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By Alex Frazier
Defense, defense, defense.
In a game for first place in the Continental Conference, Pennridge and Souderton played to a scoreless tie.
And neither team was particularly displeased with the result.
“It would have been nice to have finished in regulation when we had our opportunities,” said Pennridge coach Peter Valimont, “but I’ll take a tie and we’ll take the point and move on.”
For the Big Red, a tie against the league leader showed how far they’ve come since last year.
“It was good,” said senior midfielder Chris McConaghy. “They’re a solid team. I was expecting a win, though, because we played really hard. I thought we outplayed them. It was a good result though.”
The Rams were coming off a 4-1 win over Upper Dublin the night before, their third straight win, and were facing a vastly improved Souderton squad that, along with North Penn, trailed them by just two points.“I was pretty overall happy with it,” said Pennridge striker Kevin Bailey, who was held to no shots by a tough Souderton defense.
“They seemed to double up pretty fast,” he said. “It was hard for me to lay off the ball or do anything with it really.”
Bailey, who has scored five goals this year, receives a lot of attention from opposing defenses.
“It’s been a tough year overall for that,” he said. “They’ve got my number out there.”
Souderton certainly did. The Indians built their game plan around shutting him down.
“Our strategy was basically to keep Bailey out of the picture,” said McConaghy. “We man marked him wherever he went. He’s a solid player. We worried about him breaking free.”
McConaghy missed the first few games of the season after tearing ligaments in his ankle in preseason. Dan Meuleners replaced him in the midfield, but once he returned four games ago, Meuleners dropped back to central defender, which has shored up the defense immensely. Meuleners and Gary Guldin were impenetrable in the center.
“Our defense played phenomenal tonight,” said McConaghy.
Early in the second half, Guldin broke up a fastbreak by the Rams’ Michael Gaito. And late in the second overtime Trevor Bishop made a great stop on Tyler Hockman to preserve the tie.
Souderton keeper Dave Giannini also had a good night to earn the shutout. His best save came in the second half when a great combination play from Alex Stear to Gaito produced a one-on-one with Giannini, who stood tall and made the save.
Pennridge’s defense also rose to the occasion, thwarting a number of good Souderton chances.
“We had a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t capitalize,” said McConaghy. “I don’t know what the problem was. I was included.”
“The guys in the back did a heck of a job,” said Valimont. “To have a shutout in two overtimes and in back-to-back games is outstanding.”
Valimont had praise for backup keeper Aaron Raspinski, who came in when the starter broke his hand against Lower Merion.
He made several good saves, his best, perhaps, when he stopped Alec Jachwak’s dangerous shot from the right in the first overtime. He also came up with the ball on Derek Radcliff’s header in a melee in front of the goal in the second half. “He‘s played really well and made smart decisions,” said the coach.
Giving Raspinski plenty of help was his brother Jake, who moved from up top to sweeper to solidify the defense.
“He’s playing anywhere and everywhere for us,” said Valimont. “He’s doing a great job.”
Souderton has already equaled all its wins from last season and is right in the thick of a tight run for the conference title.
“This year we could flip our record,” said McConaghy. “We’re a solid team and we proved that tonight by tying Pennridge.”
While the tie kept Pennridge two points ahead of Souderton, it also allowed North Penn, which defeated Central Bucks South 3-0, to tie the Rams for the conference lead.
Friday the two teams will go at it head-to-head to break the deadlock.
“They’re always a tricky team,” said Bailey. “We’re going to have to come out ready to play for that one.”
Souderton (3-1-2) 0, Pennridge (4-1-1) 0
Shots: Souderton 10, Pennridge 6
Saves: Dave Giannini (S) 5, Aaron Raspsinski (P) 8
Corners: Souderton 4, Pennridge 2
Fouls: Souderton 14, Pennridge 13
Yellow Cards: Tyler Henry (P)
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