Jarrad Saffren recaps Monday’s SOL boys soccer action. Photo of CR South/North Penn provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography…CLICK HERE.
By Jarrad Saffren
Monday and Friday are the big boys soccer nights in the Suburban One League this week.
The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur starts Tuesday night and ends Wednesday night.
Most public schools are not playing sports on Tuesday or Wednesday. Wednesday is not even a school day in most districts.
All 22 SOL teams played Monday. Eighteen played league games. Four played non-league games.
They all count toward the District One Class AAAA Power Rankings. The latest edition came out Monday.
Coaches care a lot about the power rankings. But none of them say that. Instead, they say this: “We are just focusing on playing our best soccer. If we earn points, we earn points. But I’m not even sure how the system works.”
Al Davis said it best. DJ Khaled said it second best: Just win, baby, win.
SOL boys soccer coaches added this part: Let the equation take care of itself.
Twelve SOL teams did that Monday. Ten did not…
SOL National
Neshaminy 3, Pennsbury 2
Neshaminy won its eighth straight game. Pennsbury lost its second straight.
The Redskins and Falcons are now tied in second behind Council Rock North. Both are 7-2 in league play. CR North is 8-1.
“This is an extremely tough league,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “Teams don’t play each other twice in other leagues. We do.”
Pennsbury beat Neshaminy 2-1 on Sept. 15. Neshaminy can avenge its other league loss—a 3-1 decision to CR North on Sept. 20—this Friday in the rematch with the Indians.
“That’s another big one,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “Just like this one. Today really showed if we play our game against these teams, we will score three goals.”
Neshaminy has scored at least three goals in all eight wins during its streak. The Redskins have scored 30 goals in all, an average of 3.75 per game.
Jack McCourt and Dan Grindrod are the leaders of Neshaminy’s offensive juggernaut. McCourt scored twice on Monday and has 12 on the year. Grindrod scored Neshaminy’s third goal, a 40-yard boot over the goalkeeper’s head. He has 13 in 2016.
Grindrod also assisted on both of McCourt’s goals. He has 11 assists this season.
“He’s a handful for defenders,” Foley said. “Jack is too. Dan’s goal today was a heck of a shot. I was hoping he would shoot it, even from that far away.”
“With Jack’s speed and the runs he was making, he was making it real easy for me to give him the ball in good positions,” Grindrod said. “He wanted it more than their defenders. He was losing his defenders and getting on goal.”
Grindrod also explained his goal: “The goalie punted the ball and I brought it down with a touch that set me up perfectly,” Grindrod said. “I looked up, saw he was at the 18, and was like, ‘I’ll go for it. And I just hit it and it dropped right in.’ That’s the craziest goal I’ve ever scored.”
“We were a little deflated after that,” Stoddart said.
Grindrod’s goal put Neshaminy up 3-1 with 29 minutes left. Neshaminy continued to dominate the ball for 19 more minutes. But Pennsbury came alive once the clock ticked under 10 minutes.
In the 71st minute, Obi Onouha penalty kicked the ball into the lower right corner of the net. That cut Neshaminy’s lead to one. The Falcons pressured the Redskins for the last eight minutes.
With 90 seconds left, Pennsbury’s Zach LoBasso was taken down in the box. LoBasso threw up his arms, but play continued without a whistle. LoBasso talked to the official as he ran down the field.
Then the official did blow his whistle. “Seventeen (LoBasso’s jersey number), you’re off,” he said.
Stoddart thought the ref gave LoBasso a yellow card. But as a replacement ran onto the field, the ref told him to turn around.
Pennsbury played the final minute down a player. The Falcons did not get close to scoring again.
Neshaminy keeper Val Scarsellatto made seven saves. Pennsbury’s Nate Slotnick made nine.
Neshaminy’s (12-3, 7-2 SOL) Friday showdown with CR North starts at 3:30. Pennsbury (12-2, 7-2 SOL) takes on Council Rock South on the same day and time.
