Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Tuesday. William Tennent/Upper Moreland photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. North Penn/CB South photos courtesy of Cynthia Hanson. Check back for galleries of both games. (Hatboro-Horsham senior photo provided by HH soccer)
SOL Patriot
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 4, BENSALEM 0
The Golden Hawks scored a pair of goals in the opening half and added two more after the intermission, but don’t be fooled by the final score.
The score, according to coach Alan Nicholl, was in no way a reflection of the game, and although his team erupted for four goals in Tuesday’s Senior Night game, the Golden Hawks’ coach credited a defensive player for saving the day
“If I’m being honest, the best player on the field was my goalkeeper,” Nicholl said of senior Andrew Roberto. “In the first half, he was sensational. He stopped six shots, and he was the best player on the field.
“We played very, very well, but Bensalem was a good side. To suggest that we were four goals better than them would be terribly unfair to Bensalem. If it wasn’t for my goalkeeper, they could have scored five in the first half alone. He just was terrific. He stopped every shot, he stopped every rebound, and he pulled everything out of the air that was served. It was as perfect a game as I’ve seen a keeper play in a very long time.”
Fifteen minutes into the game, Conner Weinberg opened the scoring for the Golden Hawks with a Dylan Bennett assist. Ten minutes later, Bennett’s unassisted goal on a rebound sent the Hawks into halftime with a 2-0 lead, but Nicholl was less than thrilled with his team’s performance.
“I kind of jumped all over my guys at halftime – no goalkeeper should have to be that good if we were playing better defensively,” the Hawks’ coach said. “I want my goalkeeper to be bored, so I kind of hammered them at halftime for my goalkeeper having to work so hard. I said, ‘Don’t be admiring the scoreboard. Bensalem is every bit in this game. Don’t let the scoreboard deceive you.’
“To be fair, the kids responded in the second half and really didn’t give Bensalem any looks. Anything that Andrew had to do in the second half was relatively routine – just picking up balls in the air, organizing the defense and staying vocal. I’d say he had two or three saves in the second half.”
In the second half, Andrew Rosenfeld found the net with a Weinberg assist, and then it was Gavin Hagen scoring with a Rosenfeld assist for the 4-0 final.
“Bensalem picked a bad night to play us – we were high, we were up for it,” Nicholl said. “At 2-0 at halftime, we came out at halftime and played a very professional game. We came off a very disappointing result to Pennsbury our last time out when we recovered from a three-goal deficit to tie it 3-3. We gave up the winner with 16 seconds left.
“The kids had a bad taste in their mouth, and they were dying to get out there just to get back into stride. It was Senior Night, the energy was good, it was a night game on the new turf, so I think there were a lot of things going our way as far as the energy went. The kids capitalized on it. We’re a very senior heavy team. We showed good experience, we showed good composure.
“I always get concerned that on nights like this the emotions will get away from you a little bit and get a little too invested. While Bensalem did have chances, I don’t think they matched our energy. I think we were very, very up for the game tonight. I think we were definitely the dominant team, but if it wasn’t for my goalkeeper, it would have been a very, very different second half.”
Nicholl started all 11 seniors – Damon Andreoli, Dylan Bennett, Trey Blazik, Jake Brossman, Nick DeMarino, Luke Evans, Michael Morini, Andrew Roberto, Andrew Rosenfeld, Owen Schweidler and Conner Weinberg.
“I had to shuffle the lineup a little bit, and I played Jake Brossman in the back,” Nicholl said. “He’s never played fullback for me. He’s very versatile, he’s very quick, and he’s got a ton of energy, so he’s certainly very useful regardless where you put him because of his versatility.
“I dropped him in the back tonight because I thought it would be a good position given his skill set, and I thought he was terrific. As a matter of fact, I looked at my assistant and said, ‘Have I missed this all year long?’ To be fair, we’re very well balanced in the back. I don’t need to put Jake there. I need his energy up front or the midfield, but in order to play all 11 players, I played him there, and he was very good, very focused. He just looked really good.
