By Alex Frazier
Welcome to another soccer season. I look forward to renewing my acquaintances with coaches, players and parents.
As in the past, I plan to do a feature on a player and team each week and update action around the league. If anyone out there has any good story ideas or breaking news stories, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I also like to recognize players who have made college decisions, so keep me informed as they happen.
In this first notebook, I will give you some insight into how the three conferences may shape up as well as lay my soul bare with my final league predictions. This usually turns out to be an embarrassing exercise in futility. But it may be good for a few chuckles.
So let’s get it going…
Spotlight on…Steve Neumann
With Jake Fields sidelined for perhaps the first half of the season, the pressure will fall to Council Rock North senior Steve Neumann.
But he’s not worried.
Nor should he be.
He’s more than capable of carrying the team.
A six-foot center midfielder, Neumann can make things happen.
“When the game is on the line, he seems to play his best,” said North coach Wendell Beres. “He’s dangerous from anywhere in scoring goals, but he’s also a threat to make that finishing pass for a teammate to finish as well. He’s a jack-of-all-trades. There’s not a thing in his game that he does wrong. His sense of composure in the attack becomes contagious.”
Neumann has been playing soccer at a high level for most of his life. He started at four with the YMS Explosion and stayed with the team ever since. In fact, he and Fields are teammates on the Explosion.
“It’s a great community and great atmosphere and great coaches on our team,” said Neumann.
The Explosion made the state finals four years and took home the cup twice. For the first time this year, YMS won regionals and went to Nationals for the second time. This year the Explosion improved on its 0-2-1 record of a year ago by going 1-1-1.
Neumann figures he has two more chances at a national title.
After playing in a Disney Showcase this year, he was among 18 players chosen for an expense-paid trip to London to train at Chelsea Academy.
The group trained in Orlando before embarking to England.
There, he and his teammates played four games against Southampton, Crystal Palace, Chelsea and the U-18 Ghana National Team, which Neumann said was the best team he had ever competed against.
“It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “It was the trip of a lifetime.”
Naturally, he learned a lot from his London excursion.
“Over there, training is just as important as the game,” he noted. “Training is very high tempo. Everything’s done quickly and fast. We trained just like we did in a game. That was great to bring back.”
Aside from playing, Neumann and his teammates toured some English stadiums, including the renowned Wembley.
“It was great to get a feel how passionate they are about soccer,” he said. “It’s amazing how big it is over there.”
His experience in England would alone qualify Neumann to be a leader and go-to player for the Indians.
“His experience in the big games is certainly going to help,” said Beres.
As a side note, Steve’s younger brother Alec, who is freshman, also made the team and will be playing in the midfield with his older brother, filling in for Fields until he returns.
But there’s more to Neumann than just playing experience.
Skill is one thing, but other intangibles like effort and dedication are equally important.
“He’s a good kid and certainly has a very high work rate,” said Beres. “Most teams we play against will key in on him, which will make his job a whole lot harder.”
After returning from England late on Sunday night, he shrugged off weariness and jet lag to show up at 7 a.m. Monday morning at Council Rock for fitness testing.
“He set the bar higher than I could ever have imagined from a senior captain,” said Beres. “He still blew everybody away on our two-mile run. Every time we step on the field, he demands nothing but the best from everybody around him.”
“I definitely wanted to set the standard for the team,” said Neumann.
Next year Neumann will be attending Georgetown University on a partial scholarship, where he will major in business or engineering.
He also considered Providence, George Washington and some ACC schools.
“Definitely the academics were very important,” he said. “The athletics basically speak for themselves. I visited the school a few times and loved the campus. The soccer side of it should be great and it will be fun to see what I can do there.”
He would sure like to go out as a league champion.
“We’re definitely working really hard this preseason,” said Neumann. “We want to get as focused as we can for the season. We want to do as good as we can for each other. It’s good to see everyone coming together.”
Welcome new coaches – Each year I like to recognize the new coaches in the SOL and wish them success. This year there are five of them. Best of luck coaches.
Joe Leone, Bensalem
Joe Leone has been coaching soccer for 10 years, but this will be his first as a head coach.
Leone played four years for Bensalem. From 2001-04 he returned to his alma mater to coach the jayvees, which compiled one of the best records in Owl history.
In 2005 he was the assistant coach at Daniel Boone High School. That year the team made the playoffs for the first time in17 years.
He’s also coached numerous club programs like Parkland, Amity AC and others in Bucks County.
This year he hopes “to get the most out of each player and establish a strong concept and to solidify the entire program from middle school through to the varsity as well as produce high quality student-athletes who are positive and adhere to good sportsmanship concepts.”
In addition, “My expectations are to be a strongly competitive team capable of producing playoff quality teams on a consistent basis.”
Kyle McGrath, Hatboro-Horsham
After coaching jayvee for the past two years under Ben Winderman, who is on sabbatical this year, Kyle McGath has moved up to the head spot this year.
He also coaches the U-16 Ukrainian National Force at the Ukrainian club in Horsham. In the past he trained several teams at the Horsham Soccer Club.
