Nine SOL boys’ soccer teams will be in action in Thursday’s second round of the District 1 4A Tournament.
Class 4A
#13 Central Bucks East at #4 Abington (Thursday, 7pm
Abington
- 15-2-1 overall
- 14-1-1 SOL Liberty Division champion
- Third straight division crown
- Key players include midfielder Liam Hartman – a 20-plus goal scorer for the second straight season, defender Drew Paxson and goalkeeper Kevin Kretschman. “They’re the leaders, and they make everything work,” said coach Randy Garber.
- Abington enters districts on a five-game win streak, including a 2-1 overtime win over #6 –Upper Dublin that essentially decided the division championship.
- Only blemishes this season were an opening loss to #13 CB East in the season opener for both squads, as well as a crossover game against Class 4A #3 Springfield and a tie with Upper Dublin.
How they got here: Opening round bye
Central Bucks East
- 12-5-2 overall
- 10-4-2 SOL Colonial Division third place
- The Patriots are led by senior center midfielder Brandon Epstein and solid defense – seniors Dylan Walker, Luke Christmas and Josh Daniels, and junior Andrew Walloff – as well as junior forward Michael Montabana.
- CB East was in the mix for the division title going into the second half of the division schedule. It owns wins over three teams seeded higher – #4 Abington, #8 CB South, #11 Pennridge – and it split games with CB West.
How they got here: In an opening round game, Central Bucks East edged #20 Central Bucks West 1-0. Brandon Epstein scored the game’s only goal in the second half.
Next up: The winner will play the winner of the Pennsbury/WC Henderson contest.
#11 Pennridge at #6 Upper Dublin (Thursday, 5:30pm)
Upper Dublin
- 16-2-2 overall
- 12-2-2 SOL Liberty Division second place
- The Flying Cardinals have had a remarkable turnaround season, soaring near the top of the division standings all season after an 8-10 season one year ago.
- Miles Bondi is the team’s top scorer
- Cards have two wins over #17 Hatboro-Horsham and #22 Wissahickon, went 1-0-1 against Plymouth Whitemarsh, earned a tie with #4 Abington, and have nonleague wins over #8 CB South and #26 Methacton.
How they got here: In an opening round contest, Upper Dublin erased an early 1-0 deficit to defeat #27 North Penn 4-1. Zach McLaughlin scored a pair of goals while Tommy Clayton and Campbell Heckler each had one goal.
Pennridge
- 14-5 overall
- 11-5 SOL Colonial Division second place
- It was a topsy-turvy season for the Rams, who battled for the division title into the final week of the regular season. They started the season with three wins, then lost two, then won eight straight – 6-0 vs. SOL Patriot Division – and finish 2-3 in their final five, including back-to-back losses last week to #20 CB West and #8 CB South.
- Pennridge is led by senior Shane Velez, a pre-season All-American and team leader with 14 goals, as well as nine-goal scorer Jared Hess.
- Defensive leaders are Thomas McKinney and goalkeeper CJ Dimmick, who has nine shutouts and a .83 goals against average in 18 games.
How they got here: In an opening round game, Pennridge used a second-half goal by Jared Hess to defeat #22 Wissahickon 1-0.
Next up: The winner plays the winner of the Downingtown East/Harriton contest.
#9 Downingtown West at #8 Central Bucks South (Thursday, 7pm)
Central Bucks South
- 13-4-2 overall
- 11-3-2 SOL Colonial Division champions
- First division title in program history
- Impressive turnaround under first-year coach Kyle Pettican from last year’s 9-8-1 record
- The Titans battled for the division’s top spot all season and clinched the title late with a 3-0-2 stretch in its last five games, a stretch that included a huge win over #11 Pennridge as well as #27 North Penn and Souderton, and ties with #13 CB East and #20 CB West.
- How they got here: In Tuesday’s opening round, Central Bucks South defeated #22 Boyertown 2-0. Brian Schmidt and Colin O’Hara each scored a goal with O’Hara’s goal breaking a 1-1 tie with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Downingtown West
- 14-4 overall
- Led by senior Matt Lohr – who scored 26 goals as a junior and earned All-Southeastern PA honors.
- Opened season with nine straight wins but 4-4 in final eight regular season games
- Wins over #3 Downingtown East, #12 Unionville and #28 Methacton.
How they got here: In Tuesday’s opening round, Downingtown West downed #24 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3-1, thanks to goals by Zach Kilpatrick, Matt Lohr and Alex Ely.
Next up: The winner will play the winner of the Lower Merion/Hatboro-Horsham contest.
#15 Council Rock North at #2 Conestoga (Thursday, 4pm)
Council Rock North
- 13-4-2 overall
- 10-4-2 SOL Patriot Division champions
- The Indians are led by captains Nick Wise, Chase McCaffrey and Ari Pollack. Senior Wise is the leading scorer with 12 goals, including five game-winners. Pollack had seven goals, including the game-winner against Council Rock South to clinch the division title. Tanmay Ondkar had six goals and four game winners and Mike Brusca has six goals and six assists.
- Coach Joe Stackhouse also credited the defensive unit of McCaffrey, Mike Pinho, Danny Urgas, Hunter Klein and Corey Brennan, keepers Calvin Hopkins and Gavin Roon and midfielders Pollack, Max Leff, Jack Randolph, Cole Mayer and David Igval.
- CR North started the season 5-0-2, then went 4-2 in crossover games and clinched the division with three straight wins to start the second half of division play before losses to Pennsbury and Neshaminy to close the season.
How they got here: In an opening round contest, Council Rock North – which led 2-0 with seven minutes remaining in regulation – needed overtime to defeat #18 Kennett 3-2. Chase McCaffrey scored the golden goal in OT. Ari Pollock and Tanmay Ondkar each scored in regulation.
