Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Tuesday’s SOL boys’ soccer action, which included several upsets.
By Jarrad Saffren
Almost halfway into the season, the Suburban One League National and American conferences have clear frontrunners. That was the biggest development out of Tuesday’s slate of nine league games and one non-league game.
Council Rock North, after beating Pennsbury, is three league wins and nine points ahead of the Falcons and Abington. Upper Dublin, after edging Hatboro-Horsham, is one win and three points ahead of the Hatters.
All 10 results and recaps are below.
SOL American
Upper Dublin 3, Hatboro-Horsham 2
Both teams created a lot of chances in this exciting, offensive battle between the American’s two best clubs. Upper Dublin just converted one more of them.
“It was a very big win. Hard-fought, well-deserved by our boys,” said Flying Cardinals’ coach Andy Meehan. “It was an emotional win. We came out strong and held on.”
Upper Dublin led 2-1 at halftime and went up 3-1 on Matt Yoon’s second half goal. Jerry Bardol corner kicked the ball to Yoon, earning the assist.
Hatboro-Horsham made it 3-2 with 10 minutes left but was not able to net the equalizer. That was not because of a lack of effort.
“In the first half we had control. We always start strong. In the second half, Hatboro made adjustments and the momentum shifted,” Meehan said. “But then we made adjustments, played a little more possession and stopped their attack. Their midfielder, Colin Bateman, can control a game, take over a game. I had to drop Jerry (Bardol) or Max (Adams) back to limit his playmaking abilities.”
Bardol had a goal and two assists for Upper Dublin. Max Adams also scored a goal.
For the Hatters, Bateman (JD Mallinder assist) and Danny Harmon (Bateman assist) each scored a goal.
Upper Dublin (5-2, 5-1 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on Thursday at 3:30. Hatboro-Horsham (7-2-1, 4-2 SOL) plays Cheltenham on the same day and time.
Upper Dublin 2-1 3
Hatboro-Horsham 1-1 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4, Cheltenham 1
Connor Smith, a converted goalie, scored two goals and led Plymouth Whitemarsh to a league win. Smith scored in the 33rd and 56th minutes, off a corner kick and an assist from Tommy Hoy, respectively.
“Connor’s real position is goalie but he’s good with the ball at his feet, and he played really well today,” said PW coach Jeff Heaton. “He’s been playing a lot for us in the midfield and today he took advantage of some nice passes from his teammates.”
PW scored two goals in both halves and dominated possession, outshooting Cheltenham 15-7. Gavin Hendrick also had a nice game for the Colonials, with a goal and an assist. Evan Elgart scored PW’s other goal. Alex Lefkowitz had an assist.
PW keepers Patrick Corpus and Blake Rosen made four and two saves, respectively. Lionel Smoler Schatz scored Cheltenham’s goal. Cheltenham keeper Justin Grady stopped 11 shots.
“The first 20 minutes we were sloppy and we gave up the ball too many times. Cheltenham played well, especially in the first half,” Heaton said. “We cut down on the mistakes and played our possession game really well.”
PW (5-3-1, 4-2 SOL) plays Quakertown on Thursday at 3:30. Cheltenham (3-5, 2-4 SOL) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on the same day and time.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-2 4
Cheltenham 0-1 1
Wissahickon 4, Upper Moreland 1
David Goldstein scored three goals to lead Wissahickon to a comfortable league win. Trey Schwartz also scored.
Michael Seite, Dave Kessler and Eddie Fortescue had assists. Wissahickon keeper John Gonzalez made three saves.
“Today was a good opportunity to mix things up and get guys playing time, once we got to 3-0,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm. “We gave David a forward role the last couple games. He didn’t score in the last one but tonight he got on the sheet. He didn’t have a ton of opportunities in that last game. Tonight he did. This should give him some confidence.”
Wissahickon (6-3, 4-2 SOL) plays Springfield on Thursday at 3:30. Upper Moreland (0-9, 0-6 SOL) battles Upper Dublin on the same day and time.