He played his collegiate ball from 2003-06 at York College where he won two conference titles and reached the Division III NCAA tournament twice.
McGrath is excited to take the reins from Winderman.
“I've gotten to know the players well over the last year and I'm excited for the challenges that lie ahead,” he said. “We will have a young group of boys at HH and look to improve as the season moves along. I'm sure the league will once again be challenging, and my goal for the team is to be competitive throughout the whole season. Ultimately we want to be playing our best soccer at the end of the year.”
Marc Benson, Quakertown
After spending the past four years as the assistant varsity coach under Scott Didyoung at Boyertown High School, Marc Benson will be embark on his first year as a varsity coach.
Benson was a four-year starter at Boyertown and Kutztown University, where he was a two-year captain and regional All-American. He played five years with the Reading Rage, where he had the most starts and minutes over the last five years.
As a coach he has been active on many levels. He volunteers time at a local sports dome to teach and ref futsal during the winter months. He’s also coached various area club teams, most recently the Rage SC U-14 Super Y team.
Benson is looking forward to his first season as head coach and knows he has a big job ahead.
“I'm excited to finally be given this opportunity to be a head coach,” he said. “From what I heard over the years Suburban One is an extremely competitive league with a lot of great coaches and big schools, so I'm looking forward to the test for me and my players.
“After having a look at last year’s record, we can only get better but having met with the boys a few times I don't believe the record necessarily shows what we have at Quakertown. We are optimistic but the boys and I are very aware of the hard work ahead of us and we’re eager to get started.”
Dave Jones, William Tennent
Dave Jones is also a first-year varsity coach.
He has been an assistant at Tennent since 1992, and graduated from the school in 1987, so he is no stranger to the program.
As a senior, he was Regional All-American, All-State and First Team District I as well as the Suburban One National Division MVP.
In college he played four years at Temple University with former Tennent head coach Scott Rieber.
Growing up, he played youth ball at Warminster Soccer Club and for VE from 1987 until 2007.
He is currently a teacher at the Klinger and Log College Middle Schools in the Centennial School District.
Tom Stoddart, Pennsbury
Stoddart has been an assistant girls coach at Pennsbury from 1999-2006 and has coached various levels in the boys program from 1998-2005. He graduated from Pennsbury in 1991.
On the academic side, Stoddart was the 2005 Pennsylvania Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
His goals for the year?
“I want to make an immediate impact and lead the Pennsbury Soccer Program into the state tournament,” he said.
Conference previews
National Conference
Pennsbury returns six all-league players from last year’s championship team, led by Eddie Adams and Jim Ockford. The Falcons head into the season ranked No. 1 in the state by ESPN. Stanford-bound Drew Hutchins, who has played on the field the last two years, will return to the goal, making it that much more difficult for opposing teams to score. After getting knocked out of the district playoffs in the semifinals the past two years, the Falcons are ready to soar.
Council Rock North has the potential to challenge Pennsbury this year. The Indians have only two returning all-leaguers, headlined by Jake Fields and Steve Neumann. Fields, unfortunately, will be late to start. He was just recently cleared to run again after tearing his PCL last March. It may be five to six weeks again until he can play.
However, coach Wendell Beres is confident that with 16 seniors on the team he can make do until he returns.
“I change our formation a bit when he’s on the field, but when he’s not we can be just as effective but in different ways,” said Beres.
Abington, which finished second last year, has one of the best goalies in the league in Sam Matthews, a four-year starter in the net. Coach Randy Garber also has high regard for Jidell Roach, who may be the most technical player in the conference. As usual, the Ghosts can be expected to be in the mix at the top of the conference.
Neshaminy coach Rich Reice is pleased with what he’s seen so far in the preseason. Though he only has two starters returning, his jayvees have been very successful and he expects the Redskins to be competitive once again.
William Tennent lost several good players to graduation, including league MVP Jeff Pio, but the Panthers do return three all-leaguers in Justin Massaro (second team), Jim Raciti (third team) and Kyle McDonald (honorable mention).
Council Rock South is a dangerous team. On any given day, the Golden Hawks could knock off any team. They return a veteran lineup, including second team selection Zach Orenstein as well seniors Dan Murphy, Dan Maten, Jon Rosenbaum, Jack Littleton, Zach Ornstein, Tim James and Scott Dion.
Under new coach Joe Leone, Bensalem hopes to find some consistency and begin to challenge some of the top teams in the conference. The Owls will rely on seniors Kederick Kiaw (D), Sam Lee (M), Ryan Rispo (M), Adam Carberry (G), Shane Anzovski (D), Dane Phillips (D) and Tom Carroll (M) to begin that process.
After winning just one game last season, Harry S Truman hopes to take advantage of the experience sophomores Alex Rojas (M) and Mike Camacho (M) gained last year. Rojas is Truman’s lone all-league returner.
Continental Conference
Pennridge appears to be the team with the inside track. The Rams return leading scorer junior Kevin Bailey, as well as two other all-league players, midfielder Dan Caya (third team) and forward Jake Rapinski (third team).
As for the rest of the field, it could be anybody’s guess.
