Hatboro-Horsham rallied for a come-from-behind win, and CB East notched its third straight shutout. Check out the recaps for Saturday’s action.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 4, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3
Kyle McGrath – a trip to the beach awaiting him after the game – admits he wasn’t too thrilled with what he saw in the first half of Saturday’s non-league contest, but everything changed in the second half.
“I was miserable at halftime and dreading driving down to the beach, but it’s much more enjoyable now,” said the Hatters’ coach, whose team trailed 3-1 at the intermission. “I think we’ll all be honest and say we did not play well in the first half at all. There wasn’t a lot of energy. It was just kind of a bland first half.
“I challenged them at halftime. I asked them what type of team they were going to be. They turned it around a little bit in the second half and started to play better and take control of the game, in a sense.”
The tide turned in the 70th minute when Colin Bateman converted a penalty kick.
“Once we got the goal from Colin on a penalty kick, it just started all of our momentum going forward, and we were able to score three goals in the final 10 minutes,” McGrath said. “That kind of got us started.”
Nick Hatzenbeller – who finished with a hat trick – scored a pair of goals in the game’s final minutes – the second with two minutes remaining for the game winner.
“We had the ball around midfield,” McGrath said. “Matty Harmon had the ball, and Nick was making a diagonal run into the attacking third. Matty just picked him out. Nick brought the ball down with a great first touch and then just slotted it past Dylan for the game winner.
“Obviously, we were pressing forward in the second half because we were down. West did a really good job defensively of limiting our opportunities. For whatever reason, once we got the PK and Colin scored, it just opened the game up a lot, and we were able to get in three or four times. Even when it was 3-3, Nick got in, and their goalkeeper made a great save to keep it at 3-3.”
Earlier, the Bucks appeared to be in command, using goals by Luke Fehrman (Alan Zlotin assist), Tarin Morris (Nick Centenera assist) and Bailey Moyer (Morris assist) to go on top 3-1.
The Hatters, however, saved their best for last. Contributing assists for the Hatters were Bateman, Danny Harmon and Matty Harmon.
“Nick was obviously fantastic,” McGrath said. “He scored a hat trick, and any time you do that, that’s outstanding. Colin Bateman was great today in the center midfield in the second half for us. We just got a lot of contributions from guys who stepped up in the second half.
“JD Mallinder was great in the center mid in the second half. Obviously, the two Harmon brothers were fantastic as they assisted on two of Hatzy’s goals. We just turned it on in the last 15 minutes for whatever reason and were able to finish some opportunities.”
Hatboro-Horsham (7-1-1, 4-1 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m., and Central Bucks West (6-2, 3-1) will host Pennridge on Monday at 7 p.m.
Hatboro-Horsham 1-3 4
Central Bucks West 3-0 3
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
The Patriots snapped the Indians’ five-game winning streak and extended their modest streak of wins to three.
“It was a good win,” East coach Jeremiah White said. “We’re still having trouble scoring, but what we’re doing is we’re getting a little more from our defense and midfield, so it’s giving us more activity and more opportunities to score.
“It’s just really a percentage type thing. If we can get the ball in the 18, five or 10 times and we get three shots out of every 10 times, we’ll get a goal. It’s really a game of percentages.”
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead late in the first half on a goal by Keegan Cannon. In the second half, Will Eisold turned a Keegan corner kick into a goal that gave the Patriots their final margin of victory.
The Patriots’ recent winning streak includes three straight shutouts, and White lauded the standout defensive play of Eishold, Gabe Gomez and Luke Schloffel.
“Those three have been phenomenal for us,” the Patriots’ coach said.
White went on to acknowledge the improved play of goalie Jordan Geller.
“What’s happening is our goalkeeper is starting to grow into the position,” he said. “So the games that we lost early on were because he needed time to grow into the position, so he made rookie mistakes.
“He’s really turned the corner. Now he’s comfortable and he’s confident. As a result, we’re not letting up goals that we shouldn’t, and that’s kind of what we were doing in the beginning.”
Central Bucks East (4-3, 3-2 SOL) will be on the road at Abington on Monday for a non-league game at 7 p.m. Council Rock North (5-3, 5-0) will be on the road at Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Council Rock North 0-0 0
Central Bucks East 1-1 2
PENNRIDGE 2, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 1
Pete Valimont wasn’t sure how his team would respond with a game against LC less than 24 hours after its emotional 6-5 double overtime win at Quakertown. The Rams’ coach needn’t have worried.
