Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Monday. Pennsbury/Truman photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery. (Upper Moreland/William Tennent photos courtesy of Amy Holman & Upper Moreland soccer)
Patriot Division
Bensalem 3, Council Rock South 1
Teams can learn more about themselves in defeat than in victory, especially early in the season. Following a disastrous start in their last game that saw Bensalem surrender 5 goals in the first 22 minutes of play, Owls’ coach Rob Brown was intent on seeing how his team would respond.
This time it was Bensalem with the strong start, netting two goals in the first 20 minutes of Monday’s game and rolling to a 3-1 win over Council Rock South in a Patriot Division matchup.
“We made some adjustments to the lineup and how we came out to start the match,” Brown said. “The boys responded well and we were getting some really good chances. Thankfully we got the first one and then the second.”
Collin Meo scored Bensalem’s first goal on a through ball from David Larbi, beat two defenders, then drilled it home. Captain Tom Khmil scored off a setup from Omar Padilla on a chance that was created by captain Matt Wheaton.
“Omar played a through ball in and it took a good bounce for us and Tom was able to go in on goal with a nice finish,” Brown said. “Matt played the ball into Omar who then made the pass to Tom.”
The Owls made it 3-0 in the second half when Khmil tapped in a stellar cross pass from Padilla.
“South didn’t give up and played us tough,” Brown said. “They really amped up the pressure on our back line, who played awesome. South had a PK and our keeper, Kyle Rubin, made a good save on it and kept the game out of reach for them.”
Brown praised the efforts of Matt Ebner, Nate Rosas, Josh Murray, Nate Rubin, and Leo Chanez for their solid play in the defensive end.
The Titans finally broke through on a goal by Gavin Hagan (Kieran Barry assist).
“Bensalem was well deserving of their 3-goal lead before we put some pressure on them late,” said Titans’ coach Alan Nicholl. “We missed a PK midway through the second half, and really couldn’t bring the fight to Bensalem. We didn’t adjust to their quick counter and it cost us the game.”
With the victory, Bensalem improves to 2-2 Patriot, 2-3-1 overall. South drops to 2-2 in league play, 3-2 overall, and while both teams will have a full slate until the rematch—Bensalem is in action again on Wednesday for a 3:30 pm game at Neshaminy, while South hosts Pennridge at 3:30 pm Wednesday—another hard-fought league battle is to be expected.
“I love playing against Council Rock South as a former coach with their with girls program,” Brown said. “I also like playing against Alan. He’s a great coach and is a good guy. We have always gotten along and we have had some good games since I’ve been at Bensalem. I wish him luck with the rest of the season, and we look forward to hosting them in late October for our Senior Night and I hope we are both battling for a playoff spot.”
Bensalem 2-1 3
Council Rock South 0-1 1
Neshaminy 3, Council Rock North 0
Last week, Neshaminy dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Pennsbury despite holding a 25-5 edge in shots. Since then, Neshaminy hasn’t allowed a single goal, blanking Harry S Truman 9-0 on Saturday, and following up that effort by posting a 3-0 win while handing Council Rock North its first league loss of the season in Monday’s Patriot Division game.
“It was a team effort,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “We did a really great job. Rock only had one shot today or maybe two. We blocked a couple of their corners. They had one melee that was a little dangerous and we knocked it out of play. For the most part, we really clamped down on them and didn’t give them any kind of clean looks, and that’s a credit to our back line that did a really nice job today. I was really happy with the boys today. They did a really nice job, and I’m glad they got rewarded.
“The back line played exceptionally well. AJ Rivera, Evan O’Neil along with Owen Beideman and Colin Hepler played an exceptional game today.”
But Foley’s accolades extended past the defense.
“Our midfield – JoeJoe Maxwell was outstanding. Two of our starters in the midfield, one was sick and one has a bad knee, so Jimmy Campbell came in and did an unbelievably great job today. I can’t say enough about him.”
Jose Rivera put Neshaminy on the board in the final minute of the first half, converting a Matt Lamb corner kick and giving the visitors momentum heading into the break.
“Jose Rivera – he’s so good for us because we target him all the time, and he’s able to use his body, shield balls, wait for our midfielders to get into the action. Everything kind of goes through him because he’s so good playing with his back to the goal, laying balls off, we’re able to spray some balls wide,” Foley said. “He did a really great job in the second half. I’m glad he got a goal for all his hard work today.”
