Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday. (Pennridge/CB East photos provided courtesy of Pennridge soccer/Karen Brashear)
American Conference
Abington 2, Hatboro-Horsham 2 (2 OTs)
Two of the top teams in the conference went at it on Thursday and nothing was really decided as Hatboro-Horsham and host Abington battled to a 2-2 tie that even two overtimes couldn’t produce a winner.
“Both teams created opportunities, and both teams defended pretty well,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath said.
The Ghosts needed a Shawn McConnell goal in the closing seconds of regulation to send the game to OT.
“If I’m being honest, it feels like a loss – we gave up a goal with 11 seconds left, so that’s why it has that feel, obviously,” McGrath said. “We were so close to getting a win with under 15 seconds left, and they capitalized on their opportunity – credit to them.
After a scoreless first half, the Hatters took the lead on an own goal before the Ghosts tied things up about 10 minutes later off a restart as Andrew Kulynin converted a pass from Shawn McConnell.
Bradan Mallon gave the lead back to the Hatters with about 10 left in regulation off a corner kick.
“We had a corner kick taken by Matty Harmon – the ball came in, and Bradan headed it in at the back post,” McGrath said.
Hatboro-Horsham would keep the lead until the waning seconds of regulation before McConnell, off a feed from Nevin Baer, tied things up, setting the stage for overtime.
“They scored on a restart,” McGrath said. “The ball got played into the box, it was a scramble in the box, and they were able to finish it.
“Overtime was back and forth, both goalkeepers had to make some saves. If we look back at the season at the end of the year, it’s a good result because it’s a point at Abington, but right now in the moment, it stings a little bit to give one up that late.”
Hatboro-Horsham (5-2-1, 4-1-1 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday, and Abington (6-1-1, 5-0-1) will be on the road at Cheltenham Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 2 0 0 – 2
Abington 0 2 0 0 – 2
Upper Moreland 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2
The visiting Golden Bears brought a welcome end to a five-game losing streak, and they did it in dramatic fashion, erasing a 2-0 second-half deficit with three unanswered goal to close out the game.
“All of our goals came in the second half,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Duffey said. “We were down 1-0 at the half and 2-0 midway through the second half, but came back to score three goals.”
Goals from John McKenna and Dylan Swedberg enabled the Golden Bears to knot the score at 2-2 before Joe Kane, off a feed from Mateo Infante, completed the comeback and gave Upper Moreland the victory.
Upper Moreland (4-5, 2-4 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-6, 3-4) will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 0 3 – 3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 – 2
Upper Dublin 4, Wissahickon 1
Upper Dublin used three second-half goals to pull away from host Wissahickon for a 4-1 win Thursday.
“It was a total team win,” Upper Dublin coach Andy Meehan said. “Everyone on the team stepped up and did their part. We had four different goal scorers. We have been a second half team this year, but today we wanted to get a good start. We were all over them in the first half, but we were only able to get the one goal.”
Cardinals senior Giovanni Astorino gave the visitors a 1-0 lead off a corner kick taken by sophomore Zach Berman early in the first half before freshman Miles Biodi made a slick pass to Josiah Kutai, who converted Upper Dublin’s second goal midway through the second half.
“Miles Biodi played a through-ball to a streaking Josiah, and he put a shot on frame and it went right under the goalie,” Meehan said. “That goal allowed us to relax a bit because at the time we were only one goal up.
“All it would take is a bad bounce for Wissahickon and they would be back in the game. Wissahickon is a rival and no matter what the circumstances it’s always challenging. The Wissahickon coach, Stuart Malcolm, always finds a way to get results so it was important for us to get that goal. Once it happened, we continued to put pressure on and get two more.”
The Cardinals received a penalty kick goal from senior Nate Hillman with 12 minutes left in regulation and then, two minutes later, freshman Chris McMeel scored off a cross from fellow-freshman Peter Fiore.
“In the second half, we were starting to work out some of the issues that we struggled with in the beginning of the season and that’s a testament to the boys work ethic and willingness to work together to get better,” Meehan said.
Wissahickon broke up the Cardinals’ shutout bid when Luis Burillo found the net in the 75th minute.
The Cardinals held a 10-6 advantage in shots.
Upper Dublin (5-3, 5-1 SOL) will host Souderton Friday in a non-league game, and Wissahickon (2-7, 2-4) will travel to Upper Moreland Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 1 3 – 4
Wissahickon 0 1 – 1
Springfield Township 1, Cheltenham 0
Ian Short’s second-half goal lifted Springfield Township to a 1-0 win over visiting Cheltenham on Thursday.
The victory was the first conference win for the Spartans in five outings.
Short took a feed from Matt Leibfreid and knocked in the game-winner to secure the victory.
Springfield Township (3-4, 2-4 SOL) will host Bishop McDevitt in a non-league game Monday, and Cheltenham (2-7, 0-6) will be on the road at Penn Wood Friday for a non-league game.
Cheltenham 0 0 – 0
Springfield 0 1 – 1
Continental Conference
Pennridge 2, Central Bucks East 0
Pennridge scored a goal in each half along with some stingy defense to post a 2-0 win over Central Bucks East in a game played at Talon Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Union, on Thursday night.
