Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action.
SOL Colonial/Patriot
Souderton 3, Bensalem 0
Souderton needed a bounce-back game after losing Wednesday, and Bensalem was easily coming off its biggest win of the season, and the Indians responded with a strong 3-0 victory on Friday afternoon.
“We told them we wanted to come out today and we wanted to play well,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner. “I thought we played well the other night against Council Rock South. Full credit to them the other night, they took advantage of their chances, and Alan (Nicholl) has them playing really well.
“We know that we’re not going to win every game, but we want to be a little bit better in front of goal and try and capitalize on our chances like South did the other night. For us today, we created opportunities in the first half. Same kind of story, but we couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Scoreless at halftime, Nolan Hughes scored in the 49th minute, assisted by Ty Quintois, to get Souderton on the board. Hughes then assisted a Dillon Barbieri goal in the 61th minute, and picked up his second goal of the game a minute later, assisted by Thomas Smith.
“We came in at halftime and had a very positive talk as a team (and) changed the lineup, changed the tactics a little bit,” Benner said. “We got a little more direct in the second half, and we were able to find the net within the first 10 minutes, and that kind of got us on our way.”
Aidan McClure made three saves to earn the shutout in goal.
“One of our outside backs, Ryan Schewe, did a fantastic job of matching up with one of their better players,” Benner said. “He followed him all over the field and was effective in keeping him out of the box and away from goal.
“Another one of our center backs, Thomas Smith, was fantastic today, winning balls in the ball, winning balls in midfield and being a target for us on restarts.
“The forward combination of Nolan Hughes and Dillon Barbieri created a lot of chances and put a lot of pressure on their back line in the first 20 minutes of the second half. It was those two who were pretty much responsible for the output.
“It was good to bounce back. It gives us some good momentum heading into the second time through the league next week.”
Souderton (7-2-2, 5-2-2 SOL) returns to SOL Colonial play Monday night when it hosts Central Bucks South. Bensalem (3-8-1, 3-7 SOL) hosts Pennsbury Monday.
Souderton 0 3 – 3
Bensalem 0 0 – 0
Council Rock South 4, Central Bucks South 2
Four different players scored for Council Rock South, which blew open a tie game with three goals in the second half to close out SOL crossover divisional play with the two-goal win over Central Bucks South. The win came on the heels of Souderton two days earlier.
“It was well-needed,” said Golden Hawks coach Alan Nicholl, noting the reason for his team’s recent success. “I’ll easily put my finger on it. We’re finding the back of the net. Even in the games we’ve lost – we played Pennridge Monday (a 4-1 loss), we left an awful lot of chances on the field. Balls were just not finding the back of the net.
“Today, the balls were dropping for us. We’ve played seven or eight one-goal games out of 11, so it makes a difference when you hit the post on a breakaway or if you miskick a ball that dropped in on the 18 or a corner kick that’s scurrying around the box and you don’t get a foot on it. Then you find a day like today where the ball started to drop for us. If I’m being honest, any game could have been like that. It just seems like the final touch is finally dropping for us.”
After falling behind briefly midway through the first half, CR South tied it up with a Ronan Harding goal, assisted by Josh Nikolevski. Gavin Hargan gave the Hawks the 2-1 lead with a penalty kick goal, followed by goals from Everett Kurtz and Frankie Lafferty. Rafferty and Andrew Lindros added assists.
“Today, in particular, I thought was a tremendous team effort,” Nicholl said. “CB South is a big strong team. They have two players in particular – (AJ) Peev up top and (Sean) Rieber in the midfield – are just a couple of big boys. They’re a handful. You cannot put a foot wrong with these two boys because they take up a lot of space, they’re very dominant, good on the tackle, good on the dribble and good shooters. We were very, very disciplined.
“My center back, Isaac Burenga, has been terrific, and in the midfield, Stepan Kovalev. is a big boy himself, and he really establishes our physical presence through the midfield. His ability to win a ball, his distribution, he’s very good in the air, he’s very good on the floor. For a big boy, he’s very tidy with the ball. He does not get beat, he does not lose the ball. He can really flip the field for us, and I’ve just been incredibly impressed with what he’s been able to do, and he’s tireless. I have him in class, and he’s this quiet, unassuming kid, and on the field, he’s just a hulk. He’s amazing. Not only what he’s doing with his game, but he gives great shape to what we’re doing. If you pull him out, I think it creates an imbalance on the team. He’s been absolutely terrific for us this year.”
