It was a tough night for the SOL with all three teams falling in the opening round of the PIAA State Tournament. CB South/Northeast photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson, and New Hope-Solebury/Camp Hill photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ SOCCER GALLERIES. Check back for galleries of both games.
PIAA 4A opening round
#12-1 Northeast 0, #1-3 Central Bucks South 0 (2 OT) (6-5 PKs)
It wasn’t meant to be for a CB South team that lost in regulation time only once all season long (and that was 1-0 with 20 seconds to go against Conestoga in the district semifinals). Tuesday afternoon, in the first round of states, Northeast beat visiting Central Bucks South 6-5 on PKs after a scoreless 110 minutes in a match that saw CB South control the majority of the game.
By the Numbers:
First Half
No Scoring
Second Half
No Scoring
Overtime
No Scoring
Penalty kicks:
Northeast 6, CB South 5
COACH ED BRNARDIC: “Our season ended today. I couldn’t have asked more from these guys. They played hard all season. We had some heavy expectations entering this year and these guys lived up to them. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they played, the way they competed, and the way they represented Central Bucks School District.”
PROPS:
–FOR CB SOUTH: “We have a great program here and I’m thrilled to be a Titan. Justin Farrell our AD, our trainers Jimmy Fynes and Kevin Schoell, our admin Allysa Parisi, our manager Katie Stine, our game day security Joe Weber and Ian Stratton, our grounds crew led by Greg Ellzy, and our Principal Jason Bucher – this is as professional and as great of a group of people that you would find anywhere. We put in a lot of work together this year – it was worth it.”
–FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS: “We wouldn’t have had such a great season without Anne Marie Sauder organizing the fundraising and all the team bonding activities (with help by several other parents). And our student volunteers were amazing – Aadhi Jagadish and Tyler Lockett helped with game preparation, and Aly Nemec is a superstar. She ran our social media, she organized “Athletes helping Athletes” to attend our games as honorary captains, and she even sang the National Anthem on Senior Night.”
–FOR ANTHONY DITRI: “For a long time,I have been telling everyone I am thrilled with two great decisions, the first was to apply for the coaching job at CB South and the second was to hire Anthony Ditri as our assistant coach. Anthony had the team prepared every game and training, and he was exceptional at reading the game and making adjustments. The team loves Coach Deets.”
–FOR OUR SENIORS: “We had several great performances by underclassmen, but today has to be about our seniors. Pat VanLuvanee, Andrew Sherstynov, Sean Clevenstine, Evan Rumford, Chase Sauder, Ryan Kealy, Brennan Franklin, Miraziz Melikov, Myroslav Lepuha, Christian Canally, Anthony Bice and Evan Jaskelewicz. These guys are leaving a legacy at CB South. I’m going to miss training sessions with these guys.”
Central Bucks South closed out its season with an 18-4 record overall and an SOL Colonial Division championship with a 9-1 record in the SOL.
Central Bucks South 0-0-0-0 0
Northeast 0-0-0-0 0 (6-5 PKs)
#3-1 Cumberland Valley 2, #1-6 Souderton 1
A historic season came to an end for the Souderton soccer team, but nothing could detract from what the Indians – who made the program’s first trip to states in 12 years – accomplished this season.
“This was absolutely a special year for us,” Souderton coach Frank DeMas said. “From the very start – you could tell from the offseason, the boys were clicking and working hard. We had great support between our players. When one guy’s down, another guy picked him back up. It’s been wonderful all year.
“So we’re really upset that we lost today because I do think these boys deserved a little better, but we need to focus on everything they’ve done all year, which is incredible. We haven’t done this for so long, so it’s been incredible for them.”
The Indians had the better of play in the first half and took a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute when Drew Kerns turned a pass from Tannor Wiszneski into a goal. That lead held up until the Eagles scored 15 minutes into the second half and then added the game-winner nine minutes later.
Although their season ended, the Indians left with their heads held high.
“They’ve done their community proud,” DeMas said. “They didn’t let anybody down today. They gave everything they had and should be completely proud of everything they’ve done all year.”
Scoring Summary
First half
Drew Kerns (S) from Tannor Wiszneski 6th minute
Second half
Lex Radosavljevic (CV) from Jake Dussinger 55th minute
Jayden Handy (CV) 64th minute
Souderton coach Frank DeMas:
–On the Indians’ goