Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Monday’s SOL boys’ soccer games.
By Jarrad Saffren
The high school boys’ soccer regular season has reached its final week. District playoff seeds and matchups will be determined on Sunday and finalized on Monday, October 23. The playoffs begin on Tuesday, October 24.
Twenty Suburban One League teams played league games on Monday. Fourteen are still fighting for district playoff spots. Below, find out how Monday’s results affected each team’s playoff standing.
SOL National
Bensalem 3, Council Rock South 2
Bensalem controlled what it could control. The Owls entered the day at 38 in the District One Class 4A Power Rankings, and 24 teams make the playoffs. They have two more games this week.
“Man, I don’t see how that would happen, but that being said, our two games left are Abington and Penn Wood, who are both ranked in the teens,” said Bensalem coach Lew Mladjen. “We need to win both and then we need some help. We put ourselves in too tough of a position here. But we had a goal coming into the last two weeks, one game at a time and see what happens.”
Regardless of the playoff race, Bensalem earned an exhilarating, memorable win on Monday. Council Rock South took a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, on goals from Nick Santos and Dan Maggio, assisted by Sean Armstrong and Conor Sweeney.
“We were able to regroup. We’ve played from behind a lot of the season, and a couple balls just went through for South, so we had to tighten that up and get our opportunities, which we’ve been getting all year,” Mladjen said. “Once we got one, we knew we were back in and felt we could compete.”
Ryan Antry scored at the 20-minute mark to cut South’s lead in half. Cal Ivanov assisted. Then, in the final minute of the first half, Alfardy Ali tied it for the Owls. Robbie Montero assisted.
At halftime, like usual, the teams switched sides, putting the wind at Bensalem’s back. “With the wind at our backs, we got a lot of through balls,” Mladjen said.
Bensalem took the lead on a through ball with about 20 minutes left.
“I believe one of the South center backs tried to clear the ball, then Adym (Ali) got a toe poke, which came across the front of the goal and Rodrigo Orantes was there for the tap-in,” Mladjen said. “It was really an open net.”
Orantes and Ali are not the usual goal-creators for Bensalem. Ali, a senior, got on the stat sheet for the first time all year.
“We’ve been trying to roll guys in for freshness, since we have some heavy legs this time of year. We also want to get guys playing time that have earned it,” Mladjen said. “Guys were really happy to see them contribute.”
CR South came into the day at 31 in the power rankings. It likely needed this game to get in.
“We had some looks but couldn’t finish,” said South coach Alan Nicholl. “A very disappointing loss with our last home game of the season.”
Bensalem (7-9, 5-6 SOL) hosts Abington on Wednesday night at seven. CR South (7-9-1, 5-5-1 SOL) plays Neshaminy on the same night and time, in its regular season finale.
Bensalem 2-1 3
Council Rock South 2-0 2
Neshaminy 5, Harry S. Truman 1
Neshaminy was 35th in the power rankings coming into this game, and this win probably won’t help the Redskins too much, but it was still important.
“Oh no, we’re eliminated. It was a good win though. Everybody played and played well,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “My underclassmen played well, and that was encouraging for next year. Two freshmen, Gavin Rowan and Mike Albarran, played particularly well.”
Rowan had a goal and three assists for Neshaminy.
“Rowan is a real skinny kid, so you have to pick and choose when you play him. When things aren’t physical, he shines,” Foley said. “When he puts on 10-12 pounds, he’ll be great all the time.”
Senior Mike Mandia had a goal and an assist.
“Mike’s played really, really well in the last third of the season,” Foley said. “He played at an academy last year, and decided to play his senior year. Obviously we would have liked to have done better for him and a lot of the seniors.”
Neshaminy’s Matt Leonhauser opened the scoring in the second minute, tapping in a Mandia rebound. Mike Thomas made it 2-0 in the 28th minute, finishing a “great Gavin Rowan feed.” Eleven minutes later, Christian Rodgers passed the ball to Rowan, who “rifled a shot past the Truman keeper from 25 yards out,” Foley said.
In the 63rd minute, with Truman down 4-0 after yet another Neshaminy goal, the Tigers got on the board. Ilyas Nashid dribbled down the right side, beat a defender and kicked the ball past the keeper.
Rodgers finished the scoring for Neshaminy, burying a “low, hard cross from Rowan.”
Neshaminy (6-10-1, 4-7 SOL) hosts CR South on Wednesday night at seven. Truman (4-12, 0-11 SOL) travels to Pennsbury on Wednesday for a 3:30 start.
Neshaminy 3-2 5
Harry S. Truman 0-1 1
Council Rock North 2, Pennsbury 0
Both teams needed this game. But Council Rock North, behind a first half goal from Justin Sharp, a second half goal from Jon Pugh and a shutout from keeper Ed Mancinelli, helped its own playoff chances while hurting Pennsbury’s.
