host and neighborhood rival Upper Dublin.
Alex Tappen (Kropnick assist) scored in the game’s fourth minute and Kropnick – using an Alex Chiodo-Ortiz assist – netted the second goal in the 20th minute to give the Trojans (7-1-0, 5-1-0) a seemingly comfortable first half lead.
Things didn't go Wissahickon's way in the second half, and a goal by Bart Scherpbier (Josh Franklin assist) in the 43rd minute made it a 2-1 game, but the Trojans managed to hold on for the victory.
"Honestly, any time you play (Upper Dublin), it's going to be a close game," Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. "We were actually very pleased with things in the first half. We got to their goalie. We were able to put two of our chances away, so it was comfortable, but a very poor error in the back in the second half let them into the game and after that, we played very poorly. It was a good half of soccer followed by one where we scraped by in the end. It was a great win, but a disappointing performance."
Wissahickon's defense was able to stand the test down the stretch with goalkeeper John Carrozza stopping six shots to earn the win in net.
For Kropnick, who easily leads the Trojans in scoring, it was yet another stellar showing.
"Cole has really just been the driving force behind the offense," Malcolm said. "He takes it upon himself to win games, and he had another couple points and helped on both goals."
With the win, Wissahickon, which lost to Plymouth Whitemarsh in overtime earlier this year, sits comfortably in second place with hopes to eventually catch the Colonials down the line.
"It was a great game the first time around, and in the end, we could've snuck a goal in and have been looking at an undefeated record," Malcolm said. "It's going to be a competitive battle the next time around, and hopefully we can get the win there, but we just have to keep winning games until then.”
PW and Wissahickon will square off in two weeks, but the Trojans face Cheltenham this Friday, Springfield next Tuesday and Pennridge next Wednesday beforehand.
Upper Dublin, which is 3-2-1 in league play (3-3-2 overall), will travel to Springfield on Friday.
Wissahickon2 0 2
Upper Dublin 0 1 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Cheltenham 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh remained undefeated in conference play with a shutout win over the Panthers at Cheltenham High School.
The Colonials' goals were scored by Luke Myers and Cam Johnson while Myers and Dylan Ensslin each added an assist. Shane Smith stopped four shots in net to earn the shutout for PW, while is now 8-1-0 overall and a perfect 7-0-0 in conference play.
Cheltenham dropped to 2-6-1 overall and 2-4-1 in conference play with the loss.
Springfield 3, Upper Merion 2
Corey Cottone scored Springfield's first two goals and Igor McVeagh scored the game-winner as the Spartans got by host Upper Merion by the slimmest of margins.
Riley Woron and Juan Castro each drew assists for Springfield, which is now 5-3-0 overall and 3-3-0 in conference play.
The Vikings (1-4-1, 1-4-1) received goals from Vito Vincent and Abdu Bakillah. Vincent's goal came on a penalty kick.
Norristown 1, Upper Moreland 1
Upper Moreland scored midway through the first half and led for a majority of the contest, but junior Jose Pelaez notched a game-tying goal with less than 10 minutes to play to force overtime.
In the two extra periods, neither team was able to find the back of the net, and the game finished in a draw in a conference meeting at Norristown High School.
Norristown keeper Will Baltrus was credited with eight saves.
The Eagles are now 1-3-2 overall and in conference play. The Bears now sit at 0-6-2 and 0-5-1, respectively, on the season.
Upper Moreland 0 1 0 0 1
Norristown 1 0 0 0 1
National Conference
Bensalem 4, William Tennent 1
Jason Tate had himself a big game, and his first half performance turned out to be enough to help Bensalem to a convincing victory over visiting William Tennent.
Tate scored both of Bensalem's first half goals, helping the Owls to reach .500 mark both overall and in the league with 3-3-0 and 2-2-0 records, respectively.
"Jason is an excellent athlete, and he's finally got his finishing down," Bensalem coach Joe Leone said. "We knew it was just going to be a matter of time, and we're happy and we're happy for him. He's contributed a lot to the team so far, and he's now putting some balls in the net. He definitely picks everyone up on the team and takes some of the burden off of Chris Juergensen."
Juergensen assisted on the first goal and then scored early in the second half to put Bensalem on top 3-0. Rahi Patel scored Bensalem's final goal, with yet another assist going to Juergensen.
"We're happy with the win," Leone said. "Tennent started off real strong, and we knew they were going to be good coming into the game and we prepared for them. We definitely got our scoring and finishing down pretty well today and everything kind of worked out for us. We got real good defense in the back with Ricky Molz doing real well back there. It helps us when they put a lot of pressure on."
Bensalem junior Greg Citrino stopped eight shots in net to earn the win.
"Greg made some real good saves to keep us head in the second half when they started putting a lot of pressure on,” Leone said. “In the first half, he really didn't have a lot of work to do as we kind of jumped out on them."
Tennent (3-4-0, 2-4-0) tallied its only goal in the second half when Mike Masella beat Citrino to cap the afternoon's scoring.
William Tennent 0 1 1
Bensalem 2 2 4
Neshaminy 4, Harry S. Truman 0
First-place Neshaminy, which is now 8-1-0 overall and 7-0-0 in conference play, scored all four of its goals in the second half. Jamen Rowan converted on a penalty kick in the 50th minute to put the Redskins on top 1-0. Larry Geisler, Jack McCourt and Dylan McDonald also scored for the Redskins.
