Springfield Twp, CB South, Souderton & Neshaminy won and advanced to Saturday’s District 1 4A semifinal round. Springfield/CB East photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ SOCCER GALLERIES. (CB South photos courtesy of Luka Okoniewski/CB South soccer)
Class 4A
#3 SPRINGFIELD TWP 3, #14 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1
In a rematch of a non-league game a month earlier that ended in a 1-1 tie, the Spartans took an early lead and never lost it, but the win was not nearly as easy as the final score might suggest.
“They were a good team,” Springfield coach Dan Meder said. “Everybody that came to watch said – ‘That was a good team.’ It wasn’t like we dominated or anything – it was a good game.”
A goal by Chase Rubincam 18 minutes into the contest with a Roman Corcoran assist gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead they took into halftime.
Henry Drapkin (Shaun Bleeker assist) scored in the 54th minute to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead that was cut in half a minute later when East’s Dan Frye scored on a head ball.
“We had all the momentum,” Meder said. “It was 2-0, and they scored immediately.”
Ten minutes later, sophomores Evan Ha was on the receiving end of an assist from fellow sophomore Adam DiBattista that gave the Spartans their final margin of victory.
“The timing was a little weird today – we played at four o’clock because we have an event at school, so we couldn’t have it at night,” Meder said. “But we still had a lot of fans.
“Our guys definitely thrive at home, they definitely love playing at home. We have a great fan base for such a small school. It definitely feels good playing at home.”
The Spartans have ensured themselves at least two more games with six of eight remaining teams earning a state tournament berth.
Scoring Summary
First half
Chase Rubincam (S) from Roman Corcoran 18th minute
Second half
Henry Drapkin (S) from Shaun Bleeker 54th minute
Dan Frye (CBE) 55th minute
Eden Ha (S) Adam DiBattista 65th minute
Springfield Twp coach Dan Meder on the game: “It was back and forth. CB East is a good team. They’re a physical team. They have some really good players, especially in the midfield. I feel like we were generating more chances early.
“At the end of the game, we had eight corners, and they had three. The shots were more even than that, but we were generating a lot of offense. It went back and forth. They had some good chances, and we had some good chances.
–The key to the game: “I think it was execution. We’ve been playing better of late. We tied them during the regular season. That was a good game too and could have gone either way, but you grow during the season and evolve a little bit as a team, and I think our team has done that well, and now we’re playing better soccer.”
–Props: “The defense was excellent because CB East is a very good team. Igor Hyvel played very well. Brendan Noonan, Kayden Sowell, Luke Sharpe. Ben Hubley played very well. Chase (Rubincam) played really well.
“Shaun Bleeker, one of the assist guys, had a great game. He’s a midfielder that played really well. Henry Drapkin, a goal scorer, played really well. Everybody who played played well. You don’t win a game like that unless that happens.”
Next up: Springfield Twp (15-1-3, 8-1-1 SOL) will host Great Valley in Saturday’s District 1 4A quarterfinal game. Central Bucks East closed out its season with a 10-8-2 record over, 5-5 in the SOL.
Central Bucks East 0-1 1
Springfield Twp 1-2 3
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, CHELTENHAM 1 (2 OT)
An early goal from CB South’s Anthony Bice stood for a very long time, but with less than 10 minutes remaining Cheltenham scored on a free kick to tie the match.
In overtime, the Titans were reduced to 10 men, but they kept attacking and were rewarded when Anthony Bice was taken down in the penalty box and Tyler Jaskelewicz stepped up to convert the penalty kick.
By the Numbers:
First Half
Anthony Bice (CBS)
Second Half
Jordan Rodriguez (C) from Xavi Chanoine
2OT
Tyler Jaskelewicz (CBS)
Coach Ed Brnardic on the game: “After scoring the opening goal, we had a lot of opportunities to give ourselves breathing room, but we couldn’t convert. We kept our foot on the gas for most of the game including overtime.
“Even though we were down a man, the guys didn’t want to settle for PKs and they wanted to keep pressing because they believed that we would eventually break through.
“We now move our focus to our Saturday game which will be another tough matchup against a strong Neshaminy team.”
PROPS:
—For Cheltenham
“We congratulate Cheltenham on a successful season and a great playoff run. They were a tough opponent. They were so resilient, and they gave us everything they had. We were attacking in waves, but their defense was excellent at stopping so many opportunities. Massive respect for these guys.”
