Abington & Wissahickon were winners in Saturday’s District 1 4A quarterfinal action. Check out the Kwik Goal recaps.
#5 Abington 2, #13 Neshaminy 1
They have a bullseye on their back – something that goes with the territory after winning the 2025 PIAA 4A championship.
On Saturday, the stakes were decidedly high when Abington hosted a Neshaminy squad that had not lost since a 1-0 setback to Council Rock South on Sept. 14.
Win and advance to Tuesday’s District 1 4A semifinal and earn a coveted state berth. Lose and battle three other teams for one final playoff berth.
“We definitely felt the pressure because when we went up against Upper Perkiomen and Spring-Ford, we played so well against both those teams,” Abington coach Isaac Pitkow said. “In the first half, we came out so hot, attacking them and putting tons of pressure on them.
“We felt like we had to try to do the same thing today, and it was 20 minutes into the game and we hadn’t scored. We weren’t creating quite as much. All of a sudden, we were feeling like this was going to be a much tougher game.”
It was tougher, but the result was the same – the Ghosts earned the important win, and it was Jaza Vasquez scoring the game-winner on a penalty kick late in the game.
“It was a great game,” Pitkow said. “We were just talking about the history and all the previous years that we played Neshaminy when we used to be in the same league.
“It’s been a very good rivalry for a long time. It was cool to see the new era where we’re the favorite now this year. In many years past, they’ve been the favorite.
“It was an awesome game, start to finish. They played us really tough. We definitely feel like we were deserving, but we’re fortunate to get the win. We’re very happy.”
Scoring Summary
First half –
No score
Second half –
Sam Arruda from Jaza Vasquez (A)
Brody Collins PK (N)
Jaza Vasquez PK (A)
Abington coach Isaac Pitkow:
–The game: “It was 0-0 at halftime, and very shortly into the second half, we had Sam (Arruda) score again. Jazza took the ball in from the left wing, cut in on his right foot and shot. It was deflected over a defender’s head and landed at Sam’s feet. He crashed the net and scored. It was definitely created by Jazza, and then Sam scored.
“We gave up a penalty on a handball in the box. It was a controversial call that obviously we feel wasn’t a penalty, but Neshaminy felt was a penalty, and that made it 1-1.
“It was 1-1 for probably about 10 minutes before we got the second goal. We got a penalty. Jazza got brought down in the box, and we really felt like that one definitely was a penalty. Jazza scored, so that was the winning goal.”
–Props “Jazza created the first goal and then got brought down and finished the penalty. It was a huge, huge performance from him to deliver in that big moment, and Sam scored another big goal.”
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley:
–The game: “The first half, I thought we were a little tentative and trying to get used to the grass field, which they’d played a football game on, and it wasn’t in the best condition. Plus, they’ve got some guys that are a real handful, so we gave up a few more dangerous opportunities than I would like in the first half, but we managed to keep them off the scoreboard.
“The second half, I thought we did a better job of limiting the dangerous opportunities they had. They scored first. We gave Jaza Vazquez a little bit too much space. He put a ball into the box, it kind of hopped, and our guy fanned on it. It went right to their guy, and it was an easy goal for them. That was probably their least dangerous opportunity that we gave up, but they got a goal on it anyway. I think it woke us up a little bit.
“We started playing a little bit better, and we started playing in their end a little, and we got a PK. It was about the 60thminute or so, and Brody Collins hit that in. Probably five minutes later, we traded PKs. The only questionable part – it was a foul, but whether it was inside or outside the 18, they decided it was inside the 18. So (Vazquez) hit that one too, and he buried it.
“For the last 14 minutes or so, we applied a lot of pressure. We just couldn’t get the equalizer. So, overall, I thought we were tentative in the first half. The second half we got it together. We just couldn’t get that second goal to equalize the game.”
–Props: “Props to Jayson Morris. He played an outstanding game, most physical, won 50/50 balls and got balls to our guys so we could get forward, so kudos to him.”
Up next: Abington will face top-seeded Lower Merion in a District 1 4A semifinal game on Tuesday. Neshaminy – one of four teams battling for the fifth and final state tournament berth – will travel to West Chester Henderson for a playback game Tuesday (6pm).
Neshaminy 0 1 – 1
Abington 0 2 – 2
#6 Wissahickon 2, #3 Avon Grove 1 (OT)
Nolan Reilly’s header at the end of a Tyler Philip throw-in eight minutes into overtime propelled the visiting Trojans to the dramatic 2-1 win. It was Reilly’s second goal of the night
The win not only propelled the Trojans into Tuesday’s District 1 4A semifinal where they will face Conestoga, it also punched the team’s ticket to the state tournament. It is the program’s first trip to states since 2014.
“It was pretty exciting, and it wasn’t lost on them,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. “The first thing, when they were running across the field, all the chatter was, ‘We made states.’
“It wasn’t that we’re now in the district semifinals. It was, ‘We’re in states. We made states.’ It’s exciting for the program to be in this position.”
Saturday’s road win over the third-seeded Red Devils was the Trojans’ third 2-1 win in as many postseason games – two of them in overtime, and they once again came from behind, rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to knot the score and then winning it in OT.