Central Bucks East returns only three players from the outstanding teams of the past two years—seniors Ryan Apt (M) Fran Miller (F) and Dan Christiansen (M). And there are several others who have playoff experience. But those who know veteran coach Mike Gorni know that his teams will always be competitive. Don’t count the Patriots out.
Central Bucks South lost some good players, including Michael Lambing, to graduation but return a good bunch of jayvees and freshmen. The Titans return two all-leaguers in midfielder Jack Turchick and junior defender Ricky Pieri. Seniors Jeff Reinhart Zach Snavely, Christian Rosero, Tom Stackhouse and goalie Eric Cohen will keep the Titans in the mix.
With 10 of 11 starters returning, Souderton should be much improved this year after an atypical season last year that featured numerous close losses, including two overtime defeats to league champion C.B. East.
Though the Indians will have a sophomore Dave Giannini in goal, they have experience on the field with seniors Dan Meuleners, A.J. Androkites, Alex Jachwak and Kyle Nelson (M), along with juniors Christian Benner and Trevor Bishop.
North Penn will be young and inexperienced with Sean Bonner the only all-league player returning, but the Knights always have enough depth to make them a threat year in and year out.
Paul Duddy will rely on returners Brendan Gorman, John Schoell, Wes Fossile, Chris Davidson, Michael Robinson and Mike Gallagher.
Hatboro-Horsham will be looking toward some younger players in its bid to finish in the top echelon of the conference. Seniors Andrew Weyerhauser, Ross Garabedian, Scott Horner, Frank Pileggi and Pete Williams are hoping to give rookie coach Kyle McGrath his first winning season and will rely on juniors Derek Newsome and Kevan Melly. Just how well the Hatters do will depend on how well the younger players step up.
The smallest of the Central Bucks schools, Central Bucks West returns a group of experienced players who took their lumps last year. The Bucks are hoping to make the district playoffs this year.
“We have the fight,” said coach Steve Detweiler. “We’ve been hanging in with the big guys. Now we have to step up to the plate.”
Injuries could play a role in the Bucks’ season.
Seniors Sam Wild, J.P. Grove, Will Wister, Tyler Thome, Cesar Perez are looking to improve on a 5-12 campaign last year in their final season.
New coach Marc Benson is hoping last year’s disappointing season will be a wake-up call for Quakertown in its second year in the Continental Conference. The Panthers have just one all-league player returning, senior defender Brent Landis.
American Conference
The battle for the league title, however, could turn into a brawl among the Trojans, three-time defending champion Upper Dublin, Cheltenham and Plymouth Whitemarsh, the latter two of which improved considerably last year and are bringing renewed confidence into this year.
This may be Wissahickon’s year to unseat Upper Dublin at the top of the conference.
The Trojans return four all-league players, including first teamer Sepp Dasbach and second teamer Kevin Matthews.
Upper Dublin lost a host of good players to graduation, but coach Rick Schmidt believes he has a lot of talent returning, albeit lacking big-game experience. Ian Smith may be the best player in the conference and senior Kevin Marvill is the best returning keeper.
Cheltenham, Upper Merion and Plymouth Whitemarsh showed marked improvement last year and could play spoilers.
Cheltenham, which made the playoffs last year for the first time in recent memory, hopes to continue that trend. The Panthers will build their hopes this year on two returning third team all-league seniors—Murray Freedman and Jeff Henstenburg.
Plymouth Whitemarsh will be a young team this year, but will build around junior Kasro Fazliu, a second team all-league player last year.
“We have a bunch of players with great attitudes who have a lot of potential and will look to have a strong year,” noted coach Nicholas Severini.
Upper Merion was also a team on the rise last year as the Vikings finished just under .500 at 6-7-1 in the conference. They return junior Robert Friskey, who was selected to the second team.
Led by first team all-leaguer Mankevah Daramy, Upper Moreland is looking to put together a winning season this year. The Golden Bears are hoping to make some noise in the Class AAA playoffs.
Springfield is hoping to go out with a bang in its final season in the Suburban One League. The Spartans finished sixth last year with a record of 5-10. They are not a team to be overlooked.
Norristown has been a team that is often taken for granted. The Eagles won just one league game last year (four overall), but they didn’t lie down for anybody. J.J. Natale, a second teamer, will be Norristown’s go-to player.
Final league predictions
National Conference
1. Pennsbury
2. Council Rock North
3. Abington
4. Neshaminy
5. William Tennent
6. Council Rock South
7. Bensalem
8. Harry S Truman
Continental Conference
1. Pennridge
2. Central Bucks South
3. Central Bucks East
4. Souderton
5. North Penn
6. Hatboro-Horsham
7. Central Bucks West
8. Quakertown
American Conference
1. Wissahickon
2. Upper Dublin
3. Cheltenham
4. Plymouth Whitemarsh
5. Upper Merion
6. Upper Moreland
7. Springfield
8. Norristown
Pre-season SOL Top Five
1. Pennsbury
2. Council Rock North
3. Pennridge
4. Abington
5. Wissahickon
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