Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday. Hatboro-Horsham/Springfield photos provided courtesy of Francesca Rossillo. CB East/Souderton photo courtesy of Kelly Reid.
National Conference
Neshaminy 3, Council Rock North 2
Undefeated Neshaminy scored on Mike Albarran’s free kick in the closing minutes to post an important 3-2 win over host Council Rock North on Thursday.
The victory moved Neshaminy to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference while the Indians, the three-time defending SOL National champions, slipped to 3-3-1 and 1-2-1 in the conference.
“I am really proud of the resiliency our team has shown this year,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “They came back twice today in less than stellar weather conditions and were able to get the win.”
The Indians’ Vinny Colon had the lone goal of the first half with a blistering shot from 25 yards away.
“Council Rock North dominated most of the play in the first half until the heavy rain and strong winds came and equaled things out a bit,” Foley said. “We picked things up in the second and tied the score at one.”
Neshaminy did so when a Mike Albarran free kick from the right side skipped across the penalty area and was eventually knocked in by Cole Jackson to make it 1-1.
About 10 minutes later, Colon gave the Indians the lead again with a diving header off a free kick.
Shortly thereafter, though, Neshaminy tied it up again when goalkeeper Trevor Rush came forward to take a free kick and his floater wound up in the back of the net to make it 2-2.
Then, with about three minutes to play, Albarran scored the game-winner for Neshaminy with a free kick from 35 yards out that found the upper left corner of the net.
“I was glad to see us turn it around in the second half after North kind of took it to us in the first half,” Foley said. “If there is one thing I’ve learned about our team, it’s that we have a no-quit attitude.”
Foley also praised the play of Richie Faul for his defensive work in the central midfield in the second half.
Neshaminy (6-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday, and Council Rock North (3-3-1, 1-2-1) will be on the road at Bensalem on Thursday.
Neshaminy 0 3 – 3
Council Rock North 1 1 – 2
Pennsbury 3, William Tennent 2
Jaden Haig helped Pennsbury remain unbeaten as he scored in the 79th minute to give Pennsbury a 3-2 win over visiting William Tennent in less than ideal conditions.
“We had to change our attack and get around the outside, but Nyles (Cayemitte) was able to get back into the middle,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said of the game-winning sequence. “Basically, if you had the ball at your foot, you were the one in control because everything else got so slippery, so he was able to make a move and he was about to get by the kid, so the kid had to reach out and pull him down.
“We got a restart right from outside the box, and Josh Panaro just put a really nice shot on goal, had the ball bounce loose, and Jason Haig knocked it in.”
Haig’s first goal of the game came off a free kick from Panaro to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead before teammate Erik Mauro followed up a shot by Caymitte and knocked the ball home to put Pennsbury up 2-0.
The Panthers were able to slice the lead in half when they converted a penalty kick to make it 2-1 at halftime.
“That’s when it started to really rain,” Stoddart said. “At one point the referees thought about calling the game because of the field being unplayable. They wanted input from the coaching staffs and (Tennent coach) Nick (D’Andrea) and I said ‘we can’t tell you what to do’ because obviously I had one opinion and he had another since it’s a 2-1 game.
“We ended up playing the game out. Tennent got some fire in them through the rain. They were kind of all over us and tied it 2-2. My boys were up against adversity. We were really struggling to attack with the weather. We ended up changing it up a little and scored our game-winning goal with 55 seconds left and held on from there. It was another wild one, but we’ll take it.
“It was a total team effort just holding off the weather and the other team. Tennent played with a lot of energy, and we just had to match it.”
The Falcons (5-0, 3-0 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday, and William Tennent (1-3, 1-2) will host Cheltenham in a non-league game Saturday at noon.
William Tennent 1 1 – 2
Pennsbury 2 1 – 3
Continental Conference
Central Bucks South 2, Pennridge 2 (OT)
Central Bucks South and host Pennridge battled each other and the elements all the way before ending up in a 2-2 tie.
“Overall, the conditions were really tough,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “With the rain and everything it was difficult.
“We’re hoping for drier weather moving forward.”
Colin Monohan scored the Rams’ first goal that sent Pennridge into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Aiden Castle provided the second tally.
Tasso Malitas and Owen Davis had the goals for the Titans.
“It was a great match between two very evenly matched teams,” CB South coach Joe Coscia said. “We had opportunities to close it out, but their keeper and defense came up big to keep the match level.
“I expect more good results from both squads going down the stretch of the season.”
C.J. Dimmick and Owen Gunn split time in goal for the Rams.
Central Bucks South 1 1 – 2
Pennridge 0 2 – 2
American Conference
Wissahickon 5, Cheltenham 1
Wissahickon found its offense in a 5-1 win over Cheltenham in a game that was shortened by 10 minutes due to the inclement weather.
“The rain held off until we were up 4-1, and then it got really bad and we scored a fifth,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said.