After opening the week with a loss, the Hawks played very well the last two times out.
“I was concerned coming out of that Pennridge game that they’d start to question whether or not they’d be up for it,” Nicholl said. “To respond by going out to Souderton and getting a result and going out to CB South today and getting a result, it reaffirms their confidence and belief that we’re doing the right things.
“I’m really happy with it. We have great leadership. We have a handful of seniors on the team that are very disciplined, very focused. Their communication is excellent. They keep things positive. I noticed back in preseason their warmup preparation, they were pretty independent in what they wanted to do and they ran with it. Usually, I’ll find in some of the younger sides I’ve had in the past, they need a lot of coddling, they need a lot of hand holding. This team this year has really sort of rattled off the pregame prep, the scouting, the conversations.
“They’re way out in front of me all the time, and it’s refreshing. It’s a credit to their maturity, their investment in what we’re trying to do this season. I’m very, very impressed with the older group and how they’re going about their business. I’m really hoping the younger guys are paying attention because it’s very impressive, and it’s not something that comes around every year.”
Now 8-5 overall and in first place at 6-5 in the SOL Patriot, Nicholl knows the competition won’t get any easier for his team.
“There’s nothing between these teams,” Nicholl said. “CB South today, Souderton earlier in the week, Pennridge the beginning of the week – there’s absolutely nothing between these teams. I was making a joke with one of the coaches: ‘Do you want to play the game or flip a coin?’
“Everybody is beating everybody. There’s no break, there’s no rest for any of us. It’s a real grind. When you’ve got a dozen games under your belt, it’s important for the kids to realize that success is there to be had. If you drop a couple of games, you could very easily lose the team, where they start to believe maybe they’re not able to do it or not up for it. I think having a bit of success kind of breeds success.”
CR South hosts Neshaminy in a key divisional game on Monday. CB South (8-4-1, 6-4-1 SOL) plays at Souderton.
Council Rock South 1 3 – 4
CB South 1 1 – 2
Pennridge 1, Council Rock North 0
Nicky Williams broke a scoreless tie with 10 minutes remaining as Pennridge went on the road for the bounce-back win in the final SOL crossover game for both teams.
The Rams, who lost at home to Bensalem on Wednesday, had chances but the game was still scoreless at halftime.
“We hit the crossbar about 13 minutes into the game,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “It was pretty even. We had a good amount of pressure and chances in the second half, but they did a great job defending, blocking our final shot or final pass.”
Williams broke the tie late.
“He was able to take a nice settle touch at the top of the box and ripped a ball upper 90, so that was fantastic,” Valimont said. “We were able to hold them down and did a really nice job.”
The Rams’ coach went on to credit several Rock North players.
“Jeremy Berman, the keeper for Council Rock North, played very well,” Valimont said. “Nick Cirincione, Connor Cell, Jeremy Kamp and Simon Rupp stood out. They all played really well.
”For us, everybody got in. We were subbing in waves of five minutes. It was a total team effort. Everybody was able to contribute. Nobody stood out more than others.”
Pennridge (8-2-2, 6-2-2 SOL) hosts CB East in a key SOL Colonial game on Monday. CR North (4-6-1, 4-5-1 SOL) hosts Harry S. Truman.
Pennridge 0 1 – 1
CR North 0 0 – 0
North Penn 6, Harry S Truman 1
Jovani Gonzalez scored three goals in the first half as first-place North Penn jumped up early in this one and never looked back.
Jim Perrin, Alex Stewart and Jack Gorham assisted on those goals, and Alou Gamby and Achilles Triantophylis both scored in the first half as well as for the Knights, who led 5-0 at halftime. Freshman Ryan Miller also scored for NP.
North Penn coach Chris DePeppe credited Truman’s Ayub Fask with an excellent game for the Tigers.
North Penn (8-3, 7-2 SOL) remains one point ahead of CB East and Pennridge, as divisional play resumes on Monday at home against CB West. Truman (0-11, 0-10 SOL) plays at Council Rock North.
