Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Tuesday. CR North/William Tennent photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. (CB East photo provided courtesy of Kelly Reid/CB East boys’ soccer)
SOL Continental
Souderton 3, Central Bucks South 2
Sage Scarlett’s goal in the 65th minute proved the game-winner as Souderton won a back-and-forth battle with previously unbeaten Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
“It was quite a shot,” said Indians coach Matt Benner. “Sage was playing really well for us on the left flank, putting pressure on them and creating opportunities for some of our other guys. That one was really special though.
“He started down the left side and from about 25 yards out he hit a really slow ball into the right side of the net. The boys were really excited.”
Souderton trailed this one 1-0 and 2-1, but answered back each time. Tyler Bovell scored in the 33rd minute off a Conor Kellough assist to force a 1-1 tie at halftime, but then after CB South went back in front, Scarlett assisted on a T.J. Hibsman goal to tie it back up at 2.
“It really was a total team effort,” Benner said. “We used a lot of players at midfield, we rotated our center midfielders and just wanted to go right at them. South is a dangerous team, and they got better as the game went on and had more chances in the second half. We just tried to keep our guys as fresh as possible.
Benner pointed to midfielders Reece DiRenzi, Ty Quintois, T.J. Hibsman and Brody Emery for their strong play,
After going 3-13-2 last year, this win is a huge boost for this Souderton team, which is now 2-1-1 and 1-1-1 in the conference.
“We were real excited to get the win,” Benner said. “We were able to get the game-winner and see the game out. It’s a big win for us.”
The Indians won’t have a whole lot of time to enjoy the win. Souderton hosts Central Bucks East on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) Central Bucks South (4-1, 2-1) will travel to Pennridge on Thursday.
CB South 1 1-2
Souderton 1 2-3
Central Bucks East 1, North Penn 0 (OT)
Junior Michael Ferrante scored off an assist from freshman Brandon Epstein, propelling East to the heart stopping overtime win over the three-time defending Continental Conference champions 1-0.
“They are a very, very good team,” coach Josh Isaacsohn said. “A couple of boys stood out and did a great job. Jackson Ruddell played a great game, and a freshman, Brandon Epstein, really forced the issue for the goal.
“Defensively, we have four in the back that have just been total studs — Jacob Bing Zaremba, Nino Barbadi, Nick Steinly and Graiden Carter. My captain Nolan Case got five stitches in our last game, did everything he could do to get cleared and was an absolute difference maker as far as energy and physicality goes.”
Senior goalkeeper Tyler Okin had a big effort as well with 10 saves for the game.
With the win, the Patriots improved to 3-1 on the season, and they are tied with CB South atop the Continental standings at 2-1. After winning only five games last year, the start of the season has been huge for the program.
“We’ve worked really, really hard in the offseason and changed a lot of things,” Isaacsohn said. “The bottom line is, the amount of work you put in is hopefully what the boys get out of it, but it’s more them. They’re gritty and coachable. And they just don’t give up.
“We changed around our fitness a little bit, and they’re seeing games through.”
Central Bucks East will travel to Souderton on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. contest, and North Penn (3-1, 1-1) will host Wilson West Lawn in a non-league contest Friday (4 p.m.).
CB East 0 0 1 – 1
North Penn 0 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks West 1, Pennridge 0
Sophomore Dan O’Toole scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner midway through the first half, and Ryan Van Pelt made five saves to record the shutout as CB West blanked previously unbeaten Pennridge in a key conference showdown.
Jimi Leder assisted on the O’Toole goal.
“Jimi Leder was able to break free and get a shot off, and we were able to put the rebound away,” said CB West coach Stefan Szygiel. “Dan O’Toole has been getting more minutes lately, and he gives us a good presence up top. He works hard, he runs hard, he finishes plays, and that’s what we need.
“Top to bottom I was happy with all the guys. It was a good team win, but the league is back. All of these league games are so exciting. Everyone is gunning for each other. Some of these games are going to get heated, and you’ve got to find a way to get through it. Both teams had moments today, and we were able to get out on the right side of it.”
It was a big bounce-back game for CB West, the defending District One Class 4A champion, which last week tied Souderton and lost to CB East.
“We got contributions from a lot of guys today,” Szygiel said. “We were able to go deep on the bench — I think both teams did. (Pennridge coach) Pete Valimont and I know each other so well, and the league is just so good and so deep. Every single team in this league — top to bottom, this is what you’re going to get. One-goal games, it’s going to come down to the wire.
“They were better in the second half. They had more of the chances. We were defending and were looking to counter, but I thought they were better in the second half. We were fortunate to get a goal in the first half.”
Van Pelt made five saves to record his third clean sheet of the young season.
