Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday.
National Conference
Neshaminy 2, Pennsbury 1 (OT)
It’s a three-peat for the Redskins, who laid claim to their third consecutive National Conference crown with Thursday’s win over the Falcons.
With his team trailing in the game's final minutes, freshman Jack McCourt wasn't going to let the Redskins go another day without clinching. He assisted on a goal with five minutes to play to force overtime and then scored the game-winner in the extra period to lead Neshaminy to the dramatic win.
The Redskins are 12-0-0 in conference play (14-2-0 overall) and hold a three-game lead over the Falcons (9-4-2, 9-3-0) with only two games remaining.
"It's a huge accomplishment for these guys," Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. "My five seniors have played with me for the past three years, and they have had great success in the league. It's a great accomplishment for them to remember for the rest of their lives and I couldn't be more pleased."
While the seniors have led the way all season long, it was a first-year player who made the difference on Thursday, as McCourt came off the bench to give the Redskins a huge spark.
Down 1-0 with six minutes to play, McCourt headed a ball into the box to Kenny Herrmann, who tied the game and forced overtime. Less than two minutes into the extra period, Zach Albarran sent a beautiful pass to McCourt, who did the rest.
"Zach came off the bench and was huge. He runs like a gazelle out there," Foley said. "He's fast as lightning, and he shakes things loose for us. He beat the keeper and that's all we could ask for."
Not only was Neshaminy able to come from behind to win, but the Redskins did so in overtime while down a player after getting a red card late in regulation.
"We were trying to get a tie out of it, but we were fortunate to spring him loose, especially down a man," Foley said.
Pennsbury's lone goal came in the second half with 27 minutes to play in regulation. The Falcons, who are three games up on third-place William Tennent, will finish in second place in the conference.
Neshaminy, which received six saves in net from winning goalkeeper Chris Rush, has already accomplished its first goal of winning the conference. Next up for the Redskins are the district playoffs, where Foley expects his team to compete as well.
"Every year we set goals, and this year we wanted to go far into the district," he said. "If we play the way we're capable of, we're a difficult team to beat. At the same time, it's high school kids, so you have to bring it every game. It's crapshoot, but I think we're experienced and we know what it takes, so I'd like to think we have as good a chance as any of the top 5-6 teams in the district."
Pennsbury 0 1 0 1
Neshaminy 0 1 1 2
William Tennent 1, Abington 0
William Tennent's first half goal was enough to propel the Panthers to victory over host Abington.
Dan Miller scored off a pass from Dan Mehaffey in the opening 40 minute to take care of the entire game's scoring, as Tennent goalkeeper Joey Lees stopped all six shots he saw en route to the victory.
"There was great goaltending from both sides," Tennent coach Ryan Todt said. "There were many scoring chances."
Abington goalkeeper Tim Seydel stopped seven shots in the losing effort. The Ghosts dropped to 6-6-3 overall and 4-6-2 in conference play, while Tennent improved to 8-8-0 and 6-6-0, respectively.
William Tennent 1 0 1
Abington 0 0 0
Harry S. Truman 4, Bensalem 3
Wins have been difficult to come by this season for Harry S. Truman, which entered Thursday's meeting with Bensalem with only two wins on the season – one in conference play.
But a goal by Joe Nyumah with less than a minute remaining in regulation propelled the Tigers to a win over the Owls at Bensalem High School.
Tied 3-3- late, Nyumah, a senior, was able to provide the game's highlight in an otherwise disappointing season.
"Towards the end of the season, we've been battling everyone very well and we've been in every game," Truman coach Bill O'Neil said. "Not being able to finish out games and play two halves has been our problem, but I felt like we've been competing all year. Today was finally a chance to get on top, and it was nice for Joe to get that goal. He's a senior who has struggled all year and he had a lot of stuff going on and I think for Joe – he's always battled and he's a very skilled player. It was nice to see him find the back of the net today."
Jeremy Beese, Matheus Souza and Oguhzan Tastan also scored goals for Truman (3-9-1, 2-9-1). Fatih Aydin assisted on Beese's goal, while Beese assisted on Souza'sgoal. Tastan assisted on the game-winner.
"Honestly, it was persistence today," O'Neil said. "Sticking with what we're doing at any time worked. They came back when we were down and just kept going. We didn't give up and we were constantly going for the net."