That lead stood until Vince DiMaria (Wasseem Jawawdeh assist) drilled home a shot from 18 yards out in the 70th minute. Maxwell made it 3-0 about five minutes later off an assist from Beideman.
“I’m happy it was 3-0 because it was every bit of a 3-0 game,” Foley said. “We had the play from the beginning of the first half. We got in dangerous positions, and we made a bad pass or had a bad touch. You have to credit Rock with that – they put some pressure on us that forced us into some bad decision making.
“It was nice to see we broke through, got some goals. It took a little longer than I would have liked, and I kept saying to my assistants – you let teams hang around, you make one mistake, and it comes back to bite you. Fortunately, we didn’t make any mistakes.
“Rock’s dangerous plays came on throw-ins. They always have a long throw-in, they always do well on set pieces. That was a concern, and they had a couple of those and we defended those well in the first half. The second half we really cleaned things up. We moved a couple of guys around, and we created a lot of opportunities, and we were rewarded with some goals.”
Neshaminy improves to 2-2-0 Patriot, 3-2-0 overall, and will host Bensalem at 3:30 pm Wednesday. North remains tied atop the division at 3-1-0 (3-3-0) and will face another key early-season matchup when it squares off against host Pennsbury—which is tied with North atop the division—at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Neshaminy 0-3 3
Council Rock North 0-0 0
Pennsbury 4, Harry S Truman 1
Nick Seiger scored twice to lead Pennsbury to a 4-1 victory over Harry S Truman in Monday’s Patriot Division game.
Seiger opened the scoring with the lone goal of the first half. Evan Soriano made it 2-0 in the second period, Seiger netted his second to give the Falcons a three-goal cushion directly off a corner, then Ian Cunningham capped the scoring for Pennsbury.
Truman avoided the shutout with a late goal to make it a 4-1 count.
Pennsbury improves to 3-1-0 Patriot, 3-1-0 overall, and will face fellow division leader Council Rock North at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Truman remains winless at 0-4-0, 0-5-0, and will look to notch its first win on Wednesday when the Tigers face Council Rock South in a 3:30 pm game.
Pennsbury 1-3 4
Harry S Truman 0-1 1
Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 2, Central Bucks West 0
Sometimes, the difference comes down to playing a full game.
After battling to a scoreless halftime tie, Central Bucks East took its game to another level in the second half, powering in two goals. Central Bucks West was unable to match the Patriots’ intensity, and dropped the 2-0 decision in the latest installment of the neighborhood rivalry.
“I give credit to West and the coaching staff for standing tall on defense and waiting for the counter or long serve,” said East coach Josh Isaacsohn. “Our defense played well in the second half and began to control the middle of the field and not commit as many dangerous fouls that could result in a ball being served in the box. As the team began to keep its shape and play to feet more, we began to control the tempo, which was the plan.”
Trevor Jopling scored (Luke Christmas assist) in the 64th minute, then Tony Senior (Jared Needles assist) made it 2-0 just six minutes later. East goalkeepers Casey Prajzner and Matt Patrick combined to earn the shutout.
“East is a really hardworking group,” said West coach Stefan Szygiel. “Everyone is battling injuries and stuff, and Josh and his coaching staff – they’re dangerous on set pieces.
“They scored about halfway through the second half, and then we had to try and go for it and ended up down 2-0. They showed up in the second half and we didn’t. I don’t know how many times we have to tell them, ‘The game is a full 80, you can’t play even a second less than that because this game changes in a heartbeat.’ I just hope they’re learning from this.”
Two years removed from a berth in the PIAA 4A state championship game and three years removed from winning the District One Class 4A championship, West finds itself in an unfamiliar position. The Bucks have struggled out of the gate this season, and sit at 1-3-0 in the Colonial Division, 1-4-0 overall. The Bucks will look to get things back on track when they host Souderton under the lights at home in a 7 pm Wednesday matchup.
“As a program, we don’t feel that the players are understanding our culture and what it means to go to West and what it means to play for West,” Szygiel said. “The coaching staff puts in the work, we have a handful of players that are really, really on the same page, and unfortunately, I think we have too much of the program on their own page. They have to grow up together and they have to understand that ultimately, if they don’t care about each other, if they don’t care about the program, we’re not going to be successful.”
With the victory, Central Bucks East moves to 2-0-2 to remain atop the Colonial Division (3-1-2 overall). The Patriots host North Penn at 3:45 pm Wednesday.