“We were all super excited to come down here again and play,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “Each team sold 7,500 tickets and we were really pleased that we were able to do it. We came down here and played CB West last year and this year we contacted CB East and they were able to do it.
“And East played a great game. They are very well coached and played well as did our guys.”
Aiden Castle had the Rams’ first goal with an assist from Felipe Lopez early in the opening half. Carolos Erazo finished off the scoring on a feed from Castle with about 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
“Owen Gunn was in goal for us in the first half and he made three huge saves,” Valimont said. “On one of them, he came out and punched away a corner kick that was just a great save.
“C.J. Dimmick played the second half in goal and did a really good job, too. This was a good win for us and we needed it. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going.”
Pennridge (6-2-1, 2-2-1 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Tuesday, and Central Bucks East (4-3-1, 3-2-1) will be on the road at Bensalem on Tuesday for a non-league game.
Pennridge 1 1 – 2
Central Bucks East 0 0 – 0
North Penn 4, Central Bucks South 1
North Penn continued its torrid offense on Thursday by putting up four goals in a 4-1 win over host Central Bucks South.
The Knights (3-1 conference), who have scored 15 goals in their last three games (all wins), took a 2-1 lead to halftime in this one as Mike Chaffee and Carter Houlihan each had goals. That duo would each connect again after intermission.
In addition to his two goals, Houlihan also had a pair of assists.
“He’s a pretty incredible player,” coach Paul Duddy said. “He’s got an engine that never stops, and he’s happy when he’s on the soccer field. He’s just such a competitor and has all the attributes you would want in a great player.”
Central Bucks South held an early 1-0 lead on a goal from sophomore A.J. Peev about 10 minutes into the game before Chaffee netted his first goal about eight minutes later.
The Knights then took the lead for good with five minutes left as Houlihan scored off a feed from Jake Sinn.
“(On the first goal) Carter came down the side and did some great work, served the ball, and Mike Chaffee showed up at the front post and knocked it in,” Duddy said. “On the second goal, Jake Sinn made a great pass to Carter for the goal.”
Houlihan scored on a penalty kick early in the second half to make it 3-1 before Chaffee closed out the scoring with his second goal of the game.
“It’s getting us back up to where we hope to be,” said Duddy, whose team has been all but unstoppable since its 1-0 loss to Central Bucks East last week. “Credit also to South. They scored early, and they play a real good style of soccer. They try and work the ball around and pass it in and out. They played well.”
The Knights’ coach lauded the play of several players.
“Both the Stewarts – Ryan and Jamie – played very well,” Duddy said. “Colin Staab came in and played defense and gave us a whole lot of good minutes. He played great defensively. He’s one of those guys that just works really hard.”
The veteran coach also tipped his hat to assistant coach Chris DePeppe.
“He does a tremendous job getting us ready tactically,” Duddy said. “He’s just an integral part of why we’ve been so successful the last number of years, and he never gets any credit. That’s life as an assistant coach, and he deserves the credit.”
North Penn (6-1, 3-1 SOL) will host La Salle in a non-league game Saturday at 10 a.m. Central Bucks South (5-2-1, 2-2-1) will travel to Central Bucks West on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.
North Penn 2 2 – 4
Central Bucks South 1 0 – 1
Central Bucks West 1, Quakertown 0
Central Bucks West’s Luke Parlee scored midway through the first half and the Bucks made the goal stand up in a 1-0 victory over host Quakertown.
“Quakertown had a great game plan for us and worked hard the entire game,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “I was pleased to see us keep a clean sheet.”
The Bucks improved to 2-2-1 in the conference with the victory.
All of the scoring came when Parlee took a pass from Kanishk Nazareth and knocked home the goal in the first half.
Bucks goalkeeper Ryan Van Pelt made a pair of saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season.
Central Bucks West (3-3-2, 2-2-1 SOL) will travel to Radnor for a non-league game Saturday at 10 a.m. Quakertown (1-5, 0-4) will be on the road at Lansdale Catholic for a non-league game at 10:30 a.m.
Central Bucks West 1 0 – 1
Quakertown 0 0 – 0
National Conference
Bensalem 4, Council Rock North 3 (OT)
Bensalem battled back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to post a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over visiting Council Rock South. It was the Owls third straight win after opening the season with five consecutive losses.
Brian Gibson brought a dramatic end to the contest, scoring the game-winner five minutes into OT.
“We had all of the momentum in overtime and we scored on a long throw into the box by Jordan Lee,” Bensalem coach Rob Brown said. “It was flicked over their keeper’s head and then finally headed home for the win by Brian Gibson.”
Things certainly didn’t look promising for the Owls in the first half as they trailed by two at the intermission.
“We came out really flat and were missing two starters because of injury, and we allowed CR North to score less than two minutes into the game” Brown said. “Their second goal, also in the first half, was a miscommunication by the defense again, and one of our defenders headed it back to (goalie) Chris Rowan, who was charging forward to collect it and it went past him for an easy goal for North.
