Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Tuesday.
By Jarrad Saffren
There are two weeks left in the Suburban One League season. The National and American contenders are sprinting neck and neck to the finish line. But the Continental still has the three best teams. In other words, don’t change the channel. Just turn up the volume.
SOL National
Abington 2, Bensalem 0
Abington scored on two of three shots and moved ahead of Council Rock North into second-place behind Pennsbury.
Juan Castillo netted the first goal in the 15th minute and Matt Bachman blasted the second near the end of the half. Bachman’s goal was assisted by Castillo and David Pohle.
Bensalem boomed 15 shots but could not get one past the keeper.
“They stole one from us today,” said Bensalem coach Joe Leone. “Too many players took off today. Some key players just did not come to play. You could see in warm-ups they were just lackadaisical and joking around.”
Leone benched a few players for “discipline reasons” after the warm-up. He said his team won all of the loose balls but “lacked the motivation to finish.” The Owls earned a lot of free kicks and five corner kicks.
“Their goalie is very good,” Leone said of Sam Wells. “Hats off to him. Tomorrow we are going to run a lot in practice.”
Wells was credited with 15 saves in goal.
Abington (9-4, 7-4 SOL) hosts William Tennent Thursday night. Bensalem (7-5-1, 5-5-1 SOL) buses to Harry S. Truman for a 3:30 p.m. start.
Abington 2-0 2
Bensalem 0-0 0
William Tennent 1, Council Rock South 0
Early in the first half, Tennent’s Conner Weiss lofted the ball into South’s box from 50 yards away. It bounced off the head of a Hawks’ defender and into the net. The own goal handed Tennent an important win.
Joe Lees stopped four shots in net for Tennent.
Tennent jumped ahead of Bensalem and Neshaminy into fourth-place behind Pennsbury, Abington, and CR North. South is now 11 points behind Pennsbury.
William Tennent (9-6, 6-5 SOL) clashes with Abington Thursday at 6 p.m. CR South (5-8, 4-6 SOL) welcomes archrival CR North.
William Tennent 1-0 1
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Neshaminy 2, Council Rock North 0
The Redskins are surging.
On Sept. 29, Neshaminy lost to CR South 2-1, dropping to 1-4-1 against SOL National teams. On Tuesday afternoon, Neshaminy won for the fourth time in five games, improving to 5-5-1.
Neshaminy probably started too late to come back and win the league for the fourth straight season. But, the Redskins are making it more difficult for the power ranking lords to slam the playoff door in their faces. Neshaminy somehow dropped from 34th last week to 35th this week despite the winning streak.
Against North, coach Tom Foley’s team scored twice in the first four minutes and stopped a furious North attack in the second half.
In the first minute, a North defender tripped Dan Grindrod in the box, and Dillon McDonald whistled the penalty kick past the keeper. In the 15th, Justin Tobin floated a long pass over the defense to Grindrod on a breakaway. Grindrod booted the ball into the net to put Neshaminy up 2-0.
“We played a sound defensive game,” Foley said. “We did not allow CR North many opportunities.”
North pressed up in the second half and evened the shot count at 12-12.
Neshaminy (5-7-1, 5-5-1 SOL) battles Pennsbury Thursday in what should be barnburner. CR North (9-3-2, 6-3-2 SOL) goes to CR South for a 5 p.m. start.
Neshaminy 2-0 2
Council Rock North 0-0 0
Pennsbury 8, Harry S. Truman 0
Pennsbury crushed Harry S. Truman and retook sole possession of first-place.
The Falcons were tied with CR North going into the night but the Indians lost. Abington leapfrogged North, and Pennsbury is two points ahead of the Ghosts.
Colin Marks scored two goals and six other Falcons—Peyton Salonick, John Griffin, Brad Edwards, Colby Gordon, Willem McCullough, and Sam Beidler—added one each.
