Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action on Thursday. North Penn/CB West photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography…CLICK HERE to go to the SOS photo galleries.
SOL American
Abington 4, Wissahickon 0
The first time was a charm for Abington.
With their shutout win over Wissahickon, the Ghosts, playing in the American Conference for the first time, clinched the conference crown.
“It’s definitely been a little bit different,” Abington coach Randy Garber said. “It’s competitive and there are good teams in it.
“This year, we have a pretty good side. We’re big, strong and athletic. We’re also senior-oriented and that helps.”
With the win, the Ghosts improved to 11-1 in the conference with the lone loss, a 6-0 defeat, coming at the hands of the Trojans in their first meeting.
“When we played them the first time, we were 4-0 or 5-0, and mentally we didn’t prepare well,” Garber said. “We had some miscommunications,and they took it to us and really gave us a good spanking that day and we kind of deserved it.
“Since then, we got focused a little more. Teams played us differently the second time around and the scores came down and more defense was played. Fortunately, we found a way to score some late goals to win some games.”
Abington, which is currently fifth in the PIAA District One Class 4A rankings, took a 1-0 lead to halftime on a goal from junior Nevin Baer.
“The ball got through to Nevin, and when he gets the chance, he puts it away,” Garber said.
Jack Failing, on a penalty kick, made it 2-0 Ghosts early in the second half before Sean Touey connected.
“Sean is a handful up top and he got loose and buried the third goal,” Garber said.
Tony Deitrich netted the final goal for the Ghosts while goalkeeper Alex Haycock notched his 13th shutout.
“I think we’re one of the top teams in the district,” Garber said. “We’ll be ready to go.”
Abington (15-1, 11-1 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and Wissahickon (8-5-2, 7-3-2) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Tuesday..
Wissahickon 0-0 – 0
Abington 1-3 – 4
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Cheltenham 1
Some wins are works of art, others not so much.
Regardless, a win is a win and Hatboro-Horsham will take the one it got over Cheltenham.
“If I’m being honest, it was pretty ugly,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath said. “We got lucky with the weather, it wasn’t a downpour, but it was off and on rain.
“Then, with about 27 minutes left in the second half, we got a red card so we were down a player, and we were holding on to a 1-0 lead. Cheltenham actually got a red card so we were down to 10v10. When we were down 10v11, they were pressuring us.
“Their red card evened things up numbers-wise, and we were able to wrestle back control a little bit. It got a little chippy, a lot of fouls, and there was no flow to the end of the second half.”
The Hatters, on a goal from Tyler Boehm in the 35th minute, took the aforementioned 1-0 lead to intermission.
“Cheltenham was better than us in the first half, but we were lucky to get the goal,” McGrath said. “It was off a free kick that Vince Buccafari played in to Matty (Harmon), and Matty hit a great shot. The keeper made a good save, and Ty was there to knock the rebound in."
The host Hatters made it 2-0 with six minutes left in regulation on a goal by Harmon before the Panthers got on the board four minutes later.
“I thought J.D. Mallinder again was real good for us,” McGrath said. “He moved around to multiple positions. Tyler Boehm had a big impact again and scored a goal, which was great to see. Bradan Mallon was an impact substitute for us. Those guys stood out a bit."
Hatboro-Horsham (9-6-1, 7-4-1 SOL) will host Abington Tuesday, and Cheltenham (6-8-1, 5-6-1) will host Springfield Township on Tuesday.
Cheltenham 0-1 – 1
Hatboro-Horsham 1-1 – 2
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 4, North Penn 3 (OT)
A word of advice to fans of high school soccer: if you’re in the neighborhood when these two conference powers do battle, cancel all plans and go to the game.
The latest chapter in the spirited rivalry came to a dramatic end when Colin Burn put the finishing touches on a scintillating West comeback, scoring with 4:51 remaining in overtime to send the visiting Bucks home victorious in a riveting game they twice trailed by two goals.
“I just saw the ball going over the top – their center back let it to their goalie, but I was behind him,” Burn said. “I guess he didn’t see me, so I was just able to chip the goalie.”