The Indians are 21st in the 6A power rankings. The Falcons are 24th. Both teams would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
But Pennsbury probably needs to win its last game.
“Right now we can only control what we can control, so we’ll just play Truman on Wednesday, try to win and see what happens with the math,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart.
North does not have any more regular season games.
“Stoddart put the score in right away through his phone, and we moved up, but the issue now is we have to wait the rest of the week,” said North coach Joe Stackhouse. “Everyone else has games.”
The Indians have already clinched the SOL National title, but that is not enough for Stackhouse.
“Winning the conference is great and all, but we had higher designs for this team,” Stackhouse said. “I’m hoping if we get in, we win a couple and prove we belong.”
Sharp made a great play on his goal on Monday, running down the left flank, cutting across the middle and booting the ball past the keeper. Pugh, like Sharp, scored his goal from 25 yards out.
“Both were struck really well,” Stackhouse said.
Stackhouse was also really pleased with his defenders.
“Jeremy Akash, Zach Saifer and TJ Grube, our defensive unit, held pretty tight,” the Indians’ coach said. “We were pretty physical on both ends.”
CR North ends its regular season at 11-6-1, 10-1-1 in conference play, 1-5 in non-conference games. Pennsbury (10-6-1, 7-4 SOL) hosts Truman on Wednesday at 3:30, in its regular season finale.
Council Rock North 1-1 2
Pennsbury 0-0 0
SOL Continental
North Penn 2, Central Bucks South 1
North Penn clinched at least a share of the SOL Continental title with this win. The title is the Knights’ second consecutive league title.
“It feels great. It’s a credit to the boys and our staff. They do a great job,” said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. “Plus we had a big crowd tonight for senior night. The boys deserve that kind of support.”
North Penn (13-2-1, 9-2-1 SOL) can clinch the outright conference title by beating Pennridge on Wednesday night, in a game that starts at seven. The Knights are third in the 6A power rankings, and should earn a first round playoff bye.
On Monday night, Luke McMahon scored with five minutes left in the first half to put North Penn up 1-0. Josh Jones scored in the second half to put the Knights ahead 2-0. In the last minute of the game, Dylan Lamb scored for CB South.
North Penn keeper Jake Millevoi made six saves. He will be North Penn’s starter moving forward, after Joey Lindsay broke his hand on Saturday against La Salle. Millevoi, like Lindsay, is a senior.
“Jake was great,” Duddy said. “He’s gotten minutes, so he was ready.”
CB South (4-11-1, 3-8 SOL) hosts CB East on Wednesday at 3:30.
North Penn 1-1 2
Central Bucks South 0-1 1
William Tennent 3, Pennridge 2
William Tennent, at 28 in the power rankings, is on the outside looking in to the 6A playoff field. But the Panthers did what they could on Monday night.
Dennis Grabert, Matt D’Ambra and Billy Hanratty scored to stake Tennent to a 3-1 second half lead. Brandon Layer and Grabert got assists.
“Grabert had a great game,” said Tennent coach Nick D’Andrea. “It was a very even game, they almost tied it at the end with a free kick. It was a really close game, back and forth. They had eight chances and we had 10 in the second half.”
Tennent’s junior varsity keeper—Caleb McLaren—withstood Pennridge’s pressure in his first varsity start, making 10 saves. McLaren was filling in for two injured varsity keepers. “He played well,” D’Andrea said. “We needed him. He’s had a good year on JV.”
Tennent (8-7, 5-6 SOL) plays Souderton on Wednesday at 3:30.
“We got two left, so I don’t know anything about our playoff chances yet,” D’Andrea said. “Souderton is the big focus. But it might come down to that Ghost game at the end of the year.”
Tennent plays Holy Ghost Prep in its season finale on Friday night.
Pennridge (6-10, 2-9 SOL) plays North Penn on Wednesday night at seven.
William Tennent 2-1 3
Pennridge 1-1 2
Central Bucks West 3, Souderton 0
Central Bucks West continued to roll late in the regular season, winning its fifth straight game. The 13-4 Bucks are sixth in the power rankings and will likely earn a playoff bye. They also locked up at least a second-place finish in the Continental.
“We went 1-1 with East and North Penn. We took a step forward. That’s our best finish in a long time,” said CB West coach Stefan Szygiel. “We’ll take it.”
The Bucks played a complete game on Monday. Reed Sturza, Alan Zlotin and Colin Burn scored goals for CB West. Luke Fehrman, Burn and Zlotin had assists.