Neshaminy 1-2 3
Pennsbury 1-1 2
Council Rock North 5, Abington 2
Council Rock North scored four goals to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit.
“They game planned really well. Randy’s a great coach,” CR North coach Joe Stackhouse said of Abington coach Randy Garber. “We figured it out and made adjustments at halftime. His kids did a great job in the first half. I have nothing but respect for him.”
Abington used an extra defender to stifle North’s aggressive attack.
“Anytime Nikita (Ilin) and whoever was playing up top received the ball, they were looking at five defenders,” Stackhouse said. “They were very well versed on how to defend us. Plus we played at PSU Abington. The field is wide. So Abington kept the ball in play in the back third to keep Noah (Ehlin) from getting those throw-ins.”
Stackhouse changed the Indians’ strategy at halftime. Instead of attacking down the middle, North would go wide.
“We had to play less direct through the top half. We saw the way we would be successful is if we played it wide,” Stackhouse said. “So we attacked down the flanks better in the second half. We drew them out and brought it back across.”
Ilin scored three goals, his second hat trick of 2016. One goal was “on a scramble off a corner,” Stackhouse said. Another came on “a great run, where he took on two guys, and drove it to the opposite corner.” The third goal was “off a free pass and they left Nikita open.”
“You can’t leave Nikita open inside the box,” Stackhouse said. “He’s been on fire lately.”
Ilin has eight goals in his last four games. Seamus Crossett and Eric Levine scored North’s other goals. Levine has six goals in 2016. The first five were off his head.
“This one was off his foot,” Stackhouse said, laughing.
Ehlin—Levine’s defensive tag team partner—had two assists.
“We do well as a unit getting upfield. I played defense my whole life. The easiest way to play it is to get forward and get attacking,” Stackhouse said. “I always believe in building a team from the back. If you can secure the back and play forward, you are always going to be successful.”
North keeper Anthony Caruso made six saves. Sean Touey scored both of Abington’s goals – with a Nevin Baer assist.
The Indians—now 12-1-1—are No. 5 in the latest unofficial district power rankings. Neshaminy is No. 6. The Indians (12-1-1, 9-1 SOL) play the Redskins Friday at 3:30.
“The Neshaminy game is no bigger than any other. Any of these games are big. If the playoffs started right now, four of us National teams would be in (Pennsbury is No. 2 in the power rankings. Abington is No. 14). Three of us have byes,” Stackhouse said. “Randy and I were talking about this before the game: Us and the (SOL) Continental beat each other up. So many other leagues play each other once. We are all hoping (Harry S.) Truman wins out of conference games because that will help us in the rankings, if they raise their winning percentage.”
Abington (9-5, 5-5 SOL) plays Truman Thursday at 3:30.
Council Rock North 1-4 5
Abington 2-0 2
SOL Continental
Central Bucks South 4, William Tennent 0
Central Bucks South won its fourth straight game and is peaking at the right time.
The Titans are No. 24—the last playoff spot—in Sunday’s power rankings. That was before their convincing win over William Tennent.
“A little sense of urgency in the guys late in the season has helped them,” CB South coach Don Brady said. “It has given them a reason to get it done.”
“On the field, other guys are stepping up to score. It hasn’t just fallen on Colin Fagan’s shoulders in the last two weeks,” Brady said. “Jake Helwig has five goals. Colin Green has three goals. And Gianni Goss has done a nice job putting pressure on the defense. That’s helped us as well.”
Fagan missed Monday’s game with an illness. Usually Fagan—the center midfielder—attacks the offensive zone while Helwig and Green hang back. But on Monday, Helwig and Green pushed up and Fagan’s replacement—Kyle Bethel, a sophomore “defender/holder/defensive midfielder”—hung back.
Helwig scored CB South’s first three goals, in the first, 22nd, and 28th minutes. Green scored the fourth in the 57th minute. Goss, Bethel, Jason Reimert, and Kevin Berntsen assisted on the goals.