The loss was the first of the season for the Knights, and it took some second-half heroics in a surprisingly high-scoring game to make it happen. The Bucks entered Thursday’s showdown with 10 shutouts in 13 games, the Knights had eight. In two meetings this year – the teams have combined for 13 goals.
“Apparently, neither of us can defend each other,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “Paul (Duddy) and I have been coaching against each other for six years, and we’ve never seen games like this between these two teams where no one can defend each other. It’s just goals after goals.
“Dylan (Smith) doesn’t give up that many goals, our back line doesn’t give up that many goals. We’ve given up nine goals all season – seven of them are to this team, which is also a testament to how darn talented they are. They’re fantastic, and they had us first half. Second half we did enough to come back.”
Making Thursday’s win even sweeter was the fact that it avenged a 4-2 loss to North Penn in the initial meeting that saw the Bucks open up a 2-0 halftime lead only to watch the Knights reel off four unanswered second-half goals.
This time it was the Knights opening up a 2-0 halftime lead, thanks to goals by Josh Jones and Mike Chaffee, both with Ryan Stewart assists.
“We knew what we could do – the last time we were up 2-0 at halftime and they came back, so this time we knew we had to come back stronger and get them back,” Burn said.
Bailey Moyer was once again a difference maker for the Bucks, scoring 35 seconds into the second half to cut the Knights’ lead in half.
“The boy makes things happen,” Szygiel said. “He did it a couple of days ago as well. We were down against Pennridge (in a 2-1 win), and we moved Bailey up top. We love that we’re able to move him around the field, and sometimes he does it on his own because he knows. He’s a true leader.
“They’re so talented, they have so many weapons. We were able to generate enough pressure, and with moving another guy up top (Moyer) and just pressing a little higher up the field, we were generating more chances and able to keep the ball higher up the field as well.
Carter Houlihan scored with an assist from Jared Huzar to give the Knights a two-goal cushion with 25:42 remaining. Five minutes later, the Bucks made it a 3-2 game when Jack Galt (Moyer assist) connected, and the stage was set for overtime when – with 12:58 remaining – Moyer (Jimi Leder assist) scored the equalizer.
“We got more offense, and an early goal never hurts,” said Burn of the Bucks’ second-half turnaround. “We came out with more intensity.”
That intensity paid dividends, and it was the Bucks – thanks to Burn’s game-winner – who were celebrating when this one was over.
“That’s something we work on,” Szygiel said of Burn’s game-winner. “It’s an area that’s difficult to defend, and if you get the back line backing up, and if you get the keeper in that area where he’s not sure – should I step or should I stay. When teams do that to us, we struggle.
“We were just able to continue to make those runs behind with the numbers, those little diagonals. Then it’s just a little one-touch. The interesting thing about him – he’s done it before. He had the winner against Pennridge. There’s a guy that’s been starting for three years now. His experience is starting to show up.”
Thursday’s game had the look and feel of a postseason game.
“We positioned the second half to them as – What if this were two weeks from now? What if this is an elimination game, and it’s lose and go home? “ Szygiel said. “That’s what this game has now become because this is a team you’re going to have to go through if you expect to go far. It’s this level you have to be able to win at, so we traded games with them for the third year in a row.
“Anyone who watches us knows we’re not afraid to get into a physical battle. We’re not afraid if you score on us. We know how to lose, we know how to come back, and we know how to do everything in between. This is where the value of this senior class comes in. The collective experience of this team – this is the time of year where we need to see it, and this is a step in that direction, a step we kind of have been missing all season.”
Burn- with his second game-winner in five days – is part of a senior class that will be counted on to lead the Bucks down the home stretch of the season.
“The longer down the season we go – we have to use our experience more to win these tight games,” Burn said. “This is huge because we know they’re one of the best teams in the state, definitely the best team we’ve played. It’s a really big win.”
Central Bucks West (12-2, 9-1 SOL) will host Great Valley in a non-league game on Saturday, and North Penn (14-1, 9-1) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Central Bucks West 0-3-1 4
North Penn 2-1-0 3
Pennridge 3, Souderton 0
The first time these two met, Souderton scored late in regulation and was able to earn a tie.
