Check out the recaps for the five SOL soccer teams in action Tuesday in the District 1 Tournament. Neshaminy/Phoenixville photos provided courtesy of Trish Sexton, and New Hope-Solebury/Calvary Christian photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ SOCCER GALLERIES. (CB South/Conestoga photos courtesy of Luka Okoniewski//CB South soccer)
Class 4A semifinal
#1 CONESTOGA 1, #2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
The District 1 4A semifinal match appeared destined for overtime until Conestoga managed to pop in a goal with only 20 seconds left on the clock to advance to the finals on Saturday.
Tuesday’s contest was a rematch of last year’s state title game, a 2-1 Conestoga win in double overtime, and this one was every bit as hotly contested as that one with the Pioneers needing some late heroics to eke out the win.
By the Numbers:
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
Conestoga goal 80th minute
Coach Ed Brnardic on the game: “It was a great opportunity to go play against a Conestoga team that we respect so much for what they have accomplished over the last several years. Ahead of the match, Coach Anthony and I discussed that regardless of the result we were going to learn something valuable about ourselves today.
“We went to play OUR game – a technical and tactical match, and we went after them. Of course, ‘We’ (players and myself) made a few mistakes today, but mistakes are important because they remind you that you still have work to do. Despite the mistakes, I thought our guys played one heck of a beautiful game. In the first half, we created so many scoring opportunities in several different ways: patient build-ups, quick counterattacks, crosses, shots from outside the box, set plays, dribbling at them, through balls, balls over the top, just about any way that you can imagine. Credit to their keeper Mason Levine for making a couple amazing saves to keep the ball out of the net, and I really wish the crossbar was just one inch higher.
“However, fate wasn’t on our side, and at the end of the game, Conestoga took a quick throw-in, played a nice through ball, and their striker got free and slipped a ball into the far corner with 20 seconds left. Game over.
“But we learned a lot of stuff that we will take with us to States next week. A lot about our quality, a lot about our toughness and a lot about our character. And I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this school, this community and this team. Go Titans!”
PROPS:
—FOR PAT VANLUVANEE: “Pat was huge again for us in goal. On a couple occasions, it looked like a certain goal, but Pat comes in to deny the opportunity. And offensively, he allows us to be so much more aggressive and throw bodies forward in the attack because we know we have him back in our net.”
—FOR SEAN CLEVENSTINE: “When someone is constantly a rock and so consistent from game to game for the entire season, you run the risk as a coach of being spoiled and just assume ‘here’s Clev having a usual great game.’ But we know exactly who we have with Clev, and we appreciate everything he does for us on and off the field. He’s been phenomenal for us all season long, and today I thought he was extra special. He was winning tackles and making plays all over the field. And his character is something special as well – always looking out for his teammates, and every single game Clev is the first guy to go shake hands with the opposing coaches and players, immediately after the final whistle. Pure class from this guy all the time.”
—FOR AJ OKONIEWSKI: “Today AJ was our best player. He created all sorts of problems for the Conestoga defense – he was attacking them in waves, and then tracking back defensively. He’s a heck of a player and I’m so happy that he was able to showcase his talents and his effort on such a big stage today. He owned his wing.”
NEXT UP: CB South (17-3, 9-1 SOL) hosts Great Valley on Saturday to determine the 3/4 seed in the district.
Conestoga 0 1 – 1
CB South 0 0 – 0
Playback
#7 SOUDERTON 2, #3 SPRINGFIELD TWP 1
Losing was not an option. At least it wasn’t for Tannor Wiszneski.
With his team trailing 1-0, the Souderton senior connected on a pair of second -half goals – and now has six in the district tournament. This despite being sidelined for the West Chester Henderson game – the Indians’ lone loss in the postseason – with an injury.
“This is amazing,” Wiszneski said. “We did face a lot of injuries before we went into West Chester Henderson. I broke a part of my foot.
“I didn’t play against West Chester Henderson at all. I sat out the whole weekend resting on the couch, and I said, ‘You know what, I’m playing. I’m going to take a leap, step up for the boys.’ It’s just an amazing culture.”
The Spartans had the better of play in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into halftime. The second half was another story. Wiszneski evened the score midway through the half.
“Cameron Taylor threw it in, then Liam Shaw headed it, and it just fell to my feet, and I chipped the goalie, and it went in,” Wiszneski said.
Eight minutes later, Wisneski was back at it again, scoring the go-ahead goal with an AJ Pisoni assist.
“It went from Nolan Watkins to AJ Pisoni, who hit it into the box, and I headed it and hit the corner and it went in,” Wiszneski said.
That 2-1 score stood the rest of the way, and the Indians punched their ticket to the state tournament.
It’s been a long time between trips to states – 12 years to be exact.
“This has been incredible,” Souderton coach Frank DeMas said. “I thought we’d do well this year, but I did not think we would do what we have done.
“I have a great group of kids, we have a good coaching staff, and we have a good community. I keep talking about it, but 40-50 kids came tonight to watch the game. As soon as we scored, you could hear the fans go nuts, and from then on out, we had all this momentum.”
Scoring Summary
First half
Springfield Twp goal
Second half
Tannor Wisneski (S) from Liam Shaw
Tannor Wisneski (S) from AJ Pisoni
Souderton coach Frank DeMas: “We came back from 1-0 to score two goals in an incredible second half performance.
“Springfield was very good and definitely had the better first half play. We struggled to get going, but after some good halftime adjustments, we came out ready to go.