“Luke Evans is a center midfielder, and I thought he played terrific. I don’t think he lost a tackle all night. When you play Bensalem, they’re a good strong, athletic team, but Luke was very up for it. He didn’t do anything flashy. He just won tackles and dictated the intensity. He carried that energy. I felt, particularly as a center midfielder, he really dictated our dominance especially as we got our lead.”
Council Rock South (3-4-1, 2-4-1 SOL) will be on the road at Holy Ghost Prep for a non-league game Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Bensalem (2-3) will travel to Neshaminy Thursday.
Bensalem 0-0 0
Council Rock South 2-2 4
SOL Colonial
NORTH PENN 1, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
Josh Jones delivered the game-winner midway through the second half, breaking a scoreless tie and propelling the Knights to a win that clinched sole possession of the Colonial Division crown.
Listening to coach Chris DePeppe describe it, the game-winner – from 25 yards out – was nothing short of highlight reel material.
“I sent him a text afterwards and said, ‘That was probably the goal of the year,’” the Knights’ coach said. “We had Josh up top at striker, and we had been changing around the two wings. We were talking at halftime, and we thought the break was going to come from the right side.
“I think Josh won the initial ball, got it wide, and we have a sophomore – Kyle McKeever – who’s really a classy little player. Josh laid it off to him, and Kyle just had a really nice touch, took it down and just dragged it away from a defender enough to get his head up and laid a perfect pass behind – they play a really high line, so we were getting behind them occasionally, but they do a good job of it.
“They have some boys in the back who have pace enough to keep up, but on this one – Josh took one stride, and he hit an absolutely marvelous shot, just hammered one. I hope somebody had a picture of him hitting in stride because it was beautiful. He just powered one, the keeper didn’t have a chance.”
The Knights received important contributions from some relatively new faces in their lineup.
“It was an interesting game because we had some guys banged up, and we were missing a couple of starters,” DePeppe said. “We had guys from all classes.
“We had a senior, Nick Rey, who hasn’t gotten a lot of starts come in at fullback and did a real nice job. Junior Jack Gorham started at the attacking midfield spot and gave us good minutes. Then we brought a freshman – Brian Scott – to cover for an injured Achilles at left back where he probably has played very few minutes ever, and he did a very nice job. It’s great to have guys late in the season playing supporting roles and willing to do it.”
While many players contributed to the win, one stood out.
“Kyle McKeever was the man of the match,” DePeppe said. “He made the crucial play. We’ve been struggling to find that killer pass.
“He’s started maybe one game for us. He’s just a sophomore, and he’s diminutive. He’s so silky on the ball that sometimes he finds those little openings. Yesterday at practice we were doing a finishing game, and he was just burying shots. He’s got a clinical finish as well. He’s a star of the future, I hope.”
Not to be overlooked were the implications of Tuesday’s win.
“Today was huge,” DePeppe said. “We locked up the conference title. My pregame was, ‘These guys are playing for their playoff lives.’ I think they were 16th coming in, and they’re a good team.”.
North Penn (7-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. game. Central Bucks South (4-5) will host Pennridge Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Central Bucks South 0-0 0
North Penn 0-1 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
It was Senior Day for Central Bucks East, and as Senior Days go, there’s quite possibly no better way to celebrate than with a convincing win over your sister school.
East’s roster includes 14 seniors but several were sidelined with injuries. The 11 healthy bodies comprised the starting lineup.
“The seniors played the first 15 minutes of the game and they all played the last 10 minutes of the game,” East coach Josh Isaacsohn said. “I can’t say enough about them. They started and not only did they hold it down – they had a couple of opportunities on goal, they moved the ball around well, they played to feet, they did all of the stuff that we train for.
“This day was through and through top to bottom for them. I scheduled it purposely against our crosstown rival because I didn’t know in this day and age if there would even be playoffs or championships, so I thought for them – this would be their championship. To be able to have all the ones that were healthy be able to play and get solid minutes really says a lot about them.
