Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams on Wednesday.
American Conference
Cheltenham 2, Upper Merion 2
A seesaw battle ended on a close call that could have gone either way.
Upper Merion got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Matt Bailey even though Cheltenham controlled the ball and took more shots. Later in the half, however, the Panthers broke through, as Eli Tomasic and Jake Ruckett scored to put the Panthers up 2-1 at the intermission.
Then, with eight minutes left, the Vikings sent the game to overtime, thanks to a goal by Abdu Bakillah. In the extra session, Ruckett settled a cross from Tomasic and booted the ball past the keeper. Unfortunately for Cheltenham, Ruckett was ruled offsides.
“I thought he was on,” said Cheltenham coach Chuck Gesing. “But the ref was in position and called him off. Everyone from UM thinks he’s off, everyone from CHS thinks he’s on. It was close.”
Cheltenham (0-1-1, 0-0-1 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin Friday at 3:30 p.m. Upper Merion (0-1-1, 0-0-1 SOL) travels to Plymouth Whitemarsh to take on the undefeated Colonials.
Cheltenham 2-0-0 2
Upper Merion 1-1-0 2
Upper Dublin 4, Norristown 1
Upper Dublin netted four goals in the first 30 minutes to put away Norristown before halftime.
Nick Browndorff scored twice while Jake Woodruff and Jose Palomeque added one each for the Cardinals. Browndorff’s first goal, in the seventh minute, was the ‘prettiest of the day,’ according to UD coach Derek Preist. UD’s outside midfielder dribbled the ball wide of the defense, raced around a defender, and crossed the ball to Browndorff, who headed it home.
Norristown’s only goal came on a penalty kick. “
Upper Dublin (1-1, 1-0 SOL) goes to Cheltenham Friday afternoon to play the Panthers. Norristown (0-1, 0-1 SOL) battles Springfield the same day at 3:30 p.m.
Upper Dublin 4-0 4
Norristown 1-0 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Upper Moreland 0
The Colonials improved to 2-0 with another shutout win.
Dillon Johnson and Austin Betterly scored the goals with assists from Kyle Blumenthal and Mark Melvin. Johnson scored in the first half, Betterly in the second.
PW keeper Zach Zygmunt stoned five shots on goal.
The Colonials (2-0, 1-0 SOL) will try to improve to 3-0 on Friday against Upper Merion. Upper Moreland (1-1, 0-1 SOL) will go for its first league win at Wissahickon.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-1 2
Upper Moreland 0-0 0
Wissahickon 3, Springfield 2
In the 90th minute Wednesday afternoon, Wissahickon’s Darien Williams booted the ball into the net, and the Trojans earned their first win of 2015.
This battle of neighboring teams was scoreless until the 30th minute, when Springfield’s Trevor McCaffery broke the ice. Wissahickon and Springfield then traded goals until Williams launched the game winner.
Blake Geisler tied it for the Trojans in the 65th minute. Zach Harvey put Springfield up 2-1 in the 70th. And Wissahickon’s Aidan Conway forced overtime in the 75th.
The Trojans (1-1, 1-0 SOL) play Upper Moreland on Friday at home while Springfield (0-2, 0-1 SOL) travels to Norristown.
Wissahickon 0-2-1 3
Springfield 1-1-0 2
Continental Conference
North Penn 4, Central Bucks South 0
In the first half, CB South had two chances to score. Both were point blank shots. Both were stopped by North Penn keeper Jordan Katz, who made five saves.
“If they got a first goal it would have been a completely different game,” said North Penn coach Paul Duddy.
The Knights capitalized on their opportunities in the first half. Mike Kohler scored in the 25th minute and Nate Baxter followed in the 35th. In the last eight minutes, North Penn netted two more goals on CB South mistakes.
On the third goal, Katz punted the ball to South’s end, a defender headed it back to his keeper, who ran out of the net as the ball flew over his head. A few minutes later, with all but one player pressing up, South turned it over near the North Penn net. Matt Richardson darted past midfield as Musa Sheriff ran with him. Richardson pushed the ball through the defender’s legs to Sheriff, who kicked it into the net.
North Penn (2-0, 1-0 SOL) plays CB East on Friday in a battle of unbeatens. CB South (1-1, 0-1) hosts undefeated Hatboro-Horsham.
North Penn 2-2 4
CB South 0-0 0
Hatboro-Horsham 4, Souderton 1
Mental mistakes doomed Souderton in its Continental opener at Hatboro-Horsham.
In the second minute, Souderton’s back line allowed Joe LaRoche to get behind them and score the first goal. Twenty-six minutes later, Souderton’s defenders failed to track LaRoche on a rebound and he scored again.
“I told our players we can’t win games in this league with mistakes like the ones we made today,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner.
Nick Hatzenbeller and Logan Eldridge netted the second half goals for Horsham. Thomas Sonn scored Souderton’s lone goal in the 61st minute.
“We pressed hard to get within a goal,” said Benner. “I really thought we were gonna get the tying goal the way we were playing.”
Horsham (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will look to stay on a roll at CB South on Friday. Souderton (0-2, 0-1 SOL) battles Quakertown at home at 7:00 p.m.
Hatboro-Horsham 2-2 4
Souderton 0-1 1
CB West 2, Quakertown 0
In his third career start, freshman goalkeeper Dylan Smith continued to impress CB West coach Stefan Szygiel. Smith stopped three shots and earned his second shutout of the season.