—For the Colonial Conference
“It was great to see so many players from other Colonial schools coming out to support our team and our conference, including several families from North Penn. We play in such a tough division and these players battle with each other all year, and it demonstrates a lot of respect and class by these guys to come out and support their fellow Colonial Conference mates. It’s reminiscent of the respect that you see in SEC Football.”
—For Miraziz Melikov: “Miraziz (Meta) was our player of the game today. One of our most skilled players, we’ve been waiting for him to start making a bigger impact in games and he’s now delivering. He was dangerous on the attack, creating several chances and having a few shots himself, but I’m not sure how many people caught his greatest play of the game – in overtime he sprinted back about 50 yards and ended up being in position to deny Cheltenham a goal scoring opportunity. He literally changed the script with that effort.”
For AJ Okoniewski: “On the other wing, AJ was also a handful for the opposing defenders and was also in the running for player of the game. He created several scoring opportunities, assisted on the opening goal, and almost put a few away himself.”
For our captains: “Pat VanLuvanee and Anthony Bice. In playoff games your best players need to be your best players, and these guys delivered yet again. Anthony opened the game by scoring a beautiful goal and he was literally playing two positions when we were down a man – his effort was incredible. And Pat VanLuvanee wasn’t called upon much, but he made a crucial save in Overtime to deny a Cheltenham scoring opportunity.”
Cheltenham coach Bill Tonkin: “I’m very proud of these boys and the accomplishments they had this season. It’s a shame to come to an end the way it did.
“We made some adjustments as the first half played. We were on our heels for the first 20 minutes or so. CB South was a very good team, and they were doing some things that we haven’t seen before. After the adjustments, we got ourselves back into the game and started to take play to them.
“We battled and showed that we are a very good team. We gave them all they could handle and came up just short. All credit to CB South for the way they played. It was a great game to be a part of tonight.”
–The Panthers’ goal: “We scored with nine minutes left off a free kick we played into the box that Xavi got on the end of and slid it across the goal where Jordan was at, and he got the ball to go over the goal line.”
–Overtime: “We battled back and forth through the first overtime. The second overtime ended with a PK called against us. Not sure it was a foul, but they called it, and they converted. I’m not going to say we should have won. We had some luck on our side throughout the game, but I can say we shouldn’t have lost that way. Both teams worked too hard to have a game of this magnitude decided like that.”
Up next: Central Bucks South (16-2, 9-1 SOL) will host Neshaminy in Saturday’s District 1 4A quarterfinal game at 2 pm. Cheltenham closed out its season with an 11-8-1 record overall.
Cheltenham 0-1-0-0 1
CB South 1-0-0-1 2
#12 NESHAMINY 0, #5 LOWER MERION 0 (PKs 3-2)
Talk about a storybook season. This is it.
A Neshaminy team that last year won just three games and lost 14 picked up win number 14 on Thursday, and they did it in the most dramatic fashion, battling to a scoreless tie after regulation and a pair of overtimes and winning it when Matt Diamond – the fifth and final Redskin in the first round of five PKs – buried the game-winner.
“Matt Diamond has been telling us since we started practicing PKs two weeks ago that he wanted to be in the five hole,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “He was our number five guy, and he was full of confidence, and he buried it in side panel for the win. The kids went running out on the field. It was high drama.”
The win ensures Neshaminy of at least two more games. With only eight teams remaining and six state berths, the Redskins are one win away from a trip to the state tournament.
“We’re pretty excited,” Foley said. “We told the kids – they’re writing one heck of a story for themselves. They went from 3-14 last year, and they’re 14-3-3 this year. That’s a pretty amazing story.
“It’s mostly the same kids too – one or two newbies, but mostly the same kids. They’ve done one heck of a job this year. I’m stoked for the kids.”
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley on the game: “It was different from ordinary – we were playing at one o’clock, which is completely different for us. They had to get up for school and got out around 10:30 today.
“All in all, the kids did a great job. It’s a tough field to play on, and their long throw is just so dangerous. It’s nerveracking every time a ball goes out. It’s like – here we go, here we go. They got one (goal) in during the first half, but it was off a foul. Brian (Birmingham) had it lined up, and the next thing you know he’s almost horizontal. The ref called a foul and justifiably so. That was the only time they really did anything with their long throws. Other than that, we kept them pretty bottled up.”