“They have stuck with this program for three years since I’ve been head coach, and they’re great kids with very bright futures, and they’re fun as well.”
Seniors on this year’s squad are Luke Berkovic, Austin Bing-Zaremba, Jacob Bing-Zaremba, Graiden Carter, Kyle Dunigan, Michael Ferrante, Connor Hanson, Connor Hausner, Kyle Hausner, Peter Moore, Hayden Reid, Jackson Ruddell, Cameron Weber and team manager Julian Servidio.
Isaacsohn gave a special shout-out to the Servidio.
“He has been unbelievable,” the Patriots’ coach said. “Not only is he a part of the team. He’s just an unbelievably responsible, positive upbeat kid that is there every day with us, and we love him.”
Senior Austin Bing-Zaremba put the Patriots on the scoreboard with a goal midway through the opening half.
“He scored on a really nice shot from 27-28 yards out and just beat the goalie,” Isaacsohn said.
The Patriots added a pair of goals in the second half.
“Our outside midfielder, Pranav Kuppuswamy, who had an excellent game, came down the right side and gave a really strong, low, hard cross, and Nick Knepp finished it,” Isaacsohn said of a goal that put the Patriots on top 2-0.
For good measure Owen Willis scored to give the Patriots their final margin of victory.
“It was a clearance by them that came back to us,” Isaacsohn said. “Owen Willis, a junior, hit it from about 30 yards out and put it in.”
Isaacsohn credited the strong play of senior goalkeeper Kyle Dunigan.
“He had some clutch saves in the first half to keep us in it just so that we could get those other goals,” the Patriots’ coach said.
For a West squad that has struggled to score goals but allowed no more than one goal in any game, Tuesday’s performance was uncharacteristic.
“It’s been coming,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “We’ve been not performing well since the very middle part of the season, which was amazingly was 10 days ago in this absolutely absurd shortened version of a season.
“The strategy in a short season is different. You can’t have a bad two or three games in a row. It puts you too far out of reach. We started too slow in the beginning and then we clawed our way back in a little. We have a group of players that not all of them have given enough on the same day at the same time, and that’s a bad recipe for high school sports. We have a handful of guys that have battled all the time. They know who they are, and the other guys know that it just wasn’t good enough. We didn’t show up last week, we didn’t show up this week. You don’t get results that way.
“Today we deserved every bit of a 3-0 loss. I actually think it should have been five or six. East was absolutely fantastic. They got up for their Senior Day. They honored their seniors the right way, they had some great moments today they’ll remember. I thought they just completely dominated us.”
Central Bucks East (4-4-1 SOL) will host North Penn on Thursday, and Central Bucks West (2-6-1) will host Souderton on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Central Bucks East 1-2 3
PENNRIDGE 1, SOUDERTON 0
With his team locked in a scoreless tie with the Indians, Pete Valimont had his mind set on overtime. Ben Scary had other ideas, connecting on the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining in regulation to propel the visiting Rams to the heartstopping win.
“I was preparing for overtime, what we were going to do – the formation and what have you, and Aidan Castle gave a ball to Ben Scary, who had a couple of restarts early on with nothing on frame, but he kept at it,” Valimont said. “He kept focused, and I’m telling you – he hit a rip that I’m never going to forget. It was an absolute laser.
“The goalie was in full extension and did everything he possibly could, but at the end of the day, that was just a class act shot in a completely crunch time, backs against the wall, everything to lose and nothing to gain scenario. A really credit to my guys. They played fantastic. They could have given up multiple times. We played a really good team, and we played them to the very end.”
There were plenty of players who came up big for the Rams.
“Ryan Saville and Jeff Stritzl – both of them stepped up big time and helped us on the outside backs,” Valimont said. “They play high level club ball, and it transferred over to us tonight.. They really stepped up and played fantastic the whole game.
“Carlos Erazo was fantastic the entire game. Besides the (game-winning) shot, Ben Scary was non-stop all over the place for us. Aidan Castle, our speedster, gets knocked down a hundred times, but he keeps getting up. He’s man marked, he’s double teamed and triple teamed, and he does everything he possibly can.