Bensalem (5-10-0, 3-7-0) received a pair of goals from Afardi Ali, and another from Chris Juergensen. The two teams were tied 2-2 at the half.
Truman goalkeeper Fernando Mendez stopped eight shots in net to help the Tigers to the victory.
"Fernando kept us in the game. He made some amazing saves again today, and he always picks the team up," O'Neil said. "The midfield play of Eddie Worthington and Matheus Souza really kept things going in the right direction. We worked hard and the kids kept on going and we were able to get the win."
Harry S. Truman 2 2 4
Bensalem 2 1 3
Council Rock North 3, Council Rock South 2
Despite trailing on two separate occasions, Council Rock North kept figuring out a way to get even, and eventually came out on top.
Going against neighborhood rival Council Rock South, senior Eric Borman scored with five minutes to play in regulation to help the Indians to a win over the visiting Hawks.
Eric Levine and Max Mykhylyk also scored goals for CR North (6-9-0, 5-7-0), which got five saves in net from goalkeeper Billy Storm.
“It was a great win to retain the two school’s Unity Cup,” CR North coach Joseph Stackhouse said. “It was a good week for us winning two of three games.”
Chase Spinelli stopped eight shots in goal for CR South, which fell to 6-7-1 overall and 3-7-1 in conference play with the loss.
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 5, Quakertown 0 (Wednesday, Sept. 8)
The Patriots celebrated Senior Night on Wednesday by clinching at least a share of the SOL Continental Conference crown with their win over the Panthers at War Memorial Field. It is the program’s ninth title in the last 10 years, and making this one even more remarkable is the team’s youth – the Patriots start just two seniors.
“They’ve just found a way to win, as cliché as that is,” said coach Mike Gorni, whose team is 24-2 in conference play over the past two seasons. “If we’ve had to win 1-0, we’ve won that way. If we’ve had to win 3-2 or 2-1 and we’ve obviously busted a few games wide open as well – they’re playing good soccer together. It’s a very young team that has played well enough right now to be at the top, and I think it’s because they play so hard together.”
Five different players contributed goals in Wednesday’s win over the Panthers (0-15-0, 0-12-0 SOL). J.R. Eisold, Evan Vare, Brian Gilligan, Alex Parasky and Marco Marquez each scored a goal for the Patriots, who opened up a 4-0 halftime lead. Justin Chomik had a pair of assists while J.R. Eisold, Parasky and Julian Klokner each had one.
Vare leads the Patriots with 17 goals, and the gifted junior also had 10 assists.
“He has scored or assisted for the game winner in 90 percent of our games,” Gorni said. “Evan Vare right now is just having a phenomenal year, no question.”
East is 12-0 in league play with two games remaining on its schedule.
“No one could figure that in our league,” Gorni said. “We’ve played very, very well, and we’ve had some blessings along the way, if you will.
“It’s almost surprising where we are. We hope that it continues. Ourselves and North Penn have separated ourselves to the top of the league, but each game independent of itself has been very, very competitive for the most part. Even though the standings are busted open at this point, the games were certainly not easy individually.
“The kids really want to win it outright, which we can with a tie or win in either of our last games. They didn’t celebrate anything tonight. They just took it in stride.”
The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they will take on Wilkes-Barre-Coughlin at War Memorial Field. Start time is 4:30 p.m.
“This is a big-time non-league game,” Gorni said. “We beat them in the state tournament two years ago. They’re going to come in at 14-0, and we’re going to play them at 14-1.”
Quakertown 0 0 0
Central Bucks East 4 1 5
Souderton 4, Central Bucks South 1
Four different players scored goals for the Indians, who put a damper on the Titans’ Senior Night celebration.
Justin Molyneaux scored on a penalty kick in the game's 12th minute, and David McDonough (49th), Nate Verso (57th) and Nick Marculo (65th) all tallied goals in the second half to help the Indians to the three-goal win. Dylan Molyneaux assisted on Verso's goal.
Souderton led 1-0 at the half.
Souderton now sits at 7-5-3 overall and 7-3-2 in conference play on the season, while CB South fell to 5-8-2 and 4-7-1, respectively.