–The long throws – “Lower Merion is a turf field, but it’s really narrow. It’s 110×60 (Neshaminy’s field is 120×66), and we knew going in they had a kid that throws the ball a country mile.
“We tried stressing not to give up any throws, but the field was so small, and it was a really windy day. A lot of balls went out, and he just kept floating balls into the box, into the box, and every single one was dangerous. They targeted their big kid, #50 (Carson Cox), and we put Brian Birmingham on him, and Brian kind of negated his presence in the box, so he did a great job. Overall, we did a good job defending that long throw and generally defending as a whole.”
–The game: “It’s really tough to play on such a small field. We’re used to using the flanks to our advantage, and there really wasn’t a lot of space to get wide, so we didn’t generate as many opportunities as we usually do, but we defended really well. When they had the wind, it was even more difficult. All in all, I thought it was a master class in defending by our boys today – Brian Birmingham, Mark Andreyeu, Matt Diamond and AJ Kollie and our goalkeeper Dan Raivitch.”
–Overtime: “They had their throw-ins, we had a couple of chances. Mark Andreyeu broke free and just didn’t get good wood on it and kind of hit it to the keeper. Rezi Tebidze had a good look in overtime, but his shot went right into the keeper, so we saw it out to PKs.”
–The drama of PKs: “My one assistant doesn’t even watch when we shoot. It’s really nerveracking. We elected to go second. Lower Merion made their first kick, and we missed our first kick. Lower Merion’s second, third and fourth shooter – Dan Raivitch made three great saves on their shooters, he made three saves in a row. AJ Kollie made our second to draw square, but we missed our third, and the fourth save made us all square. Our fourth shooter was Christos Vasilarikos, and he buried his, and then Lower Merion’s fifth shooter made theirs to tie it, and Matt Diamond buried it in the side panel.
“You never know when you had that first shot, and it doesn’t go your way, and you’re constantly playing catchup, but the second guy up (Raivitch) saved it, so it got us right back in the mix again. It was an outstanding job. Kudos to Matt too – Matt said he wanted to be number five. It set up perfectly for him to win the game, and he delivered, so hats off to him.”
–Downsized field: “It doesn’t sound like a lot – five yards on each end and three yards on each side, but it’s a pretty significant change. When you have a kid that has a dangerous weapon like they do, it’s a nightmare because it makes it that much easier to get into the box. He could throw it beyond the far post if he was even with the six-yard line, so that’s pins and needles every time they’re getting a throw in. I was really proud of the boys defensive effort.”
Up next: Neshaminy (14-3-3, 7-2-1 SOL) will travel to #4 Central Bucks South for Saturday’s District 1 4A quarterfinal game at 2 pm.
Neshaminy 0-0-0-0-0-0 0 (3)
Lower Merion 0-0-0-0-0-0 0 (2)
#7 SOUDERTON 2, #10 ABINGTON 0
It’s been quite a week for the Souderton soccer team.
Two days after the team was mobbed by ‘The Red Sea’ – Souderton’s wildly enthusiastic student section that stormed the field after its 2-0 opening round district win over West Chester East – the Indians defeated a talented Abington squad by an identical score. Although ‘The Red Sea’ remained outside the fence, the celebration was equally enthusiastic.
“It’s magical,” Souderton coach Frank DeMas said as he watched his team celebrate.
And soccer has unquestionably became a favorite spectator sport at Souderton.
“It’s amazing,” senior Colin Hughes said. “This is the culture my senior year. I’m so proud that we were able to bring this to Souderton – this love of the game just overall.”
“It’s amazing,” senior Tannor Wiszneski said. “I feel like this team is just bringing our school together more.
“We’re done with football home games, and I feel like it’s perfect – the culture. We call them ‘The Red Sea’ – it’s just amazing. I’ve never been part of a better group of guys. Genuinely, this is a family to me. It’s the best family I ever had.”
Wiszneski scored a goal that turned out to be the game-winner 10 minutes into the second half, and Drew Kerns connected on a free kick with 2:48 remaining to seal the win.
Playing a starring role in the win was sophomore Trevor Alderfer, who earned the clean sheet in goal, withstanding all kinds of pressure – especially late in the game with the Indians clinging to a 1-0 lead – and making every play.
Did the rookie keeper feel pressure.
Hughes answered for him, “No, he doesn’t feel pressure.”