“We played really relaxed today,” Brady said. “It helps when you score a goal in the first minute. Kyle controlled the center well today. He allowed Jake and Colin to find each other.”
Brady was also proud of his team for persevering through adverse field and weather conditions.
“It’s a challenging surface. We played on the natural grass and it’s just an old field. It’s bumpy, not a smooth surface. The kids had to focus on collecting the ball under pressure,” Brady said. “It was also a bit of a windy day and we handled that real well in addition to the surface.”
Titans’ keeper Brady Day earned his team’s fourth shutout of 2016.
CB South (8-6-1, 6-3-1 SOL) takes on Abington next Monday at seven. William Tennent (3-6-1, 2-6-1 SOL) battles Central Bucks East on Friday at 3:30.
Central Bucks South 3-1 4
William Tennent 0-0 0
Souderton 3, Pennridge 2 (2 OT)
Souderton improved to 7-7. The Indians are very much in the race for one of the last playoff spots.
They are 29th in the latest power rankings, five spots below the last spot.
“It’s hard to predict what the computers will say. We are not worried about points every time we step out. We just want to play our best ball as the season draws to a close,” Souderton coach Matt Benner said. “At 7-7, we just want to do everything in our power to give ourselves a chance.”
Mitchell Race did everything in his power on Monday. Souderton’s keeper made eight saves and withstood a Pennridge onslaught late in the second half.
“He had a very good second half,” Benner said. “And made a few key saves down the stretch.”
Sophomore Marco Grenda put Pennridge up 1-0 in the first half.
Souderton’s Nick Marculo answered with two goals between the 50th and 66th minutes. His first goal came on a free kick. The second came after the ball deflected out to Marculo at the 25. Marculo blasted it past the keeper.
Grenda tied the game with six minutes left.
Neither team scored in the first overtime. But, in the 95th minute, Souderton’s Dylan Molyneaux passed the ball to Cameron Hart. The Rams collapsed onto Hart and the ball. Hart kicked the ball through the scrum and into the net, giving Souderton a dramatic win over its crosstown rival.
“We expect every game with them to be close, being crosstown rivals,” Benner said. “They did very dangerous things in transition. We were fortunate to get the three points. But I have to credit my guys as well. In OT they came through.”
“That’s the ballgame, a scrum play. Their goalie played really well,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “Our guys just got snakebitten again. They are learning at a fast rate. We hit the crossbar in the second half. That would have made it 3-2.”
Valimont praised one Ram in particular.
“Matt Stevenson has been all over the place. He doesn’t care about his body,” the Rams’ coach said. “He’s always giving 100 percent effort. It’s starting to become infectious. We couldn’t be more proud.”
Souderton (7-7, 3-6 SOL) plays North Penn Thursday at 3:30. Pennridge (5-8-1, 0-8-1 SOL) takes on Central Bucks West Thursday at seven.
Souderton 0-2-0-1 3
Pennridge 1-1-0-0 2
Central Bucks East 1, Central Bucks West 0
Central Bucks East won its third straight game and held onto first place in the SOL Continental. The Patriots are No. 9 in the power rankings.
CB East’s Will Eisold scored the game’s only goal.
Central Bucks West lost its second straight game since upsetting North Penn on Oct. 5. The Bucks are 16th in the power rankings.
CB East (9-3-2, 8-1-1 SOL) hosts William Tennent Friday at 3:30. CB West (6-6-2, 4-4-2 SOL) welcomes Pennridge Thursday at seven.
SOL American
Wissahickon 2, Hatboro-Horsham 1
The old American power—Wissahickon—handed the new American power—Hatboro-Horsham—its first league loss of 2016.
“It was a good game and we were pleased to get a win,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said.
The Trojans are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. They are quietly ranked 11th on the district list, one spot behind the Hatters.