Central Bucks East 0-2 2
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Central Bucks South 1, North Penn 0
Thijs Popma converted a Jeremy Chen corner kick midway through the first half, and that was all Central Bucks South would need to pull out a 1-0 victory over North Penn in Monday’s Colonial Division game.
“We got a great game by Aydan Horniak in goal and defense,” South coach Joe Coscia said. “We stayed organized and caught North Penn offside over 10 times.”
Coscia also praised the efforts of defenders Mike Monser, Logan Campbell, Dennis Cleary, and Eric Green.
Coscia also sent his well-wishes to North Penn’s goalkeeper, who was injured late in the game.
“We’re very sorry for the North Penn goalkeeper and we wish him a speedy recovery after he made a brave play against Colin O’Hara on a breakaway,” Coscia said.
South improves to 2-1-1 Colonial, 3-1-1 overall. The Titans will host Pennridge at 3:30 pm Wednesday. North Penn sits at 1-2-0, 2-2-0, and will host division frontrunner Central Bucks East at 3:45 pm Wednesday.
Central Bucks South 1-0 1
North Penn 0-0 0
Pennridge 2, Souderton 0
Pennridge played a strong defensive game and made their chances count as the Rams battled to a 2-0 victory over Souderton in Monday’s Colonial Division showdown.
“Our whole back line—Jack Bruno, Shane Velez, Tommy McKinney, and Ryan Saville—played fantastic,” said Rams’ coach Pete Valimont. “Up top for us, Jake Saville and Aiden Castle were getting hit left and right, and they just kept battling the whole time. It was just real impressive stuff.”
Pennridge (2-1-1 Colonial, 4-1-1 overall) got on the scoreboard early in the second half, when Jake Saville converted on a Pat Fannon setup.
“Jake scored from Pat Fannon on a counterattack,” Valimont said. “Pat was able to slip a 30-yard ball through, and Jake did a fantastic job of getting to it and finding the back of the net.”
Jared Hess then knocked in the rebound of a Saville shot off the post for the insurance tally midway through the second period.
“As always, (coach) Matt Benner has a great group of kids over there,” Valimont said of Souderton. “He’s been grooming this group for quite some time, and they’re a very good team.
“They’re a high-pressing team that’s got good skill all around. Number 10 (Dillon Barbieri) is a chore and 17 (Thomas Smith) is a tree in the back for them. We got fortunate – there were a couple of bounces – one that was pretty scary, hit off the post and came down. We just happened to grab it before they were able to get to it, which would have changed the game.
“That’s a solid team to have a shutout and score a couple of goals on. We have a couple of guys banged up a little bit – we have our yoga going tomorrow, and we’ll get ready for CB South on Wednesday (3:30 pm at South).”
Aidan McClure made four saves in goal for Souderton (0-1-2, 2-1-2). Souderton will return to action for a 7 pm Wednesday game at Central Bucks West.
Pennridge 0-2 2
Souderton 0-0 0
Liberty Division
Abington 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, OT
Liam Hartman buried a penalty kick early in overtime, propelling the Ghosts to a win that was anything but easy.
“They’re pressing the whole entire first five minutes of overtime, we get the ball down once in the box – there was a scramble, about 12 yards, and Pat Capone came into an almost open goal, and a kid tripped him from behind, and it had to be a penalty kick,” Abington coach Randy Garber said. “Liam Hartman – ice water – just absolutely buried it. It’s a shame it had to end on a penalty kick, but it was definitely a penalty kick. We kind of stole that game. You feel bad for the coaches and players because they played such a good game. To get that kind of result, sometimes the game’s not fair.
“They gave us all that we could handle. We were very, very fortunate to beat them because they outplayed us pretty much the whole entire game. They worked hard, they played their hearts out. The kids don’t understand that every time we play everyone has to work hard. They mentally didn’t come out the way they did against Hatboro. PW is 2-2, but they were outstanding.”
The Ghosts got on the board in the opening minute of the game when Liam Hartman turned a long throw-in by Jimmy Marino into a goal.
“The long throw-in went over the goalkeeper’s head, and Liam was on the doorstep,” Garber said. “It was a shame – the goalkeeper just misread it, it landed on Liam’s foot on the one-yard line, and all he did was tap it in. Ten minutes later, we gave the goal right back to them.”
Mason Clatterbuck knotted the score 1-1.
“It was on a through ball, and their kid just beat our goalkeeper to the ball, walked around him and tapped it into the net,” Garber said. “The same thing happened 10 minutes later.”