“When Dylan has been tested, he has come up big,” Szygiel said.
West scored a goal in each half to support its stellar defense and precocious keeper. Joel Acaster scored the first and Tarin Morris netted the second. Brandon Morris and Jack Tilley assisted the goals.
The Bucks (3-0, 1-0 SOL) host Pennridge on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Quakertown (0-2, 0-1 SOL) clashes with Souderton on Friday at 7 p.m.
CB West 1-1 2
Quakertown 0-0 0
CB East 3, Pennridge 2
CB East and Pennridge were tied at two with less than two minutes to play in regulation. Patriots forward Evan Vare dribbled to the box and was tackled by a Rams defender. The senior captain did not wait for the call.
“He just picked up the ball and walked to the spot and they gave it to him,” said Pennridge coach Pete Valimont.
Vare whistled the ball past keeper Brody Giblin and East survived.
“We didn’t have a great night tonight. We played good, good enough to win,” said East coach Mike Gorni. “But this wasn’t unexpected. We went 21-3 last year and had a lot of one-goal games. It’s a very, very tough league.”
“I got no regrets for my boys,” Valimont said. “East is a great team.”
Valimont said both teams saw the decisive play differently. “
If you ask them, it was a tackle inside the box and if you ask us, it was a bad call,” the Rams’ coach said. “I’m not even sure if he was in the box.”
Despite the call, Valimont praised its beneficiary – Vare. Pennridge lost to East twice last year, 2-0 and 3-2, and Vare scored or assisted on all five goals. On Wednesday night, once again, he scored or assisted on all three.
“He’s our Achilles heel,” said Valimont.
Vare assisted on the only goal of the first half, which was scored by Will Marks. In the second half, with the game tied, Vare scored to make it 2-1 Patriots.
With 13 minutes left, Pennridge midfielder Dylan Henry slid the ball across the grass to Cameron Sheva inside the 18. Sheva buried it, tying the game at two, setting the stage for Vare to break his team’s heart.
CB East (2-0, 1-0 SOL) plays back-to-back games this weekend, Friday versus North Penn and Saturday against Pleasant Valley. Pennridge (1-1, 0-1 SOL) takes on CB West on Saturday afternoon.
CB East 1-2 3
Pennridge 0-2 2
National Conference
Pennsbury 2, Abington 1
Pennsbury bounced back from a season opening loss to Father Judge to even its record at 1-1.
The Falcons scored twice in the first half on goals by Colin Marks and Biagio Lazaric and allowed just one goal in the second to preserve the win.
Pennsbury (1-1, 1-0 SOL) will try to stay unbeaten in league play on Friday night at Council Rock North. Abington (1-1, 0-1 SOL) will attempt to win its first league game of 2015 against Neshaminy.
Pennsbury 2-0 2
Abington 0-1 1
Neshaminy 3, Bensalem 1
The demise of Neshaminy boys soccer has been greatly exaggerated. Neshaminy ended its season-opening two-game losing streak by doing what it always does: winning in league play.
The Redskins went 11-0-3 in the SOL National Conference in 2013 and 14-0 last season. Now they are 1-0 to start 2015.
The Skins overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score three unanswered goals, one in the first half, two in the second.
In the 10th minute, Alfardy Ali gave Bensalem a 1-0 lead before Dylan McDonald answered by burying a penalty kick in the 31st. Early in the second half, sophomore Chase Rider broke the 1-1 tie when he headed the ball into the net off a crossing pass from Justin Tobin. Dan Grindrod added a late insurance goal for the Skins.
Neshaminy (1-2, 1-0 SOL) puts its two-plus season winning streak on the line Friday at Abington. Bensalem (1-1, 0-1 SOL) takes on Council Rock South at 3 p.m.
Bensalem 1-0 1
Neshaminy 1-2 3
Council Rock South 2, Truman 1
CR South edged Truman by a goal, but the game was not nearly that close.
“The score line definitely flatters us a little bit,” said Truman coach John Kinloch.
South’s Mike Dawicki scored twice in the first half, but the Golden Hawks did not score in the second, which kept Truman in the game.
“We should have had more,” said South coach Alan Nicholl. “The Truman keeper was terrific. He kept them in it.”
That keeper, Fernando Mendez, stopped more than 20 shots, three from point blank range. The Hawks also hit the crossbar twice.
“South is fit, fast, and strong,” Kinloch said. “Looking at the scores the last few days, it looks like some team other than Pennsbury and Neshaminy could make some noise this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s them.”
As for his own team, Kinloch said they will continue to defend well, but will struggle until they find a way to score goals.
“We don’t have a natural scorer on the team right now,” he said.
South (1-1, 1-0 SOL) travels to Bensalem Friday afternoon while Truman (0-2, 0-1 SOL) battles William Tennant.
Council Rock South 2-0 2
Truman 0-1 1
Council Rock North 2, William Tennant 0
North improved to 2-0 by winning its league opener over Tennant.
Nikita Illin and Arthur Vasyluk scored for North while keeper Billy Storm made three saves.
North (2-0, 1-0 SOL) plays Pennsbury on Friday. Both teams are 1-0 in league play. Tennant (0-1, 0-1 SOL) buses to Truman for a 3:30 p.m. start.
About the Author