“Three of his five saves were harder than a routine save,” Szygiel said. “My entire backline of Bailey Moyer, Reed Thompson, Ryan Horst, Cole Young, Jayden Morris and David Roy – those guys rotate through the back line, and they did a really good job, absorbing pressure. In the midfield – James Lutz, Kanishk Nazareth, and Ian Munoz played well.”
Central Bucks West (2-1-2, 1-1-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham in a non-league game Saturday (2 p.m.). Pennridge (4-1, 1-1) will host Central Bucks South on Thursday.
CB West 1 0-1
Pennridge 0 0-0
SOL American Conference
Hatboro-Horsham 3, Upper Moreland 0
Nathan Scavo had one goal and one assist as Hatboro-Horsham took over the game late in the first half and went on to a shutout win over its archrival.
“Nathan was on the score sheet with a goal and an assist — he was great tonight,” said coach Kyle McGrath said. “Defensively, we got a shutout for the second game in a row, which I’m thrilled about. The backline (Vince Buccafuri, Zach Joachim, Jake Weiss, and Caleb Hudson) did a great job back there. Noah (Schlosser) got his second straight shutout, so we talked before the game – anytime we get a shutout we’re going to be in a good position to have success, and the guys are buying in. We’re really making it difficult to break us down.”
In the 30th minute, Scavo broke the scoreless tie off the assist from Tommy Harmon.
“A ball was played into the box,” McGrath said. “It kind of bounced around a little bit and Tommy Harmon played a ball out wide to Nathan Scavo, who took a touch inside, beat a defender and hit a beautiful shot to the far post, right inside the post to the side neeting.”
Eight minutes later, a Bradan Mallon header that made it 2-0.
“Matty Harmon played a great free kick into the box, and Bradan Mallon headed it back across far post and it looped over the goalkeeper and into the goal,” McGrath said.
The Hatters then wrapped it up in the 66th minute, as this time J.D. Mallinder made a run and beat the keeper for a goal.
“Nathan Scavo was again involved,” McGrath said. “He got the ball around midfield, made a great play to play a ball to J.D. Mallinder, who picked it up probably 50 yards from goal and beat a guy one-on-one and then was in a one-on-one with the keeper and slotted it home.”
Hatboro-Horsham (2-2, 2-1 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Thursday, and Upper Moreland (3-2, 1-2) will travel to Upper Dublin.
Hatboro-Horsham 2 1-3
Upper Moreland 0 0-0
Abington 2, Upper Dublin 0
Sean McConnell scored in the first half and Toni Dietrich added the second as Abington blanked Upper Dublin 2-0 to remain unbeaten at 3-0 in the American Conference.
Bryce Lexow assisted on McConnell’s goal, while Nevin Baer picked up one on the second-half goal.
“Reese Gibbs in the defense played extremely well and Michael Bernstein played his first game back after an injury and also did a great job playing in the back,” said Abington coach Randy Garber.
Goalkeeper Sam Daumas had his first shutout.
Abington (3-1, 3-0 SOL) is tied with Plymouth Whitemarsh atop the standings and plays at the Colonials in a key early-season showdown on Thursday (3:30 p.m.). Upper Dublin (2-3, 2-1) will host Upper moreland on Thursday.
Abington 1 1 – 2
Upper Dublin 0 0 – 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5, Cheltenham 3
Cheltenham led early and ended up on the short end of a 5-3 final against Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Cheltenham goals were scored by Findlay Peet, Nate Quigly and Drew Moreland. O.J. McNab, Peet and Jack Klebanoff picked up assists.
“If games were 10 minutes long we would be 5-0 instead of 2-3,” said Cheltenham coach Bill Tonkin. “We were up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes, only to get complacent, make a bunch of mistakes and be down 4-2 at halftime.
“We have no killer instinct to put teams away and let them back into games.”
Plyamouth Whitemarsh (3-2, 3-0 SOL) will host Abington on Thursday, and Cheltenham (2-3, 0-3) will host Wissahickon on Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4 1 – 5
Cheltenham 2 1 – 3
Wissahickon 2, Springfield Township 1
Christian Vorcheimer and Jake Slackman scored first-half goals, and Wissahickon held off Springfield in the second half for its first win of the 2019 season.
Slackman and Jovani Gonzalez picked up assists on the goals.
“Today was just about getting the win,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. “I said to the guys at halftime, ‘This game is all about getting that next goal. We can finish it early in the second half if we get a third goal, we can look at a few other players.’
“We just huffed and puffed our way through the second half and didn’t really do a lot of good things. We were fortunate in the end that they didn’t tie it up because they had a couple of decent chances after they scored. I was trying to get some players off (for a rest). We have another game Thursday and Friday and they’re young. It’s just managing things a little differently than in the past, but they’re a great group to work with. They’re trying hard, they’re working hard. They just needed a win today, so it was good to get that.”