This time it was Brendan Corpus connecting on a goal that gave the Colonials a 2-1 lead. Pat Capone connected on the equalizer.
“He hit a ball – it had to be from 35 or maybe 40 yards out on a full volley that you couldn’t have thrown the ball any better into the upper right hand corner,” Garber said. “The goalkeeper never moved. He hit that on the volley and he crushed it.”
Capone’s goal sent the teams into halftime deadlocked 2-2.
“In the second half, there were no goals scored, but they were all over us,” Garber said. “Kevin Kretschman had an outstanding second half in the goal.”
A scoreless second half set the stage for OT and Hartman’s game-winner.
“These were two good teams, somebody had to win today,” said PW coach Rich Kessler. “It was definitely a fun game from an objective lens. I’ll be excited to play them again at Abington.”
Garber credited the play of several players in the win.
“Pat Capone was pretty much the star of the game – he was involved in two of the three goals,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Liam Hartman is our goal scorer – he just buries them. In five games, he’s got to have at least eight goals. He’s just finding a way to put the ball in the back of the net.
“The whole back four – Michael Lyou, our center back, did a nice job, won a lot of balls for us. Drew Paxson, Jimmy Marino and Braeden Brownholtz. We played with two freshmen – Brady Hartman and Daniel Olivera – in the midfield the whole entire game. Luke O’Donnell, who’s our playmaker in the midfield, had a leg injury and didn’t play a minute.”
Abington remains undefeated on the season at 4-0-0 Liberty, 5-0-0 overall, and will visit winless Quakertown for a 7 pm Wednesday game. The Colonials sit at 2-2-0, 2-3-0, and will visit Wissahickon at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Abington 2-0-1 3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-0-0 2
Upper Dublin 2, Wissahickon 1
Despite a 15-5 disadvantage in shots, Upper Dublin made the most of their opportunities, netting a pair of first-half goals and holding off neighborhood rival Wissahickon for a 2-1 victory in Monday’s Liberty Division matchup.
Given all the adversity the Cardinals have dealt with both on and off the field, the win was an important one for first-year coach Noah Johnson’s squad.
“I’m most pleased to see that we’re taking a positive direction coming off a loss to PW last week and then coming off everything going on in the Upper Dublin community with the tornado and everything,” Johnson said. “It’s nice to see the boys’ spirits kind of high, seeing those guys smiling and being happy.”
Tommy Clayton was the offensive star for Upper Dublin on this day. The sophomore opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game off a Chris McNeel assist, then added a second goal midway through the first half on a setup from Zach Berman.
“I’ve been getting on Tommy a lot because he’s had millions of opportunities to try and score, and today he definitely takes the player of the match for me because he did what he was supposed to do and more,” Johnson said. “I asked him to play defense a little bit more and to get back a lot, and he did not disappoint at all. He worked really, really hard, so hats off to him.”
Johnson also noted the efforts of striker Christian Broome, who celebrated his birthday with a victory.
“Christian is one of our players that come off the bench that we don’t really expect to give heavy minutes to, but as of late, Christian has been doing very, very well, creating opportunities for others and working really hard to get fit and becoming more of a team player,” Johnson said.
Wissahickon trimmed the Cardinals’ lead to 2-1 on a penalty kick in the second half, but the Cardinals denied the Trojans any further attempts to complete the rally.
The Cardinals improve to 2-2-0 Liberty, 2-3-0 overall. They will visit Hatboro-Horsham for a 5:15 pm game on Thursday. The Trojans fall to 1-3-0, 1-4-1, and will host Plymouth Whitemarsh at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Upper Dublin 2-0 2
Wissahickon 0-1 1
Hatboro-Horsham 1, Quakertown 0
The Hatters got on the scoreboard in the 14th minute on a Quakertown own goal. That proved to be the extent of the scoring in the contest.
“It was a pretty ugly game,” HH coach Kyle McGrath said. “It was a Monday afternoon and looked like guys had a tough weekend type of game.
“The goal we scored was a really weird play off a stoppage. We had an uncontested drop ball, and my guy – Jake Freedman – played a ball into the box. Their defender went to clear it and put it into his own net, but the whole sequence was just bizarre.
“We were on the attack, and the official called the play dead for an injury, but it wasn’t a significant injury so they gave us an uncontested drop ball, but we were 20 yards out, so when the ball was dropped, Jake just played a one-time ball right into the box, and fortunately for us, it went in off the defender. The rest of the game was just a midfield battle, not too many scoring opportunities either way.”