Souderton 1 3 4
Central Bucks South 0 1 1
North Penn 2, Pennridge 1
After assisting on a Mike Kohler goal in the first half, Brad Deckel turned in an even bigger assist in the second half, setting up a goal by Nick Miller with 22 minutes remaining. That turned out to be the game-winning tally for North Penn.
The two teams were tied at 1-1 going into the half, and the score remained that way until Miller was able to score the difference-maker.
With the win, the Knights improved to 11-3-0 overall and 10-2-0 in conference play while the Rams fell to 1-8-6 and 1-7-4, respectively.
Pennridge 1 0 1
North Penn 1 1 2
Central Bucks West 2, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Two first half goals were more than enough to help Central Bucks West to a win over visiting Hatboro-Horsham.
Jack Tilley scored off an assist from Brandon Morris, and Matthew Douple followed with a goal of his own to propel the Bucks (8-6-2, 7-4-1) to the shutout win. Jason Douple assisted on the second goal.
CB West goalkeeper Daniel Merritt stopped both shots he saw in net to earn the win.
With the loss, the Hatters fell to 3-10-2 overall and 2-8-2 in conference play.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 0 0
Central Bucks West 2 0 2
American Conference
Cheltenham 2, Upper Moreland 0
Tom Hipwell continues to prove that he's one of the best goaltenders in the area.
The senior goaltender, who didn't even play soccer last season, recorded his ninth shutout of the season, leading Cheltenham to its seventh consecutive win following a shutout over host Upper Moreland.
"Tom has a great goals-against average, he's big, he commands the box and he's a good shot blocker," Cheltenham coach Chuck Gesing said. "He's the most complete goalkeeper we've had in the last four years."
Eli Tomasic and recent JV call-up Noah Michel each scored goals in the first half to put the Panthers (9-5-1, 8-3-1) on top 2-0 at the half. The second half featured plenty of defense and no scoring, thanks in large part to the play of Hipwell.
"I credit the whole team for the win streak, but Tom's presence in net is steadying back there,” Gesing said. “He's the rock that we defend with. Certainly his presence has made the win streak possible, but we do get it done on the other side of the ball, too, and it's a lot of different guys scoring, so that's nice."
With the loss, the Bears fell to 0-12-3 overall and 0-10-2 in conference play.
Upper Moreland 0 0 0
Cheltenham 2 0 2
Wissahickon 4, Norristown 0
Wissahickon remained in the conversation for the top spot in the conference, staying just one game behind Plymouth Whitemarsh following a convincing win over host Norristown.
And the Trojans (13-2-0, 10-2-0) can look no further than to Cole Kropnick as to why the team is still in contention for the conference title.
The star senior scored all four of the game's goals in the first half, tallying them in a span of just 24 minutes.
Kropnick, who has scored in all but three games this season, scored in the 10th, 16th, 24th and 34th minutes, respectively. Shane Fallen and Ryan Becker drew assists. Wissahickon goalkeeper John Carrozza stopped two shots in net to earn the win.
The Trojans outshot Norristown 16-3.
With the loss, the Eagles fell to 3-10-2 overall and 1-9-2 in conference play.
Wissahickon 4 0 4
Norristown 0 0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Springfield 0
On the heels of a two-goal performance, Plymouth Whitemarsh's Dom Wldarczyk scored yet again, providing all the offense the Colonials would need in their win over visiting Springfield.
Wldarczyk scored in the game's 60th minute to break the scoreless tie.
Shane Smith stopped four shots in net to earn another shutout victory for PW (13-2-0, 11-1-0), which remains all alone in first place with two conference games remaining. Springfield fell to 8-6-1 overall and 5-6-1 in conference play with the loss.
Springfield 0 0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh0 1 1
Upper Dublin 2, Upper Merion 0
A first-half goal by Cole D'Andrea and a second half tally by Nick Browndorf helped lift host Upper Dublin to a win over Upper Merion in a game under the lights.
The Cardinals' goals came in the 28th and 65th minutes. D'Andrea's goal came on a penalty kick.
Upper Dublin (6-6-2, 6-5-1) outshot Upper Merion 23-8. The Cardinals saw Josh Franklin and Justin Greene both turn in standout performances.
The loss dropped the Vikings' record to 3-9-2 overall and 3-8-1 in conference play.
Upper Merion 0 0 0
Upper Dublin 1 1 2
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