“At halftime, I was pretty short with the boys and I told them – this is it. They are done if we just give up and don’t come out this half. We warmed up poorly, and as we all know, that showed in the first half. This is the season, we need to continue our streak and get towards the top of the league standings.”
The Owls got the message as they erupted for three second-half goals.
“They came out and we scored a great goal on a free kick,” Brown said. “Brian Gibson scored the free kick in the upper corner from about 30-plus yards out, and the keeper didn’t have a chance at it. That made it 2-1.
“Our second goal was a PK earned by Jeremy DiPinto, who was tackled by the North defender as the keeper slid in to pick up the ball. Kal Ivanov buried the PK to tie the match at 2-2.
“North continued to dump the ball down field trying to run onto it, which gave us trouble in the first half, but we defended it well after making some adjustments. However, they continued with some pressure downfield, and we gave up a goal on a misjudged ball by Rowan. That was really the only mistake he made all day, and he has been a major reason for our success this week and he was added as a captain, too, for his leadership.”
Trailing 3-2 with less than five minutes left in regulation, Ivanov found Jon Larbi, who headed the ball home to tie the score and force overtime.
“Kal played the ball of his dreams to Jon Larbi who headed it in to tie the game,” Brown said. “It means a lot to me that we scored on a head goal as we worked on heading yesterday in training.
“The boys are starting to really buy in and do the little things needed to win in the league. Our staff was really proud of the overall effort from the kids and we are happy for their success this week and we hope to build on that.”
The Owls’ coach credited the strong player of several players in Thursday’s win.
“Brian Gibson, (goalie) Chris Rowan, Kal Ivanov, Hunter Shay in the midfield and Jake Wehaton, who stepped in to start his first game of the year in the back line, have been playing really well,” Brown said.
Bensalem (3-5, 3-3 SOL) will be on the road at Archbishop Ryan for a non-league game on Saturday at 7 p.m. Council Rock North (3-4-1, 1-3-1) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Council Rock North 2 1 0 – 3
Bensalem 0 3 1 – 4
Pennsbury 4, Harry S. Truman 2
Pennsbury built up a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-2 win over host Harry S. Truman on Thursday. With the win, the Falcons improved to 7-0 overall.
“Overall, it was a pretty well-played game,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “Truman had a lot of energy, and they kept coming, but I thought our guys did a very good job of handling the pressure and just staying composed and professional and getting the job done, so I was very pleased.
“Truman is much improved, and you can see it in their non-league wins, and they’ve had a couple of good league results, so they’re definitely a team on the rise. They move the ball well, and they have some dangerous players, so it was good to get out of there with a win.”
Pennsbury’s Evan Reichard, off a corner kick from Zach Summer, accounted for the only goal of the first half.
Nyles Cayemitte, who was fouled near the edge of the penalty area, converted a penalty kick early in the second half to make it 2-0 before teammate Jaden Haig upped the advantage to 3-0 when he knocked in a nifty cross from Erik Mauro.
The Tigers made things a little interesting as they scored two goals to pull within 3-2. The first came on a converted penalty kick by Richie Hrouda and the second off a throw-in that Artie Dingley was able to corral and knock home.
“We created chances today and we were unable to convert,” Truman coach Matt Terry said. “Edwin Rivera played a great game for us in the back today. We lost some marks on diagonals, which Pennsbury capitalized on.
“Central midfielders Auyuob and Adam Fask along with Wendell Matthews were solid throughout the match. I was proud of our players today. We went down 3 0 due to some penalties, but we found some energy and battled back. We still have to work hard in training and be supportive throughout the good and the bad in matches. We are so close at times. I commend our whole team today for their fight.”
The Falcons sealed things with about six minutes left when Cayemitte netted his second goal of the game.
“Nyles got a little head of steam and was able to walk through the box with the ball and bury it to put the game away,” Stoddart said.
Pennsbury (7-0, 5-0 SOL) will host Neshaminy in a key conference battle on Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (2-4-1, 0-4-1) will be on the road at Academy Park for a non-league game Saturday at noon.
Pennsbury 1 3 – 4
Harry S. Truman 0 2 – 2
Council Rock South 2, William Tennent 1
After losing four straight one-goal games, Council Rock South turned things around with a one-goal win Thursday, edging visiting William Tennent 2-1.
“It was nice to finally get on the right side of a result after four straight one-goal games,” Council Rock South Alan Nicholl said. “We played very disciplined and kept our focus on the game plan.
“Tennent plays some very nice football and will surely be right in the thick of things when all is said and done. I was very impressed with our work rate as Tennent made us earn it today.”
The Golden received first-half goals from Gavin Hagan (Andrew Rosenfeld assist) and Rosenfeld (Connor Weinberg assist) to help secure the win.
“Luke Evans in the midfield was excellent,” Nicholl said. “Andrew Rosenfeld’s goal and assist speaks for itself and Sean Armstrong was a handful for us and played well.”
Council Rock South (3-4-1, 1-3-1 SOL) will be on the road at neighboring Council Rock North on Tuesday, and William Tennent (3-4, 2-3) will host Archbishop Wood in a non-league game Saturday.
William Tennent 0 1 – 1
Council Rock South 2 0 – 2
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