North Penn 5 1 – 6
Truman 0 1 – 1
Central Bucks West 1, Pennsbury 0
This one looked destined for overtime, but with 23 seconds left in regulation, CB West ended it in thrilling fashion for the 1-0 win under the lights at War Memorial Field.
“With a minute left, (Pennsbury) came down on our end,” said Bucks coach Stefan Szygiel. “They had the ball, they possessed it well. To me, it looked like they were going to generate a good scoring opportunity. They connected a bunch of passes, and then they whipped the ball into the box and that clearance turned into a counter attack.
“One of our forwards, Harrison Brownlow, kind of ran the ball down, and he and the Pennsbury defender both went up for a header. The header ended up at the feet of sophomore Richard Newell. Richard connected a pass to Kevin Leiva-Benitez, and Kevin was able to get the finish.
“It was pretty cool. It was a back and forth game. I thought it was a good game. They outworked us in the first half. The second half we started to grow into the game a little more. We started to get the right guys in the right spots.”
Both teams had chances and played well, but this time, it ended up in West’s favor.
“Senior center mid Justin Moore again had a great game,” Szygiel said. “He had a great week for us, a great two weeks. I’m really, really pleased with him. Our back line actually in the first half looked a little out of sorts, but in the second half, we showed a little bit of maturity.
“Our goalkeeper, Griffin Blokker, got his fifth clean sheet of the season. We were happy to see that. We got good minutes in the middle of the field from Wade Haflett, Brandon Terry and Chase Naso.”
The Bucks’ coach tipped his hat to the Falcons.
“Pennsbury worked hard and created some really good chances,” Szygiel said. “Coach (Tom) Stoddart and I spoke after the game, and it felt like we were playing a version of ourselves this year. A lot of young guys on the field finding their way, which leads to inconsistent results at times.
“Both programs are having a similar type of year and we just have to keep grinding.”
With the win, CB West is now 5-7-1 overall, 5-5-1 SOL, and plays at first-place North Penn on Monday. Pennsbury (3-7-2, 3-7-1 SOL) plays at Bensalem.
CB West 0 1 – 1
Pennsbury 0 0 – 0
SOL Liberty/Freedom
Abington 3, Upper Moreland 2
After losing its first game on Wednesday, Abington fell behind early Friday, but bounced back to tie it up and took the lead before half. From there, the Ghosts were on their way to the 3-2 victory.
Mike Scullon opened the scoring for the Golden Bears, but that lead was short lived.
“We were pressing, pressing, pressing, and they countered and scored a goal,” said Abington coach Randy Garber. “We were kind of bummed out only because we were pressing so much and the ball wouldn’t go in the back of the net. They come down one time and finish.
“We were pressing more, and finally, Thiago Danielle got behind their defense, slotted the ball to Pat (Capone) and Pat touched it in to make it 1-1.”
Liam Hartman converted a penalty kick late in the half to make it 2-1.
“Thiago gets the ball on the left-hand side, beats the left back, gets behind the player and he gets brought down in the box for a penalty kick,” Garber said. “This is the sixth time this year he caused a penalty. Six penalty kicks that Liam Hartman has scored because of Thiago being brought down in the box.”
Logan Holman tied it up for UM in the second half, but Abington answered again, this time with Danielle assisting on a Liam Hartman goal.
“Drew Paxson did a nice job in the back today,” Garber said. “Oscar Hoffman played in the midfield and did a real good job. Pat Capone was really steady.”
Abington (10-1-1, 8-1-1 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin on Monday. UM (6-3-3, 4-3-3 SOL) hosts Lower Moreland Monday night.
Abington 2 1 – 3
UM 1 1 – 2
Hatboro-Horsham 2, William Tennent 0
Hatboro-Horsham needed this one.
Nathan Scavo scored a goal in each half and the Hatters snapped a three-game losing streak against a Tennent team that was coming off a huge upset of Abington two days earlier.
“We’ve obviously had a rough couple of games, losing three in a row,” HH coach Kyle McGrath said. “The boys performed very well today. We had a light, fun practice yesterday, played some games they liked – handball, kickball, a penalty shootout – just to bring joy back into the game, and they responded today with a very good result.”