Pennsbury (8-3-2, 7-2-2 SOL) hosts Neshaminy Thursday. Harry S. Truman (0-11, 0-10) goes for its first win against Bensalem at 3:30 p.m.
SOL American
Norristown 1, Cheltenham 0
Norristown and Cheltenham are streaking in opposite directions. Norristown won its third league game in a row while Cheltenham lost for the fourth time in five games.
Norristown controlled the ball and the pace for most of the game. The Eagles capitalized on only one chance, but it was enough. With three minutes left in the first half, Norristown’s Tom Detwiler flicked the ball to the top of the 18, where Ethan Sylvester drilled a half volley into the upper 90 below the far post.
“A tremendous finish by Sylvester,” said Norristown coach Jared Elias, who also credited his center backs. “Jimmy Perkins and Grant Rubin kept the Panthers listless throughout the match.”
Keeper Enrique Escobedo earned his first shutout during Norristown’s winning streak.
“Tremendous team effort,” Elias said.
Norristown (4-10, 3-8 SOL) buses to Wissahickon to play the first-place Trojans Thursday afternoon. Cheltenham (5-6-1, 5-5-1 SOL) travels to Upper Moreland for a 3:30 p.m. start.
Norristown 1-0 1
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Upper Moreland 5, Springfield 0
Kevin Cannon netted two goals and three other Golden Bears—Jack Moran, Brendan O’Donnell, and Randy Meehl—added one apiece.
Kenny Mitchell assisted on two of the goals. Moran, Cannon, and Meehl each assisted on one.
Ryan Varela and Brennan Coleman combined for the shutout in goal.
“Each made a few key saves,” said Upper Moreland coach Dan Mannella. “(It was a) great effort by our whole team.”
Upper Moreland (4-9-1, 3-7-1 SOL) plays Cheltenham Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Springfield (2-11, 1-10 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh on the same day and time.
Upper Dublin 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Upper Dublin scored the game winner with one minute left in regulation to distance itself from PW in the American standings.
Nick Browndorff netted his eighth of the season and Jose Palomeque scored his fifth.
The Cardinals have won five straight and are seven points ahead of the Colonials for first place.
PW started the week four spots ahead of UD in the district power rankings, but that will most likely change next week depending on Thursday’s results.
Upper Dublin (9-4, 9-2 SOL) goes to Upper Merion Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. PW (8-3-2, 6-3-2 SOL) plays Springfield on the same day and time.
Upper Dublin 0-2 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-0 1
Wissahickon 2, Upper Merion 1
Wissahickon kept pace with Upper Dublin, as both moved to seven points up on the next closest contender, PW.
Upper Merion lost its second game in a row after winning four of five. A week ago, Merion appeared to be charging back into the race, but now the Vikings are 10 points behind Wissahickon and Upper Dublin.
Wissahickon has won six games in a row, five by one goal.
Wissahickon (9-3, 9-2 SOL) plays Norristown Thursday in a battle of scorching hot teams. Upper Merion (6-5-2, 5-4-2 SOL) hosts the other hottest team in the American, Upper Dublin.
SOL Continental
Central Bucks East 4, Central Bucks South 2
The dynasty continues. CB East cooled off CB South and clinched its 10th SOL Continental title in 12 seasons.
“We’re really proud of that, and one of the reasons for that is we have massive respect for the teams in our league, and we know how hard it is,” said CB East coach Mike Gorni. “A league title is very important to the Suburban One teams because 14 of our 18 games are league games.
“Our goal has not been any different the last two years with the computer system. Our goal has been set to win the league title, to go to districts and try to get into the district final four and to go to states.”
South struck first when Colin Fagan scored off a corner kick in the first half. But, with less than four minutes left in the first, CB East’s Joey Bowen tied the game at one. Jonathan Sutcliffe assisted on the goal.
“In the first half, South was better,” Gorni said. “Getting that goal between Sutcliffe and Bowen was really important, and it shows that we have a bit of depth because they haven’t been starters.
