North Penn advanced to Tuesday’s District One 4A semifinals and earned a state berth. Abington, Neshaminy & CB West remain alive in the quest for the final state berth.
#1 NORTH PENN 2, #9 ABINGTON 1
Carter Houlihan knew exactly what he was doing.
After the North Penn senior drew a foul about 30 yards out from Abington’s goal, he called dibs on the free kick while the Ghosts defense set up a wall 10 yards away. Every goal in a postseason game is critical, but none more so than the first.
Houlihan drove the free kick right into the top corner of the net, about as good a hit as anyone could have taken and sparked a rousing celebration.
“Ryan Stewart wanted to take it and I said, ‘Ryan, I’m feeling good about this one,'” Houlihan said. “He said ‘Ok, you got it.’ I just stepped up and put it home.”
“I think even for a neutral observer or a soccer fan, it was just a great game,” Knights coach Paul Duddy said. “They (Abington) are here today because they were down 2-0 in their last game and came back.”
The Knights certainly didn’t need any extra reminders what they were up against with the Ghosts, but Abington’s stirring rally against Spring-Ford in the second round only cemented the challenge they were up against. Down 2-0 to the Rams, Abington had rallied back for a 3-2 win, so the Knights weren’t expecting anything but a challenge.
“We knew they were down 2-0 and came back to score three so we had to keep our foot on the gas,” North Penn midfielder Josh Jones said. “Even though we went up 2-0, we probably could have scored more and really put the game away, but we’ll take this.”
Saturday’s matchup expected to feature a heavy dose of Houlihan and Abington senior Nevin Baer creating for their respective teams. Unfortunately for Abington, that never materialized due to an unexpected lineup change before the opening whistle.
Ghosts senior Kyle Phillips, a standout center back and strong aerial presence, felt sick in warm-ups and wasn’t able to play, forcing Abington to start Baer next to Reese Gibbs in the middle of the back line.
“They’re strong and athletic and you have Carter who is a handful,” Ghosts coach Randy Garber said. “Any time he got the ball, we marked him and tried to double up on him but he’s a good, accomplished player. We had to make an adjustment and put Nevin back there and it hurt us because Nevin couldn’t go forward.
“Kyle played every game this year, he wins all the balls in the air, he just said ‘I’m dizzy and I’m sick.’ We had to put Nevin in the back because we weren’t sure where Carter was going to play and we couldn’t give anything away.”
Abington still managed some early chances, including a header by Bryce Lexow that forced Sawyer Meade into a save off the bounce. Meade, the Knights keeper would factor heavily in the final minutes but overall played a strong game in goal.
“He had a great game and made a couple great saves,” Duddy said. “I thought (Abington keeper Sam Dumas) had a great game, we had a couple shots that looked like they were going in and he got a hand on it. Believe me, we’ll take it and I’m not going to ask a lot of questions about how.”
Houlihan’s moment of brilliance came with 7:20 left in the first half.
“He couldn’t have thrown it in any better,” Garber said. “It was well-hit and well placed, it was a good goal.”
Jones, the towering 6-foot-4 junior midfielder, played a pivotal role in defending the box on set pieces and closing down Abington’s long balls.
“It was important to get positioning from the start and know we had to win the second balls,” Jones said. “Most of the time I think we all know I can win the first one but winning that second one is the key and keeps us in good areas.”
“He’s the best around,” Duddy said. “He’s a great player on top of being a great header. We’re fortunate to have six or seven players that are pretty good players.”
Jones also drew the foul in the box that set up Houlihan’s penalty kick to put the Knights ahead 2-0 with 28 minutes left in regulation.
Abington, spurred on by substitute TC Cheng, won a PK of its own seven minutes later with Gibbs stepping up to the spot and burying the try to cut the lead in half.
Saturday’s match was a reunion of sorts for a handful of players on both sides who played together in club soccer. Those bonds, plus a mutual respect among the teams only helped elevate the level of play on the field.
“They know each other and respect each other and I thought it was a good, clean game,” Garber said. “Now we have to try and get (to the state tournament) the hard way. We can, I don’t rate them that much better than we are, we hung out with them and I thought we played them pretty fair.”
With his team up, Meade made sure they finished things in regulation. Baer, who moved out of the back in the final stage of the game, got a great look from the same area as Houlihan scored on the free kick in the first half.
