By Alex Frazier
Defense, defense – Seven games, five shutouts. No wonder Wissahickon is 7-0-1, which includes impressive wins over Pennridge and Souderton.Spearheading the Trojans’ defense is senior sweeper Olu Amudipe.
“He’s been the mainstay in the defense,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm.
Senior defender Jordan Freed played with Amudipe back in third grade.
“He was just as good back then,” said Freed. “He’s incredible in the back.”
Amudipe has scored one goal this year.
To his left is Stefan Dasbach, a versatile player, who has seen action at almost every position on the field except keeper. Last year he finished the season at striker. He’s already had to fill in for Amudipe when he was injured.
“He’s very aware of how the game should be played,” said Malcolm. “He’s a great player to have because he’s interested in whatever he can do for the team. That’s what is important.”
He also likes playing defense, especially since he’s been given the green light to go forward.
“That’s been good for us,” said Malcolm.
Freed roams the right side of the field. He sat on the bench for most of last year but is now making the best of his varsity time.
“Working with the varsity guys in practice and getting tips from both coaches really got me ready for this year, when I can contribute to the team,” he said. “I knew my time would come this year.”
Something else Freed did that he had never done before that helped prepare him for the season was to run over the summer.
“That’s why we won the Pennridge game,” he said. “We were in better shape, me especially because I knew I had to be in the best shape so I could work on soccer stuff.”
“He’s really been a pleasant surprise,” said Malcolm. “He’s done pretty well at containing whoever he’s come up against. Positionally he’s put himself where he needs to be.”
Although he played some midfield when he was younger, Freed has primarily been a defender.
“I like playing defense,” he said. “You know your role. You stop the opposing player.”
Freed not only excels at soccer, but he is also a member of the Trojans’ basketball team.
He was on the varsity team last year, playing guard and small forward. Naturally, he was a defensive specialist.
With all his dedication to sports, his academics don’t suffer at all. He takes five advanced placement courses and was named a National Merit Scholar semifinalist. He plans on majoring in business.
Dasbach and Freed both have one assist so far this year.
With the switch from a flat-back four to a stopper/sweeper setup, James Annobil moved into the stopper spot in front of Amudipe. He’s added some size to the back line.
“He can step up and make tackles that some other players can’t because of his size,” said goalie Erik Riefenstahl. “And he can get up and win head balls on corners and long throw-ins. He’s stepped up a lot in the last couple of years.”
Annobil hails from London and arrived at Wissahickon as junior.
Like Freed, Riefenstahl didn’t see much action last year. He started as a sophomore, but two weeks before preseason of his junior year, he broke his ankle playing football with a group of camp counselors.
“It was a bit of a disappointment,” he said. “It was just carelessness.”
He came back toward the middle of the season, but by that time he lost his job to a senior. He did see some time late in the season.
“It was one of those tough situations for the coaches,” said Malcolm. “He handled it very well.
“He’s been itching to get back in. This is his year, and he’s started off really well for us.”
“I understood,” said Riefenstahl, who came to Wissahickon from Lancaster in seventh grade. He had previously played for the Hempfield Soccer Club.
Riefenstahl was particularly motivated to get back this year, not only because of the missed time as a junior, but also because he knew the team would be even better.
“I knew we’d have a solid team,” he said. “We have more depth in our lineup than we had in a couple of years.”
Riefenstahl has been playing goalie ever since he started back in intramural league.
“It stuck out at me as a different position to play,” he said. “I like pressure situations. I perform better. As a goalie, you’re the last line of defense. If you make a mistake, it’s a goal, but if you make the save, you’re a hero.”
Riefenstahl has 41 saves to his credit, a .59 goals against average.
Three of the four defenders are seniors (Dasbach being the only exception).
Riefenstahl thinks that’s a positive.
“We all see each other throughout school and lunches,” he said. “You get that higher team chemistry.”
“It’s taken a few games to get it sorted out, but we think this might be the best set at moving forward,” said Malcolm. “They know what their roles are, and if they do their roles, they’re going to make it difficult for teams.”
So far so good.
The Trojans could well run the table in the conference, but they still face some stiff non-league competition from state co-champion Father Judge.
“We’re pumped for that game,” said Freed.
Wissahickon closes the season with another big test—Neshaminy.
“It will keep us on our toes and get us ready for playoffs,” said Riefenstahl. “It will be a good eye-opener to what the competition level is going to be moving forward from there.”
100 wins – Congratulations to Council Rock South coach Alan Nicholl, who recorded his 100th win on Sept. 16 in a 2-1 victory over William Tennent.
“I was making a joke that if you stay at it long enough, it’s bound to happen,” said Nicholl, who has been Council Rock South’s only coach since the school formed in 2002, when the school district split into two schools.
“It’s nice for the program to hit the century mark,” he said. “It’s nice to get the notoriety for the guys.”
Nicholl had an inkling that he would get his 100th this year.