–The goals: “The game-tying goal came off a Cameron Taylor throw-in that Liam Shaw flicked to Tannor Wiszneski for the goal. The game-winning goal was from a great cross from AJ Pisoni, that yet again Tannor Wiszneski scored to win the game.
“A shoutout to our traveling Red Sea and the whole squad. It was a real team effort tonight.”
–Props: “Tannor Wiszneski is unbelievable. He has six goals in three playoff games and three game-winning goals. He’s a great leader. He’s a good kid – everybody looks up to him.
“Danny Brun had a very big game in the back defensively. They were all just really good tonight – the whole team was incredible. From the first guy to the last guy, they did their jobs today.”
Souderton senior Tannor Wiszneski:
–A strong second half: “Us captains – we really just brought the motivation at halftime. We knew we were getting outplayed the whole time in the first half. We said to the seniors, ‘Dude, this could be your last 40 minutes, and do you want it to be?’ They said, ‘No,’ and that really just sparked us. We brought the motivation right from there.”
–Bound for states: “I’ve always had confidence in these boys. Not many people had hope in us going to states, but I always said to the guys – ‘I want to make states’ straight from the beginning. I knew from the work we put in during the summer – I knew we had the team to do it, and this was the year to do it. I knew I was going to step up, and I knew all the other guys would step up.”
–The Red Sea: “It’s amazing. It’s even better that these are your best friends from school, and they get to see you play the sport that you love. It was just so electric – just scoring and then going over to them, it was amazing. I really made the night.”
Next up: Souderton (18-4, 7-3 SOL) will host #9 Phoenixville in Friday’s fifth place game. Springfield Twp closed out its successful season with a SOL Freedom Division title and an overall record of 15-3-3 (8-1-1 SOL).
Souderton 0 2 – 2
Springfield 1 0 – 1
#9 PHOENIXVILLE 3, #12 NESHAMINY 0
The Redskins had plenty of opportunities but could not find the net. They battled the Phantoms to a scoreless halftime tie, but then gave up three second-half goals.
Tuesday’s loss, however, could not detract from a season that saw the Redskins – on the heels of a 3-14 season last year – win 14 games and finish one win short of a trip to the state tournament.
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley on the game: “The score is not indicative of how the play went. The first half we were down in their end the entire half. With maybe five minutes to go in the first half, they had a quick counter, and our goalkeeper, Dan Raivitch, had to make a pretty nice save. A minute later, he had a fairly routine save, and that’s all they did in the first half. We just couldn’t find our way to the net. We had the ball down there, we created turnovers, we just couldn’t score. We were all pleased with how we played. The message was – we have to find the net.
–The second half: “We started off in their end again for the first two minutes (of the second half). They had a counter, and they got a corner kick. It was their first corner kick of the game. The kid hit a big corner – it probably sailed 10-12 yards beyond the far post, and you’re thinking, ‘Okay, that’s out of the danger zone,’ and the next thing you know, it snuck under the bar, and it’s like – how the heck did that go in? So that got them up 1-0.
“I think we were wobbly for five minutes, and then we started applying pressure again. We got a free kick on our side of the field – maybe 15 yards from the mid-stripe. The kicker kind of flubbed it and hit a ground ball right to their team, and they created a 3-on-2 and went to goal and scored. It’s like – ‘oh my gosh, are you kidding me.’
“Even when it got to 2-0, we kept pressuring, we kept pressuring. We had a couple shots that just went wide. One – instead of hitting with our right foot, we tried hitting with our left foot. We couldn’t get on the end of anything. They eventually got a third off a corner. They got two corners on us, and that was the difference. Obviously, the 3-0 score looks flattering to them, but we had a lot of the play. For at the end of the year, we could not find the net for anything. That’s ultimately what cost us – we just couldn’t take care of our chances.”
–The season: “Overall, the season was just a great ride. The coaches are just so proud of the boys. From where they started off last year and finished with three wins, and we finished this year with 14. If you told me that last year that we’d be one win from getting into states, I’d have said, ‘Sign me up.’
–Tribute to seniors: ““The kids were unselfish. We asked some of the kids to play in positions they weren’t normally used to, and they did it without hesitation. I want to thank all the seniors – Brian Birmingham, Shawn Conrad, Matt Diamond, Julian Galloway, McCarthy Gomes, Bryce Hannings, Andrew Kirschner, AJ Kollie, Martin Padilla, Dan Raivitch, Dylan Reheil and Rezi Tebidze.
“Especially senior Matt Diamond. He started the year as a winger and did a really good job up there. We were struggling to find the right person in the back on the right side. He had played there for us before, and we said – do you want to go back there? He did it without hesitation. He was all-world back there too. Special thanks to him because he made all kinds of sacrifices for the team, and he did a yeoman’s job for us the entire year.
“We’re going to miss our seniors, but we have a ton of young kids coming back, so the future’s certainly bright for us.”
Neshaminy closed out its season with a 14-5-3 record overall. The Redskins were 7-2-1 in the SOL.
Neshaminy 0 0 – 0
Phoenixville 0 3 – 3
Class 1A final
#1 CALVARY CHRISTIAN 4, #2 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 3 (OT)
(Additional information will be added when it’s received)
The Lions found themselves on the short end of a 2-0 halftime score in Tuesday’s District 1 1A title game at North Penn High School.
Down but not out, the Lions rallied to knot the score only to see it slip away in overtime.
Next up: New Hope-Solebury (13-7, 6-4 SOL) will be back in action in the PIAA 1A Tournament.
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