Check out Jarrad Saffren’s preview capsules of all nine SOL teams in the District One 4A Tournament as well as their opponents in Tuesday’s district games.
District One Class 4A Playoff Preview: SOL teams should see a lot of each other
By Jarrad Saffren
Nine Suburban One League boys soccer teams qualified for the District One Class 4A playoffs. Three—North Penn (No. 3), Hatboro-Horsham (No. 4) and Central Bucks West (No. 7)—earned first round byes. Six—Central Bucks East (No. 10), Wissahickon (No. 11), Upper Dublin (No. 14), Plymouth Whitemarsh (No. 15), Abington (No. 18) and Council Rock North (No. 19)—will play first round games on Tuesday, October 24.
There are two all-SOL matchups in the first round, CR North at Upper Dublin and Abington at PW. The UD-CRN winner will meet North Penn in the round of 16. If CB East wins its first round game, it will play CB West in the second round.
With SOL teams making up more than a third of the 24-team field, there could be plenty of all-SOL matchups in the quarterfinals, too. Five District One 4A teams will qualify for states, the four semifinalists and the winner of a playback bracket.
Below, find a comprehensive preview of all four first round matchups involving SOL teams, as well as the three SOL teams who earned byes.
#3 North Penn (Bye)
• 15-2-1 overall
• Suburban One League Continental Conference champions (10-2)
• Ended regular season on six-game winning streak
• Scored 47 goals (2.6 average) and allowed 15 (0.8) in regular season
• Offense is led by Luke McMahon, Aidan Jerome and Carter Houlihan
• Senior keeper Jake Millevoi is 3-0 since replacing injured starter Joey Lindsay
• Wins over #10 CB East (1-0), #7 CB West (1-0) and #14 Upper Dublin (6-2)
#4 Hatboro-Horsham (Bye)
• 14-2-2 overall
• Suburban One League American Conference champions (11-2-1)
• Ended regular season on 7-0-1 run
• Scored 53 goals (2.9) and allowed 17 (0.9) in regular season
• Offense is led by Nick Hatzenbeller, Danny Harmon, JD Mallinder, Colin Bateman and Andrew Hurrell
• Defense is led by Will Kemp and Josh Hagerty
• Wins over #11 Wissahickon (2-1), #15 PW (2-1, 2-1), #7 CB West (4-3) and #14 Upper Dublin (2-0)
#7 Central Bucks West (Bye)
• 14-4 overall
• 9-3 in SOL Continental play, finished second to North Penn
• Ended regular season on six-game winning streak
• Scored 40 goals (2.2) and allowed 17 (0.9) in regular season
• Offense is led by Tarin Morris, Reed Sturza, Carson Snyder, Alan Zlotin and Luke Fehrman
• Defense is led by CJ Lang, Michael Redfield and Nick Centenera
• Goalkeeper Dylan Smith had eight shutouts in regular season
• Wins over #7 CB West (2-1) and #10 CB East (1-0)
#18 Abington at #15 Plymouth Whitemarsh (Tuesday, 7 p.m.)
Abington
• 13-5 overall
• 8-4 in SOL National play, finished second to CR North
• Closed regular season on three-game winning streak
• Scored 52 goals (2.8 average) and allowed 35 (1.9)
• Offense is led by Sean Touey, Nevin Baer and Reese Gibbs
• Defense is led by Dave Miazio, Blair Barber, Liam Friel and goalkeeper Nick Brownholtz
• Wins over #10 CB East (2-1) and #19 CR North (2-1)
Plymouth Whitemarsh
• 12-5-1 overall
• 10-4 in SOL American play, finished fourth behind Hatboro-Horsham, Wissahickon and Upper Dublin
• Finished regular season on four-game winning streak
• Scored 51 goals (2.8) and allowed 29 (1.6) in regular season
• Offense is led by Alex Lefkowitz, Gavin Hendrick, Jacobe Sandcroft and Ryan Heaton
• Defense is led by Ryan Clancey, Sean Cranney, Evan Elgart and Max Lubas
• Keepers Blake Rosen and Patrick Corpus both have a lot of experience
• Win over #14 Upper Dublin (2-0)
#19 Council Rock North at #14 Upper Dublin (Tuesday, 7 p.m.)
Council Rock North
• 11-6-1 overall
• Suburban One League National Conference champions (10-1-1)
• Ended regular season on three-game winning streak
• Offense is led by Jon Pugh, Ryan Pave, Connor O’Donnell and Sean Finneyfrock
• Defense is led by Akash Shah, TJ Grube, Jeremy Smithline, Zach Saifer and keeper Ed Mancinelli
• Win over #18 Abington (4-1)
Upper Dublin
• 12-5-1 overall
• 10-3-1 in SOL American play, finished third behind Hatboro-Horsham and Wissahickon
• 3-3 in last six regular season games
• Scored 61 goals (3.3) and allowed 36 (2.0) in regular season
• Offense is led by Max Adams, Jerry Bardol, Quinn Middleton and Dan Ness
• Defense is led by Tom Hiltwine, Ryan Higgins and keeper Alex Goldenberg
• Wins over #11 Wissahickon (6-3) and #4 Hatboro-Horsham (3-2)
#22 Methacton at #11 Wissahickon (Tuesday, 7 p.m.)
Methacton
• 9-7-2 overall
• 6-4-1 in Pioneer Athletic Conference play, finished fourth behind Phoenixville, Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley
• Finished regular season on four-game losing streak
• Scored 41 goals (2.27) and allowed 27 (1.5) in regular season
• Offense is led by Chris Meehan, Trevor Rambo and Brett Jabour
• Wins over #6 Spring-Ford (4-2), #16 Owen J. Roberts (2-1) and #9 Perkiomen Valley (2-1)
Wissahickon
• 12-4-2 overall
• 10-2-2 in SOL American play, finished second to Hatboro-Horsham
• 4-1-2 in month of October
• Scored 42 goals (2.3) and allowed 21 (1.2) in regular season
• Trojans are led by Eddie Fortescue, Christian Vorchheimer, Jacob Cohen, Trey Schwartz, Jacob Kaffey, Blake Geisler and Michael Steitz
• Wins over #15 PW (3-1, 3-2)
#23 West Chester East at #10 Central Bucks East (Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.)
West Chester East
• 9-8-1 overall
• 7-5-1 in Ches-Mont League play, finished third behind West Chester Henderson and Bishop Shanahan
• Offense is led by Ben Delaney, Chris Ryan, Brandon Merten and Jim Becker
Central Bucks East
• 12-6 overall
• 9-3 in SOL Continental play, finished second behind North Penn
• 8-2 in last 10 regular season games
• Scored 20 goals (1.1) and allowed 10 (0.5) in regular season
• Offense is led by Keegan Cannon and Brenden Leasoff
• Defense is led by Will Eisold, Luke Schloffel, Gabe Ortiz and keeper Jordan Geller
Wins over #7 CB West (1-0), #19 CR North (2-0) and #3 North Penn (1-0)
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