“It was an excellent game back and forth. We had a couple of really strong chances. Coach (Matt) Benner and his squad had a couple of really good chances, especially in the second half. They have a great squad, and we’re very fortunate that we came away with two 1-0 wins against a good team. Hopefully, this will keep us moving forward.”
Pennridge (6-4, 5-4 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South for a 5:30 p.m. game Thursday, and Souderton (3-4-2) will be on the road at Central Bucks West Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.
Pennridge 0-1 1
Souderton 0-0 0
SOL Liberty
ABINGTON 2, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1 (2 OT)
The Ghosts found themselves locked in another dogfight, winning it in the second overtime on a goal by Tony Ditri.
“My team is making it so difficult. We missed so many chances in the first 10 minutes that it was a sin – with goalkeepers, without goalkeepers, crossbars, the ball wouldn’t go in the back of the net,” coach Randy Garber said. “Their goalkeeper (Zach Lefkowitz) played extremely well, there’s no question about it. He is a very good goalkeeper and did a heck of a job again against us.”
Thirty minutes into the opening half, Nikko Spagnolo found the back of the net, using an assist from Ditri.
“We played a quick restart on the right-hand side about 35 yards out and got them caught with their back turned,” Garber said. “Tony Ditri went down the right-hand side and crossed the ball, and Nikko Spagnolo went and scored a header mainly because they were surprised that the ball was in play.
“It caught the goalkeeper off guard, and we played it to the near post and scored at the near post, and it ended up 1-0 at halftime. We probably were very lucky to score that goal. It was just a quick restart. I said to the boys at halftime, ‘One goal is not going to stand up. You’re going to have to put the ball in the back of the net more than once to beat this team because they’re not going away.’”
The Colonials didn’t go away, and midway through the second half capitalized on an opportunity when Willy Schildt found Zach Kolsun on the back post for a goal that evened the score.
“They had as many opportunities as we did the second half,” Garber said. “They just kept coming on and on and on. Finally, they took the ball down the right-hand side 20 minutes into the second half, got it across, and there was a kid standing on the back post by himself.”
That 1-1 tie stood until the second overtime when Ditri scored assisted by Aresene Bado.
“It was a dogfight in the first and second overtime,” Garber said. “Arsene got behind their defense on the right-hand side. The goalkeeper came out and cut the angle down. He just hit a bomb, and all the goalkeeper could do was push the ball up in the air.
“When he pushed it up in the air to block the shot, he was out on an angle, so the ball went directly over his head high in the air, and the ball bounced inside the six in the middle of the goal, and Tony Ditri was there to tap the ball in with another defender, and he just beat the defender to the ball and the ball just trickled into the back of the net for the game-winner.
“You kind of shook your head. They were disappointed, we were excited, but it should have never came to that. (PW) never gave up, they never, ever gave up. It was one of those games we had so many chances – we had 14 shots in the first half. We could have had a highlight film of just our misses.”
Receiving praise from both Garber and PW coach Richard Kessler was Abington goalkeeper Jalen Harris.
“He did play well,” Garber said. “He did a nice job in goal for us.
“Tony Ditri played right back and left flank tonight. He had an assist on Nikko’s goal, and he scored the game-winner. He played two different positions, one on defense and one on the offense and he contributed to both goals. Tony did a superb job.
“Gavin O’Neill and Bryce Lexow – the two horses in the midfield – they continue to play well.”
For the Colonials, Tuesday’s game was their second double overtime game in less than 24 hours.
“They went to double overtime with Hatboro last night and then they came back today, and they played a brilliant game,” Garber said. “It’s a shame because probably their record doesn’t indicate how good they played this year. They probably lost a lot of games where it was a matter of who scored the last goal to win the game.”
Abington (8-1 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Thursday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (2-5) will travel to Wissahickon on Thursday.