“At the end of the year I do stats,” he said. “I just happened to total the wins and saw I had 95 wins coming into the season.”
But little did ne expect to get his 100th just five games into the season.
Including Saturday’s win over Council Rock North, Nicholl is at 103 and counting.
What pleases Nicholl more than his 100th win is the fact that former players are returning to give back to the program. Scott Rolen (’04) played for him all four years and was an All-American. After graduating from New Hampshire, he returned to be his assistant.
“He was part of the 100 wins,” said Nicholl. “It’s nice for him to be back in the program and experience it in a coaching capacity.”
Nicholl’s 100th win, ironically enough, coincided with his 35th birthday.
“The stars must have been aligned,” he said. “The kids knew it was my birthday, and they also knew it was potentially the program’s 100th win. There was a lot of positive emotion and they were excited for me. We have a great relationship. It’s a tribute to the kind of kids we have in the program. I’m flattered by their investment. That’s why we’re having so much success.”
When is a game a game? – Wednesday marked the first day of the fall season where weather played a role in postponements. Some games were postponed and some ended early with a winner.
In a girls’ game at William Tennent, the Panthers led Harry S Truman 5-0 at the half. When both teams were about to step on the field to begin the second half, lightning struck and the officials eventually suspended the game. At first Tennent coach John McOwen was told that the second half had to begin to be considered an official game. Later, however, he discovered this was incorrect.
The PIAA rule is as follows:
If a match is suspended for any reason the restart as adopted by PIAA is as follows: Re-start at the point of suspension if less than one half is played. If one half or more than one-half is played and a winner is determined, it is an official game and the result stands. If a winner cannot be determined, the game is resumed from the point of suspension. If more than one-half is played and the match is tied, the schools by mutual agreement can decide to call the game a tie, but that decision is left to the schools to decide.
Around the league –
Friday and Saturday’s results:
Erhan Selvi scored in the second overtime to give Council Rock South a 2-1 win over CR North.
Upper Moreland notched a huge 3-2 win in double overtime over Upper Dublin. The Golden Bears – thanks to goals by Tommy Hayes and Menevekah Daramay – opened up a 2-0 lead only to watch the Flying Cardinals knot the score, thanks to goals by Mike Connelly and Brian Schaefer. Carl Warribold scored the game winner with three minutes remaining in the second OT. Uppre Moreland goalie Tim Uvegas had seven saves while Parker Schroeder turned away four shots for Upper Moreland.
"It's a huge win any time a 2A school like us beats us 3A school," coach Jack Knause said. "Upper Dublin is coached great, they have a great team. For us to hang in there and hang with them is a major, major accomplishment for us.
"I'm very pleased for our guys. They all played well."
Neshaminy defeated William Tennent 2-0 in a key National Conference battle.
Ryan Smith, Sean Canepa and Chris Russomano each scored a goal in Hatboro-Horsham’s 3-1 win over Central Bucks West.
North Penn took a 1-0 lead into the intermission, thanks to a Mike McGuire goal (Matt Ross assist). The Knights scored three goals in the second half, including back-to-back goals by Matt Robinson with assists from McGuire and Ross as well as a penalty stroke by Nick Durknitt. The Panthers scored a pair of late goals.
Central Bucks East received goals from Robert Salvo and Eric Vare (Miguel Diaz and Ken Haug assists) while CB South received a goal from Mike Serban in the Patriots’ 2-1 win.
Pennridge handed Souderton its first loss of the SOL season with a 3-0 win.
In other action, Abington defeated Bensalem 6-1, Cheltenham downed Norristown 3-0, Wissahickon defeated Upper Merion 7-0, Plymouth Whitemarsh upended Chichester 7-1, and Harry S. Truman earned a 3-1 win over Glen Mills.
Wednesday’s results
In a key National Conference game, Pennsbury and Council Rock North battled to a 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile, Abington had two goals disallowed in the last 20 minutes of play, one on offsides, the other on an obstruction call, and lost to Council Rock South 2-1.
Rock’s first goal came on an Abington own-goal. Erhan Selvi scored the game winner.
“They are a tough team to beat at their place,” said South coach Alan Nicholl. “I was impressed with our progress today. They didn’t let things get out of hand.”
• The Souderton boys soccer team defeated Quakertown 5-0. Lasana Dukuly scored two goals, while John Atiyeh, Trevor Bishop and Luke Hartzell each scored a goal for the Indians. Ryan Molyneaux had four assists. Tyler Afflerbach and Adam Strogis combined to earn the shutout.
Curtis Washburn scored two and a half minutes into the second overtime on an assist from Michael Robinson to lift North Penn past C.B. South, 2-0.
Drew Lightfoot tallied the first goal for North Penn in the 28th minute of the second half to knot the score at one.
“We’re finding ways to win,” said NP coach Paul Duddy. “It was a very well-played, hard-fought game.”
It was a good time for Shane Donovan’s return to the lineup. After missing the first month of the season with a fractured hip, Donovan returned to the net for Central Bucks East and recorded his first shutout of the year, 1-0, against archrival C.B. West.