For the Spartans, Matt Leibfreid scored off an Evan Hincapie assist in the second half.
Wissahickon lost its first four games of the season, after graduating 15 seniors from last year’s team and returning just one started. Malcolm starts three freshmen.
“We haven’t done poorly in the four (losses), we just didn’t get the results,” Malcolm said. “We played Roman Catholic on Saturday and probably played our best game of the year. We went toe-to-toe with them.
“To be honest, I felt better after the game on Saturday than I do today, although I know how important it is for us to get a win. It kind of sounds crazy, but that game on Saturday — my assistant is a player who played for me, and he said, ‘That game was like a playoff game.’ The guys did a really good job in terms of how they played and how they handled it, which was good.”
Malcolm also credited freshman Ziggy MacFarlene for strong play in the back on Tuesday.
“He’s a young guy and he’s got a lot of responsibility,” Malcolm said. “We’re relying on some young ones to step up. It’s a different type of season. Hopefully, a win today will spur us on to get a few more before the end of the year.”
The Trojans held a 14-6 advantage in shots.
Wissahickon (1-4, 1-2 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham Thursday, and Springfield Township (1-3, 0-3) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham Thursday.
Wissahickon 2 0 – 2
Springfield 0 1 – 1
SOL National Conference
Pennsbury 8, Bensalem 4
Jaden Haig scored three goals and Nyles Cayemittle and Evan Reichard scored two each, as the Falcons – who led 3-0 at the half – pulled away in the last five minutes to secure the win over Bensalem.
“It got a little wild there for a while,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. “They pulled within one (5-4) and probably should have had it tied. A kid had a header, but it didn’t go in. We would’ve been tied at 5.
“They really couldn’t slow down our attack with the exception of the keeper was able to make some good saves. I would have liked to see us slow them down by keeping possession, but they’re pretty attack-minded, we’re very attack-minded. My guys wanted to keep going as opposed to maybe just moving the ball around and working on some other things. All’s well that ends well. Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said the same thing – that’s a dangerous place to go into and get out of. I’ll take it, no matter what the score was.”
The Falcons led 5-2 after Haig scored with an assist from Reichard in the 57th minute only to watch the Owls connect on back-to-back goals to pull to within one in the 70th minute. Haig answered with a goal four minutes later to all but seal the Owls’ fate.
“Jaden Haig was fantastic,” Stoddart said. “Even though you score eight and you’re like, ‘Alright, the guy gets a hat trick’ — all three of his goals were in big spots. The one goal was the first goal, and another goal was to take back momentum from them. The other one was right after it went 5-4 and should have went 5-5. He made it 6-4 to finish off the hat trick. He did really well.
“Evan Reichard really had his hands in most of the scoring today.”
Pennsbury (4-0, 2-0 SOL) will host William Tennent on Thursday, and Bensalem (0-5, 0-3) will travel to Council Rock South on Thursday.
Pennsbury 3 5 – 8
Bensalem 0 4 – 4
Neshaminy 2, Harry S. Truman 0
Cole Jackson scored in the sixth minute as Neshaminy played from in front throughout in its 2-0 win over Truman.
In the 25th minute, Manny Weagba scored on a breakaway, off the assist from Vince DiMaria.
“We did a nice job defensively limiting Truman to just five shots on the afternoon,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “We created a number of shots today (19) but could not find the back of the net. Credit Truman, (which was) very organized defensively. We have done a great job sharing the ball offensively, with eight different guys scoring in our first five games.”
Neshaminy is now 3-0 in SOL National play, atop the conference standings, while Truman slipped to 0-2-1.
“Neshaminy was very tough all over the field,” said Tigers coach Matt Terry. “Combination play was quick in the first half and took us a while to figure it out. Strong team with a good defense and keeper play was sound.
“Good game for Truman to learn speed of play and quick decision making.”
Neshaminy will travel to Council Rock North on Thursday, and Harry S Truman will host Conwell-Egan in a non-league game Friday.
Harry S Truman 0 0 – 0
Neshaminy 2 0 – 2
Council Rock North 3, William Tennent 0
CR North improved to 1-1-1 in the conference with a shutout win over Tennent on Tuesday.
Goal scorers for the Indians included Xavier Guerrero, Nick Cirincione and Luke Walstrum.
CR North (3-2-1 overall) returns home on Thursday (3:30 p.m.) for a key early-season National Conference league game against first-place Neshaminy. William Tennent (1-2, 1-1) will be on the road at Pennsbury Thursday.
Nonleague
Norristown 5, Quakertown 3
Adam Wunsch, Gavin Smith and Max Jalboot scored goals, but it wasn’t enough as Quakertown lost a slugfest to Norristown on Tuesday.
With the loss, Quakertown slipped to 1-3 overall. It returns to league play next Tuesday at Central Bucks East (4 p.m.)
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