McDonald's goal was his fifth of the year while Geisler tallied his first. Eric Schaffer and Kenny Herrmann each contributed assists for Neshaminy.
"In the first half, we tried going down the middle a bit too much," Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. "Once we spread the field, the goals finally came."
Truman fell to 0-5-0 overall in conference play with the loss.
Harry S. Truman 0 0 0
Neshaminy 0 4 4
Pennsbury 2, Council Rock South 1
Keion Randolph beat the Council Rock South goalkeeper with only two minutes to play in regulation to propel Pennsbury to a one-goal victory over the Hawks in a game played at Pennsbury High School.
Colin Marks scored the Falcons' first goal in the 20th minute before CR South (3-3-0, 1-3-0) tied things up on a penalty kick in the 34th minute.
The win improved Pennsbury's record to 4-3-2 overall and 4-2-0 in conference play.
Council Rock South1 0 1
Pennsbury 1 1 2
Abington 1, Council Rock North 0
Abington's Matt Tracey scored the game's only goal and helped the Ghosts to a shutout victory over visiting Council Rock North in a battle of conference rivals.
Tracey's goal came in the game's 63rd minute.
The second-place Ghosts improved to 5-2-0 overall and 4-2-0 in conference play. The Indians fell to 2-5-0 and 2-4-0, respectively, with the loss.
Council Rock North0 0 0
Abington 0 1 1
Continental Conference
Pennridge 1, Hatboro-Horsham 1 (2 OT)
Pennridge's meeting with Hatboro-Horsham didn't end in a loss for the Rams, but that doesn't mean they went home happy.
"We really needed a win tonight, and we’re hoping for and expecting a win tomorrow," Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. "The guys were really (angry), and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite us in the end."
Dante D'Alonzo scored 15 minutes into the game off a pass from Corey Milewsi to put the Hatters (1-5-2, 1-3-1) on top 1-0, but the Rams answered with roughly five minutes to play in the first half, as junior Cameron Sheva put one in the back of the net to tie things up at 1-1.
In the second half and both overtime periods, neither team could put home the all-important game-winner.
"I'd say we had the better possession towards the end of the second half and OT, but they also had a couple of really nice chances and didn't connect," Valimont said. "We had a number of chances, too, but also didn't connect."
Sheva’s goal was a huge one for the Rams, who had not scored a single goal through the first six games of the season before Wednesday.
Valimont believes a huge weight has been lifted off the team's shoulders.
"At halftime, the players were kind of laughing and joking that we finally got our first goal," he said. "It wasn't the prettiest thing, but a goal is a goal and we'll take it. It doesn't matter how it goes in. You forget about the first goal and get as many wins as you can. We don't have to worry about getting the first one now, though.
“Our defense has been great, and you can't argue how well they've played, and our offense is getting close but not close enough. We think we can compete with everyone. We can hang, but we have to make sure that we can win against teams we can and should beat."
In net, Brody Giblin stopped six shots for the Falcons and stood tall for the final 60 minutes of game action. The Hatters lost their starting goalkeeper to an injury in the first half before going with a backup.
Hatboro-Horsham 1 0 0 0 1
Pennridge 1 0 0 0 1
Central Bucks South 5, Quakertown 0
Five different players scored for Central Bucks South in a shutout victory over visiting Quakertown (0-10-0, 0-7-0).
Danny Remick, Ian Betts and Mark Gilbert all scored in the first half while Colin McGonigal and Connor Bethel scored in the second half to cap the scoring for CB South.
Gilbert, Remick, Gianni Goss and Dom Monchek all tallied assists for CB South, which is now 5-3-1 overall and 4-3-0 in conference play this season. Dan Gerard and Billy Gorman combined for the shutout in net for the Titans.
Council Rock South3 2 5
Quakertown0 0 0
North Penn 4, Souderton 0
Mike Kohler and Owen Nakatani scored in the first half to help North Penn to build a comfortable lead and eventually run away with a shutout victory over visiting Souderton.
Kevin McKenna scored both second half goals for the Knights, who are now 6-2-0 overall and 5-1-0 in conference play this season.
The loss was the Indians' first in conference play this season, as they now sit at 5-2-1 and 4-1-1, respectively.
Souderton 0 0 0
North Penn 2 2 4
Central Bucks East 3, Central Buck West 1
Evan Vare and Brian Gilligan proved to be a winning combination on Wednesday night. Both players a hand in all three of Central Bucks East’s goals in a victory over neighborhood rival Central Bucks West under the lights at War Memorial Field.
The Patriots (8-1-0, 6-0-0) scored the only goal in the first half when Gilligan found the back of the net off an assist from Vare. Vare scored the next two CB East goals with Gilligan assisting on both. CB West’s Ben Riegel scored with 40 seconds remaining in regulation on a restart to spoil East’s shutout bid. DJ Kim assisted on the goal.
Austin Prime stopped six saves in net for CB East. For the Bucks (3-3-2, 2-3-1), Will Krempa had a pair of saves and Jonathan Vicente had three saves.
Central Bucks West 0 1 1
Central Bucks East 1 2 3
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