Wissahickon 2-2 4
Upper Moreland 0-1 1
Quakertown 4, Springfield Township 4
Springfield took a 1-0 lead. Then Quakertown scored three goals to go up 3-1. Then Springfield scored three goals to build a 4-3 advantage. Finally, with 26 seconds left, Brandon Strecker scored to tie the game at four and send it to overtime.
Neither team scored in either overtime. Ties are weird. But Quakertown coach Kevin Woulfe was okay with this one.
“It was good. It was a weird game. We’ve played like five games in eight days, it’s crazy, and we had a hot one yesterday. And we had four OT games in the last five, so the fatigue set in,” Woulfe said. “We were thankful to come out with the tie because we were hurting.”
Strecker scored three of Quakertown’s four goals. He also had an assist.
“Brandon was phenomenal. Springfield’s defense has been playing phenomenal, so we didn’t generate a ton of shots. The goals we scored would have gone in against anyone. They were quality shots,” Woulfe said. “The team is starting to come together. We are getting into the attacking third and Brandon is finishing when he gets opportunities.”
Adam Wunsch scored Quakertown’s other goal. Quakertown’s Brendon Kishbaugh had an assist.
Trevor McCaffrey, Troy Rumer, Jacob Friedman and Leon Mengoni scored Springfield’s goals. Cole Hutchinson had two assists and Andrew Lieberman had one.
Quakertown (2-6-2, 1-4-1 SOL) hosts PW on Thursday night at seven. Springfield (6-2-1, 3-2-1 SOL) plays Wissahickon Thursday at 3:30.
SOL National
Council Rock North 1, Pennsbury 0
Pennsbury controlled this game more than Council Rock North did. But the Indians scored in the 45th minute and stifled a relentless Falcons attack the rest of the way.
“To be honest I think we stole one. I think they are a pretty good squad. They possessed the ball well early. They probably had the better of the play today,” said CR North coach Joe Stackhouse. “Our defense is playing really, really well. They have shut down every big name kid on other teams. (Goalkeeper) Ed (Mancinelli) played well, too. He stepped up and led and was vocal.”
It was Mancinelli’s fourth shutout of the year. North’s Jon Pugh made the shutout stand up when he booted the ball into the net just after halftime. Sean Finneyfrock kicked him the ball and got the assist.
Stackhouse has been North’s coach for six years. This was his first win at Pennsbury. “We’ve lost three times there in double OT,” Stackhouse said. “So it was good and it gives us some breathing room.”
North is now 6-0 in league play, three wins and nine points ahead of second-place Abington and Pennsbury. The Indians (6-3, 6-0 SOL) play Holy Ghost Prep on Wednesday at 3:30.
Pennsbury (5-3-1, 3-2 SOL) plays Truman on Thursday at 3:30.
Council Rock North 0-1 1
Pennsbury 0-0 0
Bensalem 1, Council Rock South 0
Bensalem shut out Council Rock South in an upset win.
“We’ve been harping on defense these last few games, and coming from the goalie to start it,” said Bensalem assistant coach Jim Rodgers, who filled in for head coach Lew Mladjen on Tuesday. “We gave him a kick in the butt these past few weeks and he played really, really well.”
Rodgers is talking about Bensalem keeper Austin Shay, who made seven saves on Tuesday. But he got a lot of help from his backline.
“It was a total team effort defensively, and Austin came off his line really well. All the through balls South tried to play, he came out and picked up,” Rodgers said. “Defense has been our weak point until today. We’d score three and give up four. Everybody worked hard today. Midfielders got back and helped. We did a lot of man marking drills in practice, and it helped.”
German Contreras scored Bensalem’s goal off an assist from Alfardy Ali. Contreras scored in the sixth minute. Bensalem held on for the next 74.
“We fought hard to recover. I thought we were worthy of a result but couldn’t pull it off,” said CR South coach Alan Nicholl. “The ref called a PK for us with a minute left but was overturned by the other ref from 50 yards away. Incredibly frustrating. I have to hand it to Bensalem for keeping us at bay, disrupting our rhythm and staying physical throughout. They are a tough team to break down.”
Bensalem (4-4, 2-3 SOL) plays Abington on Thursday at 3:30. CR South (4-6, 2-3 SOL) hosts Neshaminy on the same day and time.