That was not the case the second time around, though, as the Rams rolled to a victory.
“We had a much faster start today,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “The first time we played them we had a lead with five minutes to go and they tied it up at 1-1.
“We didn’t want to have that happen again, and the boys did a really good job today. The other day we scored three goals in the first 15 minutes against CB South (a 5-3 Pennridge win), but we also gave up three goals in 15 minutes.
“I told the team at halftime that a lead is never safe and they got the job done.”
Jack Taplett (off an assist from Marco Grenda) gave the Rams what turned out to be an insurmountable lead when he scored just over three minutes into the game.
About five minutes later, Nick Dunn (from Taplett) made it 2-0.
“Nick Dunn hit an absolute laser,” Valimont said. “He’s a lefty and he hit one from the left side to the right upper 90 from about 20 to 25 yards out that was a great goal.”
Grenda capped the scoring 11 minutes into the second half after beating a defender and knocking in a shot from just inside the 18.
The goalie tandem of Ryan Mayhew and Matt Sheldon teamed up to record the shutout.
“Both keepers did a fantastic job,” Valimont said. “We’re very fortunate to have two very good goalies and there’s no bickering or arguing about them splitting time. And Jack Gillespie, our senior center back, also played an awesome game today.”
The win moved the Rams to 6-3-1 in the conference and 11-3-1 overall.
“We’re sitting in the top 10 (in the district rankings) and we’d love to get into the top eight and get a first-round bye,” Valimont said.
Riley Finger turned away six shots in goal for the Indians.
Pennridge will host Elmer L. Meyers from Wilkes-Barre in a non-league game on Saturday. Souderton (2-11-1, 2-7-1) will travel to Boyertown for a non-league game on Saturday.
Souderton 0-0 – 0
Pennridge 2-1 – 3
Central Bucks East 1, Quakertown 0 (OT)
Central Bucks East and Quakertown battled all the way before the Patriots were able to net a goal in overtime and secure the win.
“Both teams put forth a lot of effort and played well defensively,” Central Bucks East coach Josh Isaacson said. “Because of that, we went into OT.”
The Patriots won in the extra session when Keegan Cannon, who had a pair of penalty-kick goals in an East win Tuesday, scored off a direct kick.
Central Bucks East (3-11-1 3-7 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Monday, and Quakertown (2-13, 0-10) will host Lansdale Catholic in a non-league game on Saturday.
Central Bucks East 0-0-1 – 1
Quakertown 0-0-0 – 0
SOL National
Bensalem 6, Harry S. Truman 1
Bensalem kept its district playoff hopes alive with a solid win over Truman.
“Truman came out strong with a few early chances, but our keeper, Austin Shay, was well positioned for them,” Bensalem coach Lew Mladjen said. “We settled into the game nicely after the first 10 minutes and scored on one of our first sustained forays into the attacking third on a shot through traffic by Dennis Lara.”
The Owls led 2-0 at halftime and then put things away after intermission.
Sophomore Jeremy DiPinto had a pair of goals, while Lara added another tally. Ryan Antry and Paul Leible also netted goals in the victory.
“It was good to see a handful of our players finish their chances,” Mladjen said. “Especially since goals have been hard to come by lately.
“All in all, it was a good team effort and great to see all of the hard work the team has done finally show up on the stat line.”
Bensalem (6-7, 5-6 SOL) will travel to Dock Mennonite Academy for a non-league game Friday, and Harry S Truman (1-11, 0-9) will travel to Central Bucks South for a non-league game.
Harry S. Truman 0-1 – 1
Bensalem 2-4 – 6
Pennsbury 1, Council Rock South 0
Pennsbury picked up a victory over Council Rock South to keep them in the thick of the district playoff picture.
“It was a good win,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “We looked tired. It was our third game in four days, but it was a gutsy performance.”
Joe Ficarotta’s second-half goal was the difference in this one.
Pennsbury (9-5-1, 6-3-1 SOL) will take on Holy Ghost Prep in a non-league game on Saturday at Macclesfield Park at 7 p.m. Council Rock South (7-9, 5-5) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday.
Pennsbury 0-1 – 1
Council Rock South 0-0 – 0
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