Abington 1-0-0-1 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1-0-0 1
UPPER DUBLIN 2, WISSAHICKON 1 (OT)
Senior Sean Seabrook banged home a penalty kick to give Upper Dublin the dramatic overtime win.
“The call could have gone either way – the referee said he grabbed his shorts,” UD coach Andy Meehan said. “It’s tough, if you’re the other team, to lose like that, but for us, it was very nice to have that work out in our favor.
“Wissahickon is a typical Stuart (Malcolm) team. They’re very organized, they have some talent on that team, and they fought the entire time. Both teams were battling. It was unfortunate the way it ended for them, but for us, it was fantastic.”
The Flying Cardinals kept their playoff hopes alive with the tightly contested win over a Trojan team that had battled UD to a scoreless tie earlier this season.
“It was very big and in a close game something good came out on our end,” Meehan said. “We have another big one Thursday against Hatboro-Horsham.”
Zach Berman gave the Flying Cardinals an early boost when he scored in the ninth minute with an assist from Nick Fiore. The Trojans answered with a goal, and the two teams went into halftime deadlocked. It was still a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation.
“We had a PK called on us where there was a cross, and my player had a bad touch – it popped up and hit his hand,” Meehan said. “It was very unlucky, but it was in the box so it was a PK.
“Spencer Beidner, our goalie, came up big time and was able to make the save, which turned the tide even more in our favor. We were definitely on our heels at that point, and that was a huge play by our keeper and kind of sparked our guys and motivated them a little bit.”
The stage was set for overtime and Seabrook’s game-winner.
“It was a pretty even matchup, back and forth,” Meehan said. “Both teams had their chances. I would say we had the better of the chances and the better of the play. We controlled the ball a little more, but they had a few opportunities and converted on one, which was a nice play. Then we were able to limit their attack.”
The UD coach lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Nick Fiore had a really good game on the wing – he had an assist our first goal, and he was working up and down the wing,” Meehan said. “Zach Berman, who got the first goal – he was covering a ton of ground both as an outside mid and an outside back. As an outside mid, he’s playing out of position there because he’s a right back, but he’s a talented player, and he can basically play anywhere on the wing. He did a fantastic job on the outside.
“Sean Seabrook was battling the whole time. He’s scoring goals, and other teams are aware of him. For him, it’s very difficult when he’s man marked or even double teamed. He’s getting a lot of attention, and it’s opening up a lot for the other players, and they’re now coming through.”
Upper Dublin (5-3-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday, and Wissahickon (3-4-2, 3-4-1) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.
Wissahickon 1-0-0 1
Upper Dublin 1-0-1 2
HATBORO-HORSHAM 3, QUAKERTOWN 0
The Hatters celebrated the team’s seven seniors – Justin Garrido, Jacob Guevara, Travis MacBride, Tyler Malofiy, Fran Maoio, Enrico Romano and Jake Weiss – with a shutout win over the visiting Panthers.
“They’re great teammates, and they’re supportive,” HH coach Kyle McGrath said of his seniors. “I’m just happy to have them as part of our program and have them enjoy the success of tonight.”
In the 46th minute, junior Nathan Scavo broke a scoreless tie when he scored his first of two goals, this one with an assist from Caleb Hudson.
“Caleb made a great run – he got in behind and took a shot,” McGrath said. “The goalkeeper made a diving save, and Nathan was there to follow it up.
“Once the first goal went in, we all took a deep breath and were like, ‘All right, now we’re okay, let’s get after it again.’ The guys were able to do that by getting the second goal pretty quickly off another breakaway.”
It took just three minutes before Scavo found the net again, this time using an assist from Nick Katherine. Jacob Guevara turned a pass from Caleb Hudson into a goal that upped the Hatters lead to 3-0 in the 64th minute.
“It was our Senior Night, and those are always tricky to maneuver,” McGrath said. “We always start all of our seniors, and they did a great job in the first half, but we never really got into any kind of rhythm because we were subbing guys in and out.