Bensalem 1-0 1
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Neshaminy 3, Harry S. Truman 2
Harry S. Truman took a 2-0 lead with goals in the 38th and 48th minutes, scored by Diego Rodriguez and Preston Gray. Rodriguez “bent a free kick around the wall into the upper 90,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. Gray “collected a long ball played by Kevin Bucklind and blasted it into the goal,” Foley said.
In the 65th minute, Neshaminy got on the board when Matt Leonhauser buried a crossing pass from Gavin Rowan. Minutes later, Rowan finished a Mike Mandia pass to tie the game at two. Minutes after that, Leonhauser scored another goal to put Neshaminy up 3-2.
Leonhauser finished “a beautiful crossing pass from Ramir Cofield,” Foley said. Foley was extremely pleased with his team’s comeback effort.
“The way things have been going for us, we could've packed it in when Truman got their second goal, instead we demonstrated a lot of character coming back to win the game,” Foley said. “Sophomore Ramir Cofield played an outstanding second half and Eric Clayton had another strong game in the back.”
“We haven’t had a lot of success recently,” Foley added. “They could have hung their heads but they kept pressing and got the goals.”
Leonhauser has now scored eight of Neshaminy’s 13 goals in 2017.
“Matt’s been a big deal for us this year,” Foley said. “He just works and works for the full time he’s in there.”
Rowan’s goal was his first in a varsity game.
“He’s gotten better and better. He gets pushed around here and there cause he’s a freshman,” Foley said. “Today was a good matchup and he played well. He’s got a really bright future.”
Neshaminy (3-5-1, 2-3 SOL) battles CR South on Thursday at 3:30. Truman (4-5, 0-5 SOL) plays Pennsbury on the same day and time.
Neshaminy 0-3 3
Harry S. Truman 1-1 2
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 1, Souderton 0 (OT)
Seven minutes into overtime, CB West keeper Dylan Smith punted the ball downfield to teammate Jack Galt, who knocked it down and floated it across the field to Tarin Morris.
Morris touched the ball forward, let it pop back up and half volleyed it into the net from 30 yards away. CB West beat Souderton 1-0.
“The finish was exciting. The actual game, both teams were a little flat. It looked like the third game in four days for two teams,” said CB West coach Stefan Szygiel. “We struggled to find the wide areas of the field. It took us the whole game to execute what we talked about. We had more energy in the overtime. Souderton defended well all game.”
Smith stoned four shots and earned his fifth shutout of the season.
“Dylan’s distribution in the second half was better,” Szygiel said. “He kept it fairly positive on a day when we didn’t play our best, and that’s very important.”
CB West (8-2, 5-1 SOL) hosts William Tennent next Monday at 3:30. Souderton (2-5-2, 2-3 SOL) plays Tennent on Thursday night at seven.
Central Bucks West 0-0-1 1
Souderton 0-0-0 0
William Tennent 4, Pennridge 3
William Tennent evened its record at 4-4.
Four Tennent players—Billy Hanratty, Dennis Grabert, Brandon Layer and Keith Mueller—scored goals. Danny Higgins and Matt D’Ambra assisted on Tennent goals.
Tennent (4-4, 2-3 SOL) hosts Souderton on Thursday at 3:30. Pennridge (4-5, 1-4 SOL) plays North Penn on Thursday at 3:45.
Non-League
North Penn 4, Germantown Academy 0
North Penn played a complete game in a rout of one of the Inter-AC’s better teams.
Luke McMahon scored three goals and Michael Chaffee scored the fourth. Carter Houlihan had two assists. Jamie Stewart and Ethan Torri each had one.
North Penn keeper Joey Lindsay made five saves. The Knights supported him with a first-half goal and three second-half goals.
“We had a big second half last night too. We are scoring a lot all of a sudden. And our defense is playing great. GA is a pretty good Inter-AC team, so we did alright,” said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. “McMahon has five goals in the last two games. I thought we’d have tired legs after playing last night, but the boys came out and responded. Luckily we have good depth on the bench.”
North Penn (8-1, 4-1 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Thursday at 3:45.
North Penn 1-3 4
Germantown Academy 0-0 0
About the Author