“Probably the best player on the field tonight was Trevor Alderfer, our goalie,” Souderton coach Frank DeMas said. “He was fantastic tonight. They put a lot of shots on him. He’s a young kid, and he did really well, so we’re really impressed and happy with him. He stepped up big for us tonight.”
Scoring Summary
First half – No score
Second half
Tannor Wiszneski (S) from Cam Taylor 50th minute
Drew Kerns (S) 78th minute
Souderton coach Frank Demas on the win: “Tonight was a great game. Abington is awesome. We know their coach (Randy Garber). He’s legendary, a great guy, so it was an honor to coach against him. They are a really good program. This was a battle. The first half was super even back and forth. The second half was really even too.”
–The goals: “They had some chances. We happened to break them down once when Cam Taylor made a run down the outside, had a good cross and Tannor one-timed it in. The second one was Drew Kerns – he hit a ridiculous free kick. We’ve been waiting for him to score for a bit, and we were really happy that he put one in. He deserves it. He’s a kid that works really hard.”
–Senior leaders: “This is the best record our program has ever had that we can find. I got a bunch of senior leaders in (Colin) Hughes, (Danny) Brun, Tannor (Wiszneski) and (Drew) Kerns. Colin Hughes is our center back, and he was amazing tonight.”
Souderton senior Tannor Wiszneski on the team’s success: “From the beginning of the summer, we were working our (butts) off every day – in and out, two times a day. We were just grinding. It really just brought us together, and I feel we’re the best we can be.”
–On the fan support: “It meant a lot to me honestly, and I know it means a lot to us all. We’re just out here working so hard, and they play a factor. They give us the second wind every time on a tackle, a goal, an assist, a pass, everything. It’s just amazing.”
Souderton senior center back Colin Hughes on the team’s rise this season: “It’s honestly just the mindset and what coach Frank DeMas has put up on the board for us. Going into the season, I knew we’d be good. I had trust in every single one of these guys on the field. It just comes down to our teamwork. Honestly, I don’t think anyone has better teamwork or better chemistry than we do on this field.”
–On goalie Trevor Alderfer: “I’m proud of this guy especially. He’s a sophomore, and he’s about to play in a district quarterfinal. I find that unbelievable.
“He set the tone of our season. In the third game of the season against Pennridge, we went up 3-0. We fell apart a little bit, and they came back 3-2. There was a bad call, and they were awarded a penalty. This would have been our first loss in the SOL, but (Trevor) stepped up, and he made a giant PK save, and that set the tone for the season.”
Souderton sophomore goalie Trevor Alderfer on the key to his success: “I just try to keep calm. I’ve got the best team in front of me ever, the best defense ever. I’m so confident in our back line – Nolan Watkins, Brayden Russell, Will Cusano, Danny Brun and Colin Hughes. I’m so confident in our defensive ability. Nothing can get past us.”
Up next: Souderton (17-3, 7-3 SOL) will be on the road at #2 West Chester Henderson for Saturday’s quarterfinal contest. The Warriors edged Owen J Roberts 1-0 in overtime in a second round game. Abington closed out its season with a SOL Liberty Division championship with an 8-1-1 record. The Ghosts were 12-5-3 overall.
Abington 0-0 0
Souderton 0-2 2
#9 PHOENIXVILLE 3, #25 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
The Phantoms opened up a 2-0 halftime lead on their way to the shutout win over the visiting Golden Hawks.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Rock South coach Alan Nicholl said. “We got off to a slow start and were down 2-0 at half. The second goal was a very soft PK call, so that was unfortunate.
“We were much more energetic in the second half and really took the game to them, just couldn’t find the final touch. They scored their third with under 10 to play as we pushed forward. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t find a goal in the second half because it would have made for a great finish to the game.”
The Golden Hawks’ coach paid tribute to his team.
“I’m immensely proud of the boys for their industry and belief, and especially the seniors as they carried themselves as true ambassadors of our Golden Hawk Nation,” Nicholl said. “After 23 years as head coach here, I feel it’s the privilege of my life to be associated with young men of this caliber. Thank you George Simon, Andrew Freeman, Farid Ganiyev, Anthony Abreu, Merrick Kenney, Dillan Shikvarger, Giorgi Shinjiashvilli, and Ronan Harding – It’s truly an honor.”
Council Rock South closed out its season with a 9-8-3 record overall, 4-4-2 SOL.
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Phoenixville 2-1 3
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