Scoreless for 32 minutes, Scavo’s first goal broke the ice.
“It was a pretty even game,” McGrath said. “Both teams were kind of back and forth. They have some dangerous players. With eight minutes left in the first half, we had a free kick. A recycled ball came out to Thomas Shegogue, my outside back, and he played a ball over the top to Nathan Scavo, who was able to beat the keeper to it and put it up over top of him into the corner of the goal to go up 1-0.”
Scavo added an insurance goal in 75th minute.
“With under five minutes left, Scavo scored the second goal just with true determination,” McGrath said. “He beat a guy, kind of lost the ball, won it back and then was able to spot the ball home past the goalkeeper to give us a little bit of an insurance goal.
“The second half was again back and forth. They had some good opportunities. Noah Schlosser made some saves. He made a really nice diving save. We were pressuring them a little bit, they were pressuring us.”
Numerous players had a role in this win.
“Matt Wingen played a lot of minutes today,” McGrath said. “He’s a guy we’ve been using as a reserve, but he came in and played a lot of minutes.
“Ryan Toporowski had to play center back today and did a great job. Thomas Shegogue with an assist, but also played really good at outside back, and Noah Schlosser, my goalkeeper, got his seventh shutout. Hopefully, we can use this to move forward next week and get back on a winning streak.”
The Hatters (8-5, 7-4 SOL) host Wissahickon on Monday. Tennent (5-6-2, 5-5-1 SOL) hosts Cheltenahm.
Hatboro-Horsham 1 1 – 2
William Tennent 0 0 – 0
Springfield Twp 3, Wissahickon 0
The Spartans came up with a stellar effort Friday to shut out a quality Wissahickon team in a crossover divisional game.
Riley Martin scored for Springfield, assisted by Grant Williams, for the only goal of the first half. Williams and Peter Schmidt added goals in the second half. Schmidt and Mac Dearnley added assists.
Springfield (7-3-1, 6-3-1 SOL) hosts Quakertown Saturday morning. Wissahickon (6-6-1, 6-5 SOL) plays at Hatboro-Horsham Monday night.
Springfield 1 2 – 3
Wissahickon 0 0 – 0
Upper Dublin 3, New Hope-Solebury 1
Despite playing much of the second half down a man because of a red card, Upper Dublin was able to pull away for the two-goal win in this one.
“The game started getting really physical, and we got a red card and played down a man,” said Flying Cardinals coach Noah Johnson. “They immediately scored a goal to make it 2-1.”
Johnson was happy with the way his team responded.
“I was pleased with the entire team,” the UD coach said. “It’s hard to go somewhere early and sit there for hours in the sun waiting to play. The whole team did really, really well.”
Spirt scored UD’s first goal and the team took that lead into halftime. Erik Petushi then scored off a corner kick early in the second half to make it 2-0.
After New Hope cut the lead to one, playing with a man down, the Cardinals extended the lead to 3-1, as Tommy Clayton scored off an assist from Rohan Bryan with 10 minutes remaining.
“That was 100 percent Rohan’s,” Johnson said. “All his hard work and effort got us that goal.
“A few people that stood out today – Kyle Spirt did an awesome job, Rohan Bryan did an awesome job, Tommy Clayton – well done again, Reilly McLaughlin – well done again, Nick Fiore and Erik Petushi did very well today.”
With the win, UD is now 6-7 overall (6-5 SOL), heading back into Liberty Division play Monday at home against first-place Abington. New Hope (1-11, 1-9 SOL) plays at Springfield.
UD 1 2 – 3
New Hope 0 1 – 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Lower Moreland 1
Mason Clatterbuck created a penalty kick in the box, and then he buried the game-winner as the Colonials won a close game against a Lower Moreland team that currently sits in first place in the SOL Freedom.
PW (7-5, 7-4 SOL) is tied for second in the SOL Liberty, and Friday they earned a hard-fought win. Brendan Corpus scored the team’s first goal in the first half, only to see LM answer to tie it up at the break.
The Colonials are back in action at home Monday afternoon against Quakertown. Lower Moreland (7-2-2, 7-2-2 SOL) returns to action on the road at Upper Moreland.
Lower Moreland 1 0 – 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 – 2
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