The Abington senior hit a bullet at the far post, but Meade was able to get over and make a diving parry at the woodwork to hold the lead. He would also smother a shot from Baer in the final seconds to close out the result.
“I can tell the way he’s kicking his foot where he’s going,” Meade said of the free kick. “I just jumped up and made the save, I felt great after it.”
“He’s been terrific, as the season has progressed, his confidence just keeps growing and growing,” Duddy said. “Our players realized he’s good. He’s a standout and among all the other players we always talk about, he’s been a difference maker for us.”
Abington will visit #4 Unionville as it tries to capture the final state bid from District One. The teams played last year in the district semifinals.
North Penn will face #5 Conestoga in a semifinal, having locked up a state bid and looking for a shot to play for a district title.
“By winning today, you know you have at least three more games,” Duddy said.
North Penn 1-1 2
Abington 0-1 1
Goals: NP – Carter Houlihan 2; A – Reese Gibbs
#3 BOYERTOWN 2, #11 NESHAMINY 1
A shorthanded Redskin squad – decimated by injuries – gave the third-seeded Bears all they could handle.
“I’m so proud of the kids because we were down five guys who get significant playing time,” said coach Tom Foley. “The kids who went in did a remarkable job. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort. We carried large parts of the play but couldn’t get the goal in. I can’t fault their effort – they did a tremendous job. The outside forces weren’t looking upon us kindly today.”
The game started out on a promising note when JoeJoe Maxwell found the net just over 10 minutes into the contest.
“We had a corner, they kicked it back out to Matt Lamb, he served the ball in the box – it kind of pinballed around, and JoeJoe Maxwell half-volleyed it into the net,” Foley said. “It was a really sharp goal.”
The Bears evened the score off a restart with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
“It was a nice flick – we kind of lost the mark, and it happened to go to the right spot, and they tucked it in,” Foley said. “It was a nice goal.
“They got the game-winner off a set piece with less than two minutes remaining in the game. We carried the play for a lot of the game. We probably out-chanced them, probably out-possessed them. They did some nice things, but overall, I thought we had the better of the play. I’m just disappointed that certain things were beyond our control that kind of hurt us a little bit. It was definitely a stinger today when we were that close. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Neshaminy (14-7, 8-4 SOL) will host #23 Central Bucks West in a playback game Tuesday, two of four teams vying for the final state playoff berth.
Neshaminy 1-0 1
Boyertown 1-1 2
#2 LOWER MERION 2, #23 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1
The Bucks knew they could ill afford to fall behind against a stingy Aces squad, but that’s exactly what happened. Lower Merion took a 2-0 lead, and although the Bucks trimmed that lead in half, they could not dig themselves out of a two-goal hole.
“We started really well, played a great first 20 minutes but ultimately didn’t find the back of the net,” coach Stefan Szygiel said. “A little bit against the run of play Lower Merion came down, put a shot on, rebounded, and they were up 1-0.
“Basically, the rest of the first half and the first 10 of the second half we just didn’t play well. We started the game positively, we finished the game positively, but it only yielded us one goal. We got significantly outplayed for 35 minutes in the middle, and they scored two. That was pretty much the story.”
Ben Danzis scored West’s goal late in the second half.
“Jimi Leder drew a PK, and Ben converted it,” Szygiel said. “It was a nice PK, but too little too late was the story of today.”
West goalie Ryan Van Pelt recorded four saves.
“I’m absolutely proud of how we responded, but you can’t go 2-0 down to Lower Merion at their own field with how ruthlessly efficient they are defensively,” Szygiel said. “They’re just so well organized, they’re so well trained and coached. You don’t want to play from behind against Lower Merion, and that’s the mistake we made today.
“Even down 1-0, they are so hard to break down defensively. To them, 1-0 can feel like 5-0 and they believe in that. That’s a staple of that program. We put ourselves in a tough spot, but we made the last 15-20 minutes extremely exciting. We pulled one back with about 10 to go and then we had two or three more chances. Their keeper did a good job, their back line held strong. They’re so defensively organized. We just weren’t able to get another.”
Central Bucks West (9-7-5 (5-4-3 SOL) will travel to #11 Neshaminy for a playback game Tuesday. The Bucks and Redskins are two of four teams vying for the final state berth.
Central Bucks West 0-1 1
Lower Merion 1-1 2
About the Author