The Trojans entered the game having scored just three goals in their first five games – one in the first four – before the outburst Thursday.
“We got an early goal and got a second goal midway through the first half,” Malcolm said. “Unfortunately, our defenders didn’t clear it properly, and all the credit to Cheltenham’s player (Mohammed Toure). He jumped on it, ran in and scored, and out of the blue, it went from comfortably 2-0 to 2-1.
“The black clouds were in the distance and for the last 10 minutes of the half, it looked like if anyone was going to score, it would be them. The momentum switched.
“We got together at halftime and said, ‘Unfortunate mistakes happen, and we have to try and overcome them, so we have to focus and make sure we get the next goal.’ We applied a bit of pressure.”
Christian Vorcheimer scored on a great free kick to spot the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
“It was almost like an overreaction from all the players – they all came up and congratulated him,” Malcolm said. “It was a nice goal, but I’m hoping it was kind of a huge relief thing that they got over the hump and broke the game open. They had opportunities to do it earlier in the game and they hadn’t done it. After that, we got a couple more good chances.”
Vorchheimer finished with a pair of goals while Micheal Om, Matt Henderson and Leo Morales also tallied for Wissahickon. Henderson and Jake Slackman had assists.
The Trojans start three freshmen. Two of them – Om and Henderson – scored their first varsity goals.
“The players were pleased with the result, pleased that we scored a few goals,” Malcolm said. “We’ll see how they respond tomorrow. That’s the big thing as a young team. Are they going to build on this and keep it going? We’ll talk about it before the game tomorrow and see what kind of response we get.”
Wissahickon (2-4, 2-2 SOL) will host Spring-Ford in a non-league game Friday. Cheltenham (2-4, 0-4) will be on the road at William Tennent for a non-league game Saturday at noon.
Wissahickon 2 3 – 5
Cheltenham 1 0 – 1
Hatboro-Horsham 1, Springfield Township 0
Bradan Mallon had the lone goal to lift Hatboro-Horsham to a 1-0 win over visiting Springfield in a game called at halftime because of the inclement weather.
“By the last 15 minutes of the first half, it wasn’t even soccer at that point,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath said. “It was just – do whatever you could to get the ball in the air, which is not typically how we want to play but because you couldn’t make passes of more than four yards and you could barely dribble, it was basically do anything you can to not give up a goal at that point since we were up, and the guys were able to do that.
“We talked going into the game – we knew there was the potential of it being called early, so we wanted to get off to a good start, which we did. It paid off when we scored 18 minutes into the game.”
Matty Harmon found Mallon with a through ball midway through the first half and Mallon put his shot into the far corner to account for the game’s only scoring.
“Matty Harmon put a great through ball to Bradan Mallon, who hit a shot far post,” McGrath said. “Springfield’s goalie got a touch on it, but Bradan was able to finish it into the far post and give us the lead before the rains really started to come down.”
“Braden and Matty were good offensively even in the bad conditions. Noah (Schlosser), my goalkeeper, played well. He wasn’t tested that often, but he did make two really big saves in the first half. With the conditions the way they were, he made a nice diving save and held the ball and didn’t give up a rebound, which was good.”
Hatboro-Horsham (3-2, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West for a non-league game at 2 p.m. Springfield Township (1-4, 0-4) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Springfield Township 0 0 – 0
Hatboro-Horsham 1 0 – 1
Abington 8, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Abington remained unbeaten in conference play thanks to an 8-0 win over host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.
The Ghosts scored four goals in each half as Thomas Santangelo, Shawn McConnell, Bryce Lexow and Steven Fajardo found the net in the opening half before Nevin Baer and Lexow added single tallies after intermission and Andy Arson knocked in two goals for the Ghosts.
Abington (4-1, 4-0 SOL) will host Central Bucks East in a non-league contest Monday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-3, 3-1) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Abington 4 4 – 8
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 – 0
Upper Dublin 3, Upper Moreland 2 (OT)
Upper Dublin’s Jordan Kahny scored off a corner kick in overtime to power the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the visiting Golden Bears on Thursday.
Upper Moreland took a 2-1 lead to halftime before the Cardinals’ Luke Rappaport (a junior) scored his second goal of the game to knot things up and force the overtime. That’s when Kahny, a senior, scored on the corner kick to give Upper Dublin the victory.
Upper Dublin (3-3, 3-1 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (3-3, 1-3) will be on the road at Pottsgrove on Friday for a non-league game.
Upper Moreland 2 0 – 2
Upper Dublin 1 2 – 3
Wednesday, Sept. 11
SOUDERTON 0, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
The Indians and Patriots were locked in a scoreless tie when the game was halted because of lightening in the second half.
Souderton (2-1-2, 1-1-2 SOL) will host Southern Lehigh in a non-league game Saturday (11:30 a.m.), and Central Bucks East (3-1-1, 2-1-1) will be on the road at Abington on Monday.
Central Bucks East 0-0 0
Souderton 0-0 0
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