“Wherever we end up, we’ll give whoever a good game,” Malcolm said. “We just have to keep winning so we get a home game.”
Danny Bateman put Hatboro-Horsham up 1-0 in the first half. Malcolm was not worried. “We gave up a difficult goal. But I wasn’t disappointed,” the Trojans’ coach said. “I said to the guys, ‘We were in this position last Wednesday against PW and got a couple goals in the second half to turn it around.’”
Wissahickon did the same thing on Monday. Tom McHale and Jacob Cohen scored the goals. The second goal came with six minutes left.
“We kept the pressure on the rest of the way,” Malcolm said. “We didn’t change a great deal in the second half. We talked about some gaps in the midfield that guys were drifting into and giving themselves time and space. We said we need to close that down and limit their opportunities.”
Hatboro-Horsham outshot Wissahickon 11-7.
“But it was a pretty even game,” Malcolm said.
Wissahickon (8-4-2, 6-3-1 SOL) plays Cheltenham Friday at 3:30. Hatboro-Horsham (11-2-2, 8-1-2 SOL) takes on Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday at 3:30.
Wissahickon 0-2 2
Hatboro-Horsham 1-0 1
Upper Dublin 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Balanced scoring, flawless goalkeeping.
That has been Upper Dublin’s playbook in 2016. The Flying Cardinals executed once again on Monday.
Jerry Bardol, Colin Muth and Quinn Middleton scored. Jose Palomeque and Anthony Wisdo got assists. Middleton’s goal was unassisted.
“Quinn just took the ball off a defender,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Priest said. “It’s been a good thing for us all year. We’ve had guys scoring from all over.”
Bardol and Wisdo—the forwards—are the big scorers. Middleton is the midfielder who sets them up.
“He’s just a good player. He sees the game so well. He always plays with his head up,” Priest said. “He sees chances, sees runs, and always tries to make the right decision, whether that’s taking it in himself or giving it to someone else.”
The junior is a first-year varsity player. He moved from Canada to Upper Dublin last year.
“He was very good on JV last year,” Priest said.
UD keeper Jason Stone stoned two shots. He has lost only one varsity start in his career.
“He’s having a great year. He really is. He’s bigger and stronger as a senior,” Priest said. “The good performances he’s having helps him with his confidence, which is key for a goalkeeper.”
Upper Dublin (12-1-1, 9-1-1 SOL) hosts Springfield Friday at 3:30. Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-8, 5-6 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham on the same day and time.
Cheltenham 2, Quakertown 0
Cheltenham won for just the second time in 2016.
“It was another tough travel game. We can’t seem to get ourselves together for the away games,” Quakertown coach Kevin Woulfe said. “We got a non-league game on (Wednesday). The boys are hopeful. But we can’t seem to get the results we deserve.”
Two Quakertown players still deserved praise.
“It’s the same group of guys: Ryan Leatherman has been outstanding for four years. He’ll never get the full recognition he deserves, but he’s always great,” Woulfe said. “And keeper Stephen Hippauf, he’s an all-state keeper who will never get recognized as an all-state keeper unfortunately. He’s outstanding. He always faced a barrage of shots in the Continental. It hasn’t been quite that bad in the American, but he’s still faced a lot of pressure. You can always count on him to make a highlight reel save or two.”
Cheltenham (2-10, 2-8 SOL) plays Wissahickon Friday at 3:30. Quakertown (3-9, 2-7 SOL) hosts Upper Perkiomen Wednesday at seven.
Springfield Township 3, Upper Moreland 0
Trevor McCaffrey scored a pair of goals and assisted on another to lead the Spartans to a shutout win over the visiting Golden Bears.
Jake Welsh put the Spartans on the scoreboard with a goal that turned out to be the game winner, using a McCaffrey assist, and the Spartans led 2-0 going into the half after McCaffrey scored his first of two goals with a Zach Harley assist. McCaffrey closed out the scoring in the second half, once against using a Harley assist for the 3-0 final.