After a scoreless regulation, Ben Marks scored the game winner four and a half minutes into overtime on an assist from Michael Gleason.
Wissahickon handed Upper Moreland its first league loss, 5-0.Carl Wambold performed brilliantly for UM and Tim Uvegas and Kyle Lynch kept the Bears fighting hard the entire 90 minutes, but the Trojans proved to be too much as UM moved to 3-1 in the regular season.
Cheltenham notched its second win in a row against a slumping PW team, but not without a fight. David Goldberg got Cheltenham off to a great start by scoring his first goal of the season early in the first half. Although Cheltenham seemed to control play from there on, the Colonials certainly had their chances.
• Last Thursday, Ben Marks hit the net with two minutes left to give Central Bucks East a 1-0 win over Hatboro-Horsham. Ryan Lower, Jimy Martinez and Nick Nikic tallied to give Wissahickon a 3-0 win against Norristown.
Erhan Selvi’s goal with two minutes left gave Council Rock South a 2-1 over William Tennent.
In Sept. 6’s league openers, Abington notched a big early win over Neshaminy, 1-0, thanks to a goal from Kyle Rocks with 3:56 left, and Council Rock North nipped William Tennent 2-1 on a goal by Dalton Andrusko.
North Penn’s Eric Wang scored the equalizer against Central Bucks East in a 1-1 deadlock. Lee Sandquist scored for the Patriots.
Non-league pre-season
Javier Puga hit the net with nine minutes remaining to lift Wissahickon to a 1-0 win over Souderton.
Council Rock North junior midfielder Dalton Andrucko scored with three minutes remaining in the second overtime to give the Indians a 1-0 win over Cheltenham.
Central Bucks South hammered West Chester East 7-0.
Jon Baez’s first half goal was enough to give Upper Moreland a 2-1 lead en route to a 5-1 win over Phoenixville.
Kudos to… Harry S Truman keeper Eric Gutierrez who faced 30 shots over two games and only allowed just two goals in the season’s opening week.
• Souderton sophomore goalkeeper Ty Afflerbach, who shut out Abington in his debut.
• Pennridge’s Cody Zickler scored the first goal in a 2-0 win over Upper Dublin and then the winning goal in overtime to beat Council Rock North 2-1.
“Cody displays a high work rate on the field and a ‘never quit’ attitude that is infectious to his teammates,” said coach Pete Valimont.
SOL Top 5
1. Council Rock South
2. Pennsbury
3. Council Rock North
4. Central Bucks East
5. Wissahickon
Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Poll
(through Sunday)
1. LaSalle 5-0-1
2. Pennsbury 4-0-0
3. Father Judge 5-0-0
4. Council Rock South 4-0-4
5. West Chester Rustin 3-1-1
6. Downingtown East 4-0-2
7. Strath Haven 4-1-0
8. Wissahickon 5-0-1
9. Conestoga 4-1-0
10. St. Joe’s Prep 6-0-1
11. Unionville 4-1-0
12. Lower Merion 3-1-0
13. Holy Ghost Prep 5-1-0
14. Souderton 2-1-1
15. Abington 2-1-1
16. Pottsgrove 5-1-0
17. Kennett 7-0-0
18. Archbishop Ryan 5-2-0
19. Haverford School 2-1-1
20. Council Rock North 2-1-1
Others receiving votes (in order): Great valley, North Penn, Downingtown West, Upper Darby, Shipley, Pennridge, Germantown Academy, Christopher Dock, Haverford High, Octorara, Archbishop Wood
Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Poll
(Sept.19)
1. Father Judge (12)
2. LaSalle (12)
3. Hempfield (3)
4. Upper St. Clair (7)
5. Mechanicsburg (3)
6. Pennsbury (1)
7. Warwick (3)
8. State College (6)
9. Emmaus (11)
10. Mt. Lebanon (7)
Honorable mention: Central Dauphin (3), Conestoga (1), Council Rock South (1), Cumberland Valley (11), Easton (11), Exeter (11), Unionville (1), West Chester Rustin (1).
National Soccer Coaches Association Region III Poll
(Sept. 21)
NSCAA Region III Poll
(Sept. 7)
Rank Team Record
1. Seton Hall Prep (NJ) 4-0-0
2. Father Judge 5-0-0
3. Pennington School (NJ) 3-0-0
4. LaSalle 5-0-1
5. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 2-0-0
6. St. Benedict’s (NJ) 4-1-0
7. Warwick (Lititz, Pa.) 7-0-0
8. Pingry School (NJ) 2-0-0
9. Hempfield 5-0-0
10. Upper St. Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 5-0-1
11. Mechanicsburg (Pa.) 7-0-0
12. Pennsbury 3-0-0
13. Mt. Lebanon 4-1-2
14. West Orange (NJ) 2-0-0
15. State College (Pa.) 6-0-0
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