“We didn’t play particularly well, but that was partially due to Quakertown playing well. In the second half, we moved some guys around to free up some other people, and the guys picked up their work rate and started to finish opportunities. We got in a couple times in the first half but didn’t finish.”
The Hatters’ coach acknowledged the strong play of several players.
“Jake Weiss is one of our seniors, and he’s a four-year starter – he’s had a great career,” McGrath said. “Jacob Guevara had a huge impact tonight as a senior.
“Enrico Romano has been on varsity for two years, and he’s been a major contributor the last two years. Fran Moio is a two-year starter and has worked hard. He had some adversity, but he battled back and worked hard. The other guys Travis (MacBride) and Tyler (Malofiy) – unfortunately, Jostin Garrido tore his ACL, but he still comes to everything.”
Hatboro-Horsham (6-3 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin Thursday in a game with postseason implications.
“That’s basically a playoff game,” McGrath said.
Quakertown (1-9, 0-8) will host Abington on Thursday. Both games are 3:30 p.m. starts.
Quakertown 0-0 0
Hatboro-Horsham 0-3 3
SOL Freedom
WILLIAM TENNENT 2, UPPER MORELAND 1
It’s official.
William Tennent clinched sole possession of the SOL Freedom Division title, and although coach Nick D’Andrea isn’t sure when the program last won a conference title, he knew one thing for sure.
“It feels good,” the Panthers’ coach said. “The boys played really well. It was a great game.
“One of our goals at the beginning of the year was – let’s compete for a title in the new Freedom Division. We felt we had the returning manpower to do it. It was obviously new teams – it was all teams we hadn’t played before, so we didn’t really know what we were in for. It seems like a really tight division.
“This game could have gone either way, it really could have. There was a lot of energy, the fans were into it. It was just a great high school match. It was so much fun.”
Tuesday’s title-clinching win was hard earned.
“Today was not easy,” D’Andrea said. “We had to defend and hold off an onslaught by Upper Moreland, who really brought it to them. It was at their place, and it was one of those environments that was not friendly.
“To their credit, in years past, we probably would have folded in that situation. This group has great senior leaders, and it’s a tribute to them. All year long I’ve been saying Damian Dangler has been arguably our best player, Ben Weir and Sean Metz – these guys have been taking the younger guys under their wings and making them work hard. I’m really excited for these kids. You could see their excitement.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless halftime tie, and the Panthers got on the scoreboard 15 minutes into the second half on a quick transition goal by Christian Huslin from a pass by Carlton Waters. A few minutes later, Tennent scored another transition goal – this one by JT Stone from a pass by Damian Dangler that JT streaked down the side and finished.
“Shortly after, their goalie saved a PK, which turned the momentum, and they scored,” D’Andrea said. “They had plenty of
chances to equalize, but our goalkeeper, Pat Corley, played well in net. He had some key saves early, and then when it mattered most, he was able to get his hands up on their long throw-ins. He was up to the task, and the boys in front of him were defending hard. Our defense gave it all they had, defending the final 10 minutes to keep them off the board.”
This year’s Tennent squad is the new standard bearer for the program.
“I asked some alumni – when was the last time William Tennent soccer won a conference and nobody seems to know the answer, but it was a long time ago,” D’Andrea said. “These kids know it, and they’re leaving their legacy, so to speak, and all the guys before them – some of them even came out to the game and were watching through the fence and rooting these kids on. They’re paying attention to what they’re doing, and it really does mean something to them. They’re working so hard, and they’re earning a lot of these wins.
“This was a great game. Compliments to their coach and their team – they played a great game, but it was a lot of fun. We’re really excited about the first year in this division. We have a tough game Thursday at Lower Moreland. We’re looking to finish our season strong and see what happens from there.”
D’Andrea credited his assistants for their role in the Panthers’ title-clinching win.
“I’d like to thank coaches Dave Hanratty and Marty Corcoran for working on transition attack and defending long throw-ins at practice to prepare for this game,” the Panthers’ coach said. “We knew they were dangerous on set pieces including a long throw in, so we wanted to be prepared.”