They also withstood the loss of a starter who was unable to make Saturday’s game.
“At halftime, I said – we’re not a team that’s not come from behind, so it’s not like it was a new situation,” Malcolm said. “We just have to recognize we have the capability of getting back into this game. It’s going to take us one opportunity, finishing it, and we’re right back in it, so credit to them, it’s what they’ve been doing.”
“As I said to the players today when we had to make that change, this time last week we were fully healthy. We’ve had to overcome a few people being out, and we got through it all. If we get any of them back, it’ll be a bonus. We’ll just keep moving on.”
Wissahickon will face second-seeded Conestoga in Tuesday’s district semifinal.
“Conestoga – you know how good they are. It’s a tall order,” Malcolm said. “We’ve been in the semifinals three times. We’ve never actually made a final.
“These are the goals. One is we’ve never played in a district final, and two, we’ve never won a state game. Now they’ve got two opportunities to make history, at least for the high school boys’ soccer program.”
Scoring summary:
First half –
AG goal
Second half
Nolan Reilly from Luke Frankenfield (W)
Overtime
Nolan Reilly from Tyler Philip (W)
Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm:
–The first half: “We started off pretty well. We figured we’d try to disrupt as much as we could and make things difficult for them because we knew they were a good passing team.
“We did a decent job with it, and then we got away from it a little bit, and they got more of a foothold in the game They scored with five minutes to go in the half. They had about three corners in a row, and they were very good on their set pieces. They had three different set pieces, one corner after another, and on the third one, their number nine got a flick header over our goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
“The last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half, we were trying to get to halftime so we could sit down and explain to the players what had been going well for us in the first part of the half and how it was slipping away toward the end.”
–The second half: “We came out in the second half, and to be perfectly honest, the other team started to do a better job. Territorially, they were doing a better job, and with about 20 minutes to go, we started making some changes to see if we could get a little more of an offensive presence. We got a little bit more, but not as much as we would have liked.
“With three minutes to go, we got a corner, and Luke Frankfield put in a great ball. Nolan Reilly got on the end of it and tied it all up.”
–Golden goal: “We came out and did reasonably well. Unfortunately, our central defender got a yellow card, which meant we had to do some more shuffling around. We had a couple of long throws in overtime, and on the third attempt, Tyler Phillip threw it into the box, and Nolan Reilly made a nice header on it again and put it over the keeper and in. The bench emptied, and we were happy.”
–McGoldrick steps in and contributes: “We had a last-minute change. We had a guy (Kellen McGoldrick) who hadn’t played a minute of varsity soccer play 89 minutes today.
“He’d done well for the JV team, but he hadn’t stepped on a varsity field. He did an awesome job for us considering the importance of the game and not really practicing much with us at all. It was a very last-minute thing because a player couldn’t make the game, so we had to make some changes.
“We didn’t want to move too many players all over the place to compensate. We looked to see who would feel most comfortable playing that position. Through practice yesterday and on the bus ride, we came to the conclusion that we were going to play Kellen in the defensive position, and he did great.”
Defensive props: “Braden (Dehner) and Luca (Sinopoli) did a great job again. We just battled. We tried to limit their ability to do what they wanted to do and see if they had a Plan B. Fortunately for us, we limited the opportunities they were able to get.”
Up next: Wissahickon will travel to #2 Conestoga in a District 1 4A semifinal game on Tuesday (4:30pm).
Wissahickon 0-1-1 2
Avon Grove 1-0-0 1
#2 Conestoga 4, #7 Pennsbury 1
Conestoga earned the District 1 4A Tournament’s second seed by merit of its 14-0-3 regular season record. The perennial soccer power looked every bit the part of the second seed, opening up a 3-1 halftime on the way to the win.
Ajnur Curevac (Olex Hontary assist) accounted for Pennsbury’s only goal that knotted the score after Dylan Grilley, who had a pair of goals and an assist, scored the game’s first goal in the seventh minute.
Conestoga took a 3-1 lead into halftime on their way to the win in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
Scoring summary
First half –
Dylan Grilley (C) 7th minute
Ajnur Curevac from Olex Hontary (P) 10th minute
Ben Frischmann from Dylan Grilley (C) 27th minute
Hayes Cooney (C) 29th minute
Second half –
Dylan Grilley (C)
Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart:
–The game: “Unfortunately, we had an early turnover at the seven-minute mark, and they played a quick counter attack converted by their number 1 (Dylan Grilley). We equalized three minutes later on a corner kick with Ajnur Curevac finishing from Olex Hontar. We had two very good chances shortly after. Number 1 (Grilley) got us again on a quick counter, this time with a cross to number 26 (Ben Frischmann). We defended the play well but well executed by Stoga in the 27th minute. Two minutes later, number 10 (Hayes Cooney) caught James Purdum off his line and finished a ball from midfield.
“As great teams do, they did not let us find a way back with a second goal by number one (Grilley) from the top of our box off an underplayed clearance during a defensive corner.
“Fortunately, we can learn from this game and move into next week fresh to attempt to win a four-team tournament for a trip to States.”
Up next: Pennsbury will travel to #3 Avon Grove for a playback game on Tuesday (7pm).
Pennsbury 1 0 – 1
Conestoga 3 1 – 4
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