Central Bucks South advanced to Tuesday’s District 1 4A semifinal round. CB South/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of Trish Sexton. Springfield Twp/Great Valley photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ SOCCER GALLERIES.
Class 4A
#4 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, #12 NESHAMINY 0
The Titans broke a scoreless deadlock midway through the second half when a ball from Christian Canally found Anthony Bice. Anthony’s shot deflected off a defender and found the back of the net to give CB South the
victory.
Pat VanLuvanee earned the clean sheet in goal for the Titans.
CB South moves on to the District 1 4A semifinals and a date with top-seeded Conestoga on Tuesday. With the win, the Titans punched their ticket to the state tournament.
By the Numbers:
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
Anthony Bice (CBS) from Christian Canally
Central Bucks South coach Ed Brnardic: “It took us awhile to break down a stingy Neshaminy defense, but we always count on Anthony Bice to come through. With the win, we are excited to earn a spot in the state Tournament. The boys are going to enjoy their homecoming tonight and then we will go to work to prepare for an excellent Conestoga team in the district semifinals.”
PROPS:
–For Pat VanLuvanee: “Pat had a rather quiet day, so it would have been totally understandable if he wasn’t ready for an awkward play at the end of the game when we tried to clear a ball, and it ended up getting fired towards our own goal. I have no idea how he was able to backpedal so fast and
make this unbelievable diving save to keep the ball out of the net. He’s a human cheat code in goal for us.”
–For our center midfielders: “Tyler Jaskelewicz and Josh Dozier were fantastic again today. Their work rate is incredible – they win so many loose balls and connect our defense to our attack.”
Central Bucks South sophomore Tyler Jaskelewicz: “This group of guys is something special. We’ve been aiming for this moment since the first day of summer sessions. This group is a family, and it shows every time we are on and off the field. We’re excited to continue our run in districts on Tuesday against Stoga and also look forward to making a states run as we qualified for states today with a composed win.”
Central Bucks South captain Pat VanLuvanee: “This postseason run has been an exciting one for us. I’ve been looking forward to this point of the season for over a year now. This is the time to truly do something amazing for your school and to be living history with your teammates, it’s an amazing feeling. We’re really going to push to be the best we can be this year and give it our all.
“Our resilience has been key to our success. Constantly fighting and pushing to get goals every game, it brings out our team’s character. We’re all willing to fight for success; together as a team.”
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley on the game: “We didn’t have our best game, we didn’t have our best touch, and we didn’t challenge balls like we ordinarily do, so that combination
of how good they are and us not playing particularly well – I’m pretty happy that we kept it 1-0. The score certainly could have been a lot worse because South created some dangerous opportunities most of the day, so hats off to them, but I’m proud of the effort we gave to keep them at bay most of the day.
–Save of the day: “We got a really good opportunity with about six minutes to go when Dylan Reheil blooped the ball over their goalkeeper’s head. He was frantically getting back, and he made himself parallel to the ground, swiped his right arm and knocked it beyond the post. It was an incredible save – one of the best I’ve seen all year. They were definitely the better team, and it was definitely a just result. I’m just happy that our guys competed when they didn’t have their best game but hats off to them.”
–Tip of the hat to the Titans: “CB South is hands down the best team we’ve seen all year. They move the ball effectively, they’re really patient coming out of the back, and they’re real disciplined – they knock diagonal balls that put your defense under pressure. We really didn’t have an answer for them.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the district. They’re a pretty tough team. If they play the way they played against us today, I don’t see them losing in districts, but you never know from day to day what high school kids do.”
–Props: “I thought my back four – Matt (Diamond), Brian (Birmingham), Mark (Andreyeu) and AJ (Kollie) – did a phenomenal job just keeping their dangerous attack at bay.
“Dan (Raivitch), our goalkeeper, made a couple of nice saves as well, so that was good.”
Next up: CB South (17-2, 9-1 SOL) travels to Conestoga on Tuesday for a District 1 4A semifinal contest (6 pm). Neshaminy (14-4-3, 7-2-1) will be on the road at #9 Phoenixville for a playback game Tuesday (6 pm). The winner will earn a state tournament berth.
Neshaminy 0-0 0
Central Bucks South 0-1 1
#6 GREAT VALLEY 1, #3 SPRINGFIELD TWP 1 (2 OTs, 4-3 PKs)
The Spartans lost a heartbreaker to the visiting Patriots in penalty kicks in a contest that came down to the sixth shooter in PKs.
In regulation, the Patriots got on the scoreboard late in the first half, and the Spartans rallied to knot the score 15 minutes into the second half when sophomore Evan Ha scored with an assist from sophomore Roman Corcoran.
“We generated a lot of good scoring opportunities during regulation and didn’t put them away,” Spartans’ coach Dan Meder said. “If we put one of those chances away, we don’t go to PKs.”
The Spartans, the defending PIAA 3A state runner-up, will have a chance to earn a state berth when they host Souderton in a playback game Tuesday
Scoring Summary
First half
Great Valley goal 31st minute
Second half
Evan Ha (S) from Roman Corcoran (55th minute)
Springfield Twp coach Dan Meder: “It was really windy, and the regulation seemed to favor the wind. In the first half, the ball was in our half most of the time because they had the wind, and in the second half, the ball was in their end most of the time because we had the wind. In the second half and overtime, I thought we played really well. It just wasn’t our day. We created a lot of good chances but just didn’t put them away.
“We’re obviously disappointed, and I’m sure the kids are distraught today. I told them today and I’ll remind them on Monday that it’s not over. We’ll go see what we can do. It’s a shame because I thought we played well enough to win today and just didn’t quite get it done.
“We had a close call – we thought there was one that was over the line, but it wasn’t called a goal. Obviously, I’m not on the line, so I can’t see it, but it looked good from our spot. We had a lot more corner kicks than they had, so we generated a lot of offense and had plenty of good opportunities to score. We just didn’t put it away.”
–On PKs: “We beat Radnor last year in PKs. It is what it is. We generated a lot of good scoring opportunities during regulation and didn’t put them away. Our goalkeeper, Owen Hastings, kept us in the PKs. He was terrific in the shootout.”
Up next: Springfield Twp (15-2-3, 8-1-1 SOL) will host #7 Souderton in a playback game Tuesday (6 pm) for a spot in the PIAA 4A Tournament.
“I’m going to remind the boys on Monday that we have an opportunity to start over,” Meder said.
Great Valley 1-0-0-0 1 (4)
Springfield Twp 0-1-0-0 1 (3)
#2 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 3, #7 SOUDERTON 0
The visiting Indians fell to the second-seeded Warriors in a quarterfinal game Saturday.
“Congrats to Henderson on a well-played game,” Souderton coach Frank DeMas said. “They have a good team, and it’s easy to see why they are undefeated.
“Souderton – from the very start – just didn’t have it today. Missing a few key players never helps, but we expect better and will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday.”
The Indians’ coach lauded the strong efforts of several players.
“Trevor Alderfer, Colin Hughes and AJ Pisoni put in some good shifts today,” DeMas said.
Souderton (17-4, 7-3 SOL) will be on the road at #3 Springfield Twp for a playback game Tuesday (6 pm).
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