Conestoga
- 14-2 overall
- 10-1 Central League tied for first with Lower Merion & Radnor
- Lost seven starters to graduation from 2021 PIAA 4A state championship squad
- Returning from last year’s state title squad are seniors Colin Wurth, Lorenzo-Vargos-Clarke & AJ Nordone.
- Handed top-seeded Lower Merion its only loss (3-2) and also defeated #5 WC Henderson (2-1).
- Losses came at the hands of Class A #1 Radnor (1-0) in the final game of the regular season and Class 2A #3 Holy Ghost Prep (2-0).
How they got here: Opening round bye
Next up: The winner will face the winner of the CR South/Spring-Ford contest.
#17 Hatboro-Horsham at #1 Lower Merion (Thursday, 1pm)
Hatboro-Horsham
- 13-6 overall
- 11-5 SOL Liberty Division third place
- Aside from two losses each to #4 Abington and #6 Upper Dublin, the Hatters went 12-2, with wins over the likes of #13 CB East and Class 3A powers Springfield and Lower Moreland.
- Top players include senior captains Jake Freedman (team-leading 7 goals, 6 assists), defender Jacob Kim and goalkeeper Noah Schlosser (8 shutouts).
- Other top players include senior Tony Kuhner (5 goals, 3 assists), junior Isaac Kakiko (5 goals, 4 assists) and senior Enrico Romano (6 goals, 3 assists), who injured his knee in October and has been out of the lineup.
- Nine different players have scored goals and the Hatters have recorded nine shutouts.
How they got here: In an opening round game, Hatboro-Horsham defeated #16 Owen J Roberts 2-0. Jake Freedman and Isaac Kakiko each scored a goal for the Hatters.
Lower Merion
- 16-1 overall
- 10-1 Central League tied for first with Conestoga & Radnor
- Wins over Class 4A #7 West Chester Rustin (7-1), #18 Kennett (4-0) and Class 3A #1 Radnor (2-0)
- Only loss of the season came at the hands of #2 Conestoga (3-2) on Oct. 6.
How they got here: Opening round bye
Next up: Winner will play the winner of Central Bucks South/Downingtown West.
#21 Pennsbury at #5 West Chester Henderson (Thursday, 6:30pm)
Pennsbury
- 10-7-1 overall
- 9-6-1 SOL Patriot Division, tied for second place
- Josh Rodriguez leads the Falcons with 15 goals and 5 assists on the season, while Rocco Ciaccia has six goals.
- Other top players include Chris Vergantino (3 goals, 3 assists), Bryan Sanchez (1 goal, 6 assists), Evan Soriano (3 goals, 5 assists), Saad Williams (1 goal, 3 assists) and Ian Cunningham (2 goals, 2 assists).
- The back three defenders of Andrew Prebola, Connor Labiak and Cooper Gray have played tough in front of keepers Justin Brown/Henrik Boekamp, combining for 7 shutouts.”
- Falcons have a deep rotation of wide attacking defenders who are two way players – Evan Soriano, Liam Fogel, Jadien Bewtra, Jake Ruepp and Caleb Mangiaracina, while Diego Murillo, Lucas Jurgenson, Ryan Mathis hold down the middle of the field allowing others to attack.
- Pennsbury is 6-2-1 in away games.
- Went 8-1-1 against Patriot Division teams.
How they got here: In an opening round game, Pennsbury sent #12 Unionville home for the season with a 1-0 win. Josh Rodriguez scored the game’s only goal.
West Chester Henderson
- 13-5 overall
- Ches-Mont champions for second consecutive year with 6-0 win over Coatesville
- Wins over Class 4A #3 Downingtown East (2-0), #9 Downingtown West (2-1), #10 Spring-Ford 1-0, #16 Owen J Roberts (4-0), #18 Kennett (2-0), #19 Great Valley (6-0)
- Rebounded from a three-game losing streak in early October to win four straight to close out the regular season.
How they got here: In an opening round game, West Chester Henderson defeated #28 Methacton 2-0. Ryan Kuegler and Will Potter each scored a goal
Next up: The Pennsbury-Unionville winner will play the winner of #28 Methacton and #5 West Chester Henderson in the second round on Thursday.
#26 Council Rock South at #10 Spring-Ford (Thursday, 7pm)
Council Rock South
- 10-7-1 overall
- 9-6-1 SOL Patriot Division, tied for second
- With more emphasis on defense in the playoffs, the Golden Hawks will look to goalkeeper Evan Zawodniak and center backs George O’Brien and Andrew Lindros, who, according to coach Alan Nicholl, “will need to keep up their focus and execution. So much of our success has (and will continue) to rest on their shoulders.”
- At one point, CR South was 5-1-1, and then 8-3-1, and near top of division standings but won just one out of its last four games.
How they got here: In an opening round contest, the Council Rock South defeated #7 West Chester Rustin 3-1. Reid Vandermark scored a pair of goals, and Everett Kurtz added a single goal.
Spring-Ford
- 12-2-4 overall
- 1-2-1 after four games
- Lost to #16 Owen J Roberts in PAC Tournament semifinal (3-2)
- Finished atop the PAC Liberty Division after finishing last in 2021
- Senior captains Luca Carboy & Joey Ricevuto control the midfield and senior captain Jonah Wuertz anchors the attack.
- Shutouts in 10 of last 12 regular season games.
How they got here: In an opening round game, Spring-Ford battled #23 Neshaminy to a scoreless tie but won it in penalty kicks 4-2.
Next up: Winner will face the winner of Conestoga/Council Rock North.
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