William Tennent (9-0, 7-0 SOL) will travel to Lower Moreland Thursday, and Upper Moreland (5-2) will be on the road at New Hope-Solebury Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.
William Tennent 0-1-1 2
Upper Moreland 0-1-0 1
LOWER MORELAND 1, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 0
Ian Alicea converted a penalty kick midway through the second half, and that was the only goal the visiting Lions would need to eke out a win over the Spartans.
“We had a couple guys on the left side of the field that were making a run,” LM coach Rob Dominick said. “One of our guys playing up, John Kroll, was playing striker, and he got taken out to the right of the box, and they set up the PK right after that.
“Ian Alicea isn’t necessarily our go-to guy if we’re taking penalty kicks, but he had been practicing them before the game and also at the last couple of practices, so we figured we would give him a shot today. Actually, I think this was our first PK this year.”
The Spartans had their best chance to get on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the second half.
“They had a few opportunities – there was a really nice pass off to the right of our goalie, and a guy swooped in from the right and hit it, and it actually knocked off the post,” Dominick said. “Then we kind of controlled play in their end most of the second half and had a couple of chances.”
The Lions’ coach credited the strong play of several players, including Alicea at center back, Braden Alicea, who played center defensive mid, John Kroll, a midfielder on the wing who also saw some action at striker, Sam Morris at right back and Shane Mertens, a freshman who saw time at striker and gave the Lions good minutes, and Fareh Dahabreh, who posted his second shutout in goal of the season.
“I’m really happy with how those guys were playing today,” Dominick said.
Lower Moreland (2-5 SOL) will host William Tennent on Thursday, and Springfield Township closed out its regular season with a 1-6-2 record (1-6-1 SOL).
Lower Moreland 0-1 1
Springfield Twp 0-0 0
Non-league
PENNSBURY 4, HOLY GHOST PREP 0
The Falcons erupted for four goals in the second half, blowing open Tuesday’s non-league game against the visiting Firebirds.
“The first half – we had a good bit of the play in the beginning, but then I thought Holy Ghost kind of took over,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “Probably at halftime both teams felt disappointed that they didn’t get a goal but also relieved that they didn’t give any up.”
Goals in the 53rd and 54th minute gave the Falcons the lead and momentum. Jaden Haig scored the goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
“We knocked a ball over the top, and he just used his athleticism to catch the goalie in no-man’s land, tapped it by him and was able to knock it in,” Stoddart said. “Erik Mauro followed up within a minute or minute-and-a-half to give us that 2-0 lead.
“We have three games this week, and we were able to roll the bench, and the bench not only held the lead, but they really took advantage of their time.”
Danny Snyder connected on a goal that put the Falcons on top 3-0.
“It came up from the back after Alan Ibric did a great job of just controlling the ball, bringing it all the way across the field and then redirecting it back across for a Danny Snyder finish,” Stoddart said. “The last goal – Alec Snedeker came off the bench at forward, won the endline, drove it across, and Nicky Sieger used his limited playing time to knock in his first varsity goal on the far post.
“Even though Holy Ghost came at us a little bit, I thought we reset ourselves well at the half. We talked to the boys about just becoming the better team out there. I thought man for man we were the better team, so it was just a matter of being the better team and carrying yourself in that manner.
“A lot with us is just keeping our confidence up. We’ve been in some tough spots. When we play with confidence and we move the ball around, we can play with anyone.”
The Falcons’ coach credited the play of several regulars and reserves.
“Jaden (Haig) is always dangerous, so Jaden and Erik getting us started up top was huge,” Stoddart said. “I was just very impressed with the bench – the likes of Alan Ibric, Danny Snyder, Alec Snederker and Nick Sieger to get a goal. They just did a great job off the bench as we added a third game at the end of the week against La Salle so we’re going to need some fresh bodies for Thursday and Friday.
Pennsbury (4-3-1, 3-3-1 SOL) will host Council Rock North on Thursday.
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