West keeper Dylan Smith made three saves and earned his seventh shutout of the season.
“We still have work to do. For the first 15-20 minutes Souderton was better,” Szygiel said. “We gradually grew into the game, got a goal right before the half and came out strong in the second half.”
Mitchell Race had three saves in goal for the Indians.
CB West (13-4, 9-3 SOL) closes its regular season against Pleasant Valley on Friday night at seven. Souderton (4-10-2, 3-8 SOL) plays Tennent on Wednesday night at 6:30.
Central Bucks West 1-2 3
Souderton 0-0 0
SOL American
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Upper Dublin 0
The Hatters took over sole possession of first place with one game left. They will clinch their first conference title since 2002, their first ever SOL American title, with a win in their last league game on Wednesday.
“The boys are excited. That was one of our goals in preseason. And to beat Upper Dublin to get in this position, the team that’s won the league the last two years, was a good feeling,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath. “I played during the years when we were a league contender in the late 90s and early 2000s. It would be a big accomplishment.”
Brad Bornstein and Danny Harmon scored Hatboro-Horsham’s goals on Monday. Nick Hatzenbeller and Andrew Hurrell notched assists.
“My back four was great. Will Kemp and Josh Hagerty, the senior center backs, did a great job going against UD, who is so good attacking,” McGrath said. “We bottled them up defensively, which is hard to do, but good to see.”
Hatboro-Horsham (13-2-2, 10-2-1 SOL) hosts Cheltenham on Wednesday night at seven. Upper Dublin (11-4-1, 9-3-1 SOL) plays Upper Moreland on the same night and time.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Cheltenham 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh broke a scoreless tie in the 70th minute. Ryan Clancy dribbled around a defender and booted the ball into the net. Kenny Diamond got the assist.
“It was a nice run,” said PW coach Jeff Heaton.
Gavin Hendrick scored the second goal on a “nice feed from Andrew Stricklin,” Heaton said.
PW goalie Patrick Corpus made four saves in the first half but sat out the second half with a thumb injury. Blake Rosen had four saves in the second half.
“Blake has gotten plenty of time this year,” Heaton said. “We are very comfortable with whoever is in goal.”
“Cheltenham played a very strong game today, a lot of pressure. They did a good job. We opened up the field midway through the second half by passing more,” added Heaton. “Our defenders Max Lubas, Sean Cranney, Clancy and Evan Elgart played well.”
PW is 15th in the power rankings. Seeds 9-16 earn first round home games.
“I don’t know how they work half of those categories, but I think we are in pretty good shape,” Heaton said. “I think if we win on Wednesday, we should get a home playoff game.”
The Colonials (11-5-1, 9-4 SOL) battle Quakertown on Wednesday at 3:30. Cheltenham (5-9-2, 3-8-2 SOL) plays Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday night at seven.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-2 2
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Wissahickon 4, Upper Moreland 1
Four Wissahickon players—Trey Schwartz, Jacob Kaffey, Blake Geisler and Michael Steitz—scored in this comfortable win over the Golden Bears. Three Trojans—Eddie Fortescue, Christian Vorchheimer and Jacob Cohen—assisted on the goals.
The Trojans netted three second half goals to break a 1-1 halftime tie. Wissahickon keeper John Gonzalez stopped three shots.
Wissahickon is 10th in the power rankings, and still has an outside shot at the conference title. The Trojans (11-3-2, 9-2-2 SOL) need to beat Springfield Township on Wednesday night at seven. They also need Hatboro-Horsham to lose its last league game.
“We just have to keep winning games and see what happens,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm. “We were losing 1-0 tonight because of an own goal. So it’s a funny game. We’ll keep playing and see what happens.”
Upper Moreland (0-14-1, 0-11-1 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin on Wednesday night at seven.
Wissahickon 1-3 4
Upper Moreland 1-0 1
Springfield Township 3, Quakertown 2
Chakubuta Tuhenya scored two goals to lead Springfield to an important win over Quakertown. Trevor McCaffrey added a goal and an assist. Sam Steele and Jacob Friedman had assists.
Springfield is third in the District One Class 2A Power Rankings, and only two teams make the 2A playoffs. The Spartans are less than a point behind No. 2 Lower Moreland.
Springfield (7-7-3, 4-6-3 SOL) plays Wissahickon on Wednesday night at seven. Quakertown (2-11-3, 1-9-2 SOL) battles PW on the same night and time.
Brendan Kishbaugh and Brandon Strecker scored Quakertown’s goals on Monday.
“In the first half, we didn’t do a lot well, but the second half we came out strong. We pressured them. It was a real good half. We moved the ball a lot better,” said Quakertown coach Kevin Woulfe. “But they were definitely the better team today.”
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