Springfield Township (5-8, 4-6-1 SOL) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Friday, and Upper Moreland (5-6-1, 3-6-1) will travel to Quakertown on Friday.
Upper Moreland 0-0 0
Springfield 1-2 3
Non-League
Bensalem 4, Norristown 0
Bensalem freshman Ryan Antry was scoring “one or two goals per game on JV,” Owls coach Joe Leone said.
So Leone brought Antry up for Monday’s non-league clash with Norristown.
“Ryan is a good player. I didn’t feel he was ready for some of the Suburban One League physical games. The games are pretty rough against Neshaminy or Pennsbury. And he’s only 5-foot-6, 120 pounds, maybe 130,” Leone said. “The non-league I thought wouldn’t be as intense. I’ll probably try to work him in in the league now. We’ll see how intense it is. I don’t want to risk getting him hurt.”
Antry scored three of Bensalem’s four goals.
“He has the ability play varsity,” Leone said. “You can tell once he works with better players, he’ll score a lot. He has a lot of speed and a hard shot. He knows how to play the forward position.”
Jorge Rodriguez scored Bensalem’s other goal. Dylan Molina had two assists. He has three assists and one goal in his last four games.
“Dylan’s been playing really well the last four games. He had a slow start. But he’s come into his own. His touches, vision have been a lot better,” Leone said. “We lack in finishing in a lot of games. We don’t have that one scorer who can finish like a lot of other teams do, so that hurts Dylan’s assist total.”
Bensalem keeper Austin Shay made one save. Bensalem’s defense was strong on Monday.
“The defense was solid. We didn’t give up many shots,” Leone said. “Jorge was great in central. Dom Gallo was great. So were Ryan McViker and Valentine Flores.”
McViker only started because a regular was injured. Flores, like Antry, came up from JV and has played too well for Leone to send him back down.
“It’s been five games and he’s firmly entrenched as a starter,” Leone said. “We moved some defenders up to forward to get some goal scoring and had to bring up some defenders.”
Bensalem’s JV squad, as you may expect, is really good. The JV Owls are 7-2. Bensalem’s freshmen team is 7-1.
“That has me feeling good about the future,” Leone said. “We just need that one kid who can finish on our varsity team. Hopefully we’ll make a strong push here this season and whatever happens happens. We are going against maybe the top three teams in the district in our division, so that’s not easy.”
Bensalem (2-8-1, 1-7-1 SOL) plays Truman Tuesday at 3:30.
Bensalem 2-2 4
Norristown 0-0 0
North Penn 2, Council Rock South 1
The 5-7-1 Golden Hawks fought hard against the 9-3 Knights. But the Knights held on.
North Penn scored in the 35th minute to go up 1-0. It scored again early in the second half to double its lead.
Council Rock South’s Conor Sweeney scored in the 60th minute off an assist from Kevin Bowers. CR South’s Mike Dawicki ripped a shot off the post with four minutes left. That was as close as South came to tying the game.
“NP was the better team,” Hawks coach Alan Nicholl said. “But we played with great spirit and kept within striking distance for most of the match.”
North Penn (10-3, 7-2 SOL) hosts Souderton Thursday at 3:30. CR South (5-8-1, 2-6-1 SOL) plays Pennsbury Friday at 3:30.
North Penn 1-1 2
Council Rock South 0-1 1
Harry S. Truman 1, Chichester 0
Truman improved to 2-1 in non-league games. And, as Joe Stackhouse said, every other SOL National coach is waving the Tigers’ flag.
If the last place SOL National team can win non-league games, the league’s playoff contenders earn power points.
Truman keeper Dawson Black saved a penalty kick with 19 minutes left. Then Badr Fask scored with eight minutes to go.
Truman (2-9, 0-8 SOL) plays Bensalem Tuesday at 3:30.
Harry S. Truman 0-1 1
Chichester 0-0 0
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