“With JR Eisold still out with a broken nose, we switched positions, so a number of guys are getting playing time, and that was really helpful.”
In the second half, Evan Vare, who committed to Lafayette last week, showed why he was so heavily recruited. Vare rocketed three goals in the first 14 minutes, scoring on a restart, a breakaway, and a feed from Andrew Zach.
Gorni elaborated on Vare’s spree.
“The second half I thought we just came out and were committed to winning every 50-50 ball and keeping things alive,” the Patriots’ coach said. “We drew a foul because of that, and Evan is just a great player and is capable of scoring. He scored on a direct free kick.
“The next ball we pressured very high in the midfield–two players were pressuring, the ball ended up being stolen by Evan, and he went in on a breakaway and finished.
“The last goal was a counterattack–they came into our back line, and Andrew Zach sent a 40-yard perfect lead pass in, and Evan went in and just crushed one from about 20 yards out.”
Fagan scored with less than two minutes left to make it 4-2.
East remained undefeated while South lost for the first time in more than three weeks, ending a 6-0-1 stretch.
CB East (15-0, 11-0 SOL) plays Quakertown Thursday. CB South (9-4-1, 7-3-1 SOL) travels to Souderton for a 7 p.m. start.
Central Bucks East 1-3 4
Central Bucks South 1-1 2
North Penn 2, Central Bucks West 1
North Penn trailed CB West 1-0 with 12 minutes to play.
Then Colin Jerome tied the score at one. With less than a minute left in the first overtime, Mike Kohler booted home the game winner.
Marcos Urffer put West up 1-0 in the first half. Dylan Smith made five saves for the Bucks.
North Penn (10-2-2, 7-2-2 SOL) plays Pennridge Thursday. CB West (10-5, 6-5 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham at 7 p.m.
North Penn 0-2 2
Central Bucks West 1-0 1
Pennridge 3, Souderton 0
Early in the first half, Matt Stevenson lofted the ball to Cayce Giblin in the box, who headed it home to put Pennridge in front for good.
“Souderton played well and had some close chances in the first half,” said Pennridge coach Pete Valimont. “But we put enough pressure on in the second and it started to open up.”
With 15 minutes to play, Cam Sheva ripped a shot that was saved. But Sheva crashed the net and buried the rebound to put Pennridge on top 2-0. Then, with five minutes left, Dylan Henry broke through the defense and kicked the ball into the net.
Pennridge keeper Brody Giblin made seven saves to earn his third shutout.
Valimont was proud of his players for keeping their focus.
“They had a moment of silence before the game for a player who recently graduated from their program and passed away,” Valimont said. “I told our players to match their emotion. I think we did a good job of that.”
The Rams (6-7, 4-7 SOL) play North Penn Thursday and have four games in five days next week. Souderton (2-10-1, 2-7-1 SOL) welcomes CB South.
Pennridge 1-2 3
Souderton 0-0 0
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Quakertown 0
John Scully scored in the first half, Danny Harmon scored in the second, and Hatboro-Horsham coasted to an easy win on Senior Night.
“We celebrated the 10 seniors we have in our program,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath.
Joe LaRoche assisted on the first goal, Eduardo Romero on the second.
Hatters keeper Mark Rothenberger stoned four shots to earn his first shutout of the season. Horsham has six shutouts as a team.
On their night, Horsham’s seniors received high praise from their coach.
“Our back four, which consists of three seniors—Mark Griffenburg, Alex Hoffman, and Sean Rich—and a freshman—Colin Davis—played very well again while securing Mark Rothenberger’s first career shutout,” McGrath said.
Hatboro-Horsham (7-8, 5-6 SOL) battles CB West Thursday. Quakertown (2-13, 0-11 SOL) takes on CB East.
Hatboro-Horsham 1-1 2
Quakertown 0-0 0
About the Author