The Hatters’ coach lauded the efforts of his defense and credited Ryan Toporowski in the midfield.
“Ryan really controlled play,” McGrath said. “My center backs handled their forward, number two, who’s a physical player, and we handled him, for the most part.
“Any time you get a shutout you’re happy, but offensively, we weren’t clicking today, and we’ll work on some things in training the next two days. We were lucky to get a win. A win’s a win, and it’s a short season, so we’ll take it.”
Hatboro-Horsham (4-1 3-1 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Thursday, and Quakertown (1-4, 1-3) will host Abington on Wednesday.
Quakertown 0-0 0
Hatboroo-Horsham 1-0 1
Freedom Division
William Tennent 1, Upper Moreland 1 (2OT)
Neither team walked away with a victory in Monday’s Freedom Division matchup between William Tennent and Upper Moreland, but that doesn’t mean there were no winners.
Both teams used the game to help raise money for Go4theGoal Foundation, which supports those battling pediatric cancer. Upper Moreland players bought yellow laces that all the players wore in their shoes. In all, the teams raised nearly $800 for Go4theGoal.
The host Bears opened the scoring when Liam Crawford connected for a goal (Matt Lawler, Logan Holman assists). Tennent tied the score in the second half on a corner kick. Bears’ goalie Aaron Snyder played a key role in keeping Tennent from adding anything more.
“They had their opportunities, but Aaron stood on his head,” said Upper Moreland coach Justin Allegra. “Declan Cummins played the entire game—never played (varsity) before, started his first game today and played really well.”
The Bears earned the hard-fought tie despite being down four starters in a brutal stretch that sees the squad playing six games in 11 days.
“It was a little bit tougher because we were without four starters,” Allegra said. “I was like, ‘We’re going to make sure we’re solid defensively, and when we get opportunities, we need to cash in.’ We cashed in in the first half and then we tried to hold our own. We had numerous opportunities in front of the net in overtime that we probably should have buried, but we couldn’t get it in. My guys were just exhausted.
“We’re just trying to get through these games. I told our guys—this is a great result for us, and we just have to continue moving on to the next game.”
Upper Moreland moves to 1-0-3 Freedom, 3-0-2 overall. The Bears visit New Hope-Solebury at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Tennent stands at 2-1-1 Freedom, 2-2-1 overall, and will attempt to knock off the division leaders when they take to the road to battle Lower Moreland at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
“This was the usual Tennent/Upper Moreland game,” Allegra said. “Tennent is just a class act organization, (coach) Nick (D’Andrea) is a class act guy. He always has his guys ready, they’re always well prepared and well coached.”
William Tennent 0-1-0-0 1
Upper Moreland 1-0-0-0 1
Lower Moreland 2 Springfield Twp 0
The early stages of the 2021 season have been exciting for Lower Moreland. Undefeated in Freedom Division play and overall, the Lions have seen different players step up in different games as the squad remains undefeated at 3-0-1 in league play and overall.
“It seems like each game we have another player step up and today it was senior Tim Kroll and junior Gabe Krutsinger,” said Lions’ coach Bob Barnhart.
After battling through a scoreless first half, Kroll put the Lions on the board about 9 minutes into the second frame. Krutsinger—who had been stoned on a terrific attempt earlier—connected 13 minutes later (Braden Alicea assist) to give Lower Moreland a 2-0 advantage.
“We had a game plan coming into the game and our guys executed it even after going into the half scoreless,” Barnhart said.
Springfield goalkeeper Julian Casabon made 12 saves in a stellar effort in the Spartans’ loss.
“He played a very good game in the net and made some incredible saves,” Barnhart said of Casabon.
As far as his own squad, Barnhart singled out Aiden Moffitt for his performance.
“Aiden Moffitt had the best game I have seen him play,” Barnhart said. “He was all over the field and had a few chances himself. We are really playing well and playing for each other. Even my guys on the bench who haven’t seen much time yet have been into every game and when I am ready to call on them, I know they are ready to step up and answer the bell.”
Lower Moreland will look to keep up its winning ways when it hosts William Tennent at 3:30 pm Wednesday. The Spartans (2-1-1, 2-1-1) visit Cheltenham at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Lower Moreland 0-2 2
Springfield Twp 0-0 0
New Hope-Solebury at Cheltenham, PPD
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