“Our biggest fear and my lecture to start was – the first 5-10 minutes, the body language, the energy,” Valimont said. “We had a couple of kids who didn’t come off the field between last night and this afternoon.
“We tried to sub as much as we could, but with tight games, you can only do so much.”
The Rams’ first goal was on own goal by LC eight minutes into the contest.
“We put a ball across from the left side to the near side, and it just bounced off one of their defenders and went in the back of the net,” Valimont said. “The goalie didn’t see the bounce, and we didn’t even know it went in – we thought it went out of bounds, so it was a fluke goal, but, hey, we’ll take it.”
With 19 minutes remaining, the Rams went on top 2-0 on a goal by Marco Grenda that was set up on a ball played in by Matt Stevenson.
“Marco Grenda went up for the first ball and it dropped down to his feet with the goalie, and he was able to get a foot on it before the keeper could cover it up,” Valimont said.
The Crusaders cut that lead in half two minutes later.
“They were threatening, but we kind of packed it in and were able to play that high school waste-time type of soccer to get the win,” Valimont said.
Adam Guyrsh and Ryan Mayhew combined for the shutout in goal.
“They both played really well,” Valimont said.
Pennridge (4-3, 1-2 SOL) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Monday at 7 p.m.
Pennridge 1-1 2
Lansdale Catholic 0-1 1
HARRY S TRUMAN 4, COATESVILLE 1
The Tigers benefitted from a Coatesville own goal to go on top 1-0 in the 18th minute, and a goal by Preston Gray with three minutes remaining in the first half sent the Tigers into halftime with a 2-1 lead. Goals by Badr Fask in the 50th minute and Diego Rodriguez 15 minutes later gave the Tigers their final margin of victory.
“The score line does not reflect what a tight game it was,” Truman coach Jack Kinloch said. “Coatesville had several excellent chances to level the score early in the second half.
“The game was a hard-fought affair by both teams.”
Harry S Truman (4-4, 0-4 SOL) will be on the road at Neshaminy on Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
Coatesville 1-0 1
Harry S Truman 2-2 4
NORTH PENN 4, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0
Aiden Jerome scored a pair of goals and assisted on another. Luke McMahon added a goal and an assist, and Billy Wang added a single goal.
Joe Lindsay and Jake Millevoi combined for a shutout in goal.
Coach Paul Duddy credited Carter Houlihan and Chris Caputo for turning in stellar performances.
North Penn (6-1, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South on Monday for a 7 p.m. contest.
Archbishop Wood 0-0 0
North Penn 3-1 4
HARRITON 4, ABINGTON 1
The Ghosts travelled to Harriton to take on a squad that is second in the most recent District One 3A rankings, and it was the host Rams opening up a 3-1 halftime lead on their way to the non-league win.
Alexander Kades gave the Rams a 1-0 lead, but Sean Touey scored with an assist from David Miazio to knot the score. Goals by Noah Cox and Kades sent the Rams into halftime with the two-goal lead. In the second half, Kades found the back of the net to complete his hat trick.
Abington (7-3, 3-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Monday in a non-league game at 7 p.m.
Abington 1-0 1
Harriton 3-1 4
PENNSBURY 1, DOWNINGTOWN WEST 1 (2 OT)
Obi Onouha turned a pass from teammate Javier Sosa into a goal in the second half of Saturday’s non-league game against the Whippets. With nine minutes remaining, the Whippets scored the equalizer. Overtime could not determine a winner, and the two teams were forced to settle for a 0-0 tie.Pennsbury (5-2-1, 3-1 SOL) will host Council Rock North on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Downingtown West 0-1-0-0 1
Pennsbury 0-1-0-0 1
WISSAHICKON 2, ROMAN CATHOLIC 1
Liam Weiss and Gabe Kessler scored goals with assists from David Goldstein and Christian Vorchheimer, propelling the Trojans to the non-league win.
Goalkeeper Jun Yuh recorded four saves in the win for Trojans. Both teams had eight shots.
Wissahickon (5-3, 3-2 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
GREAT VALLEY 2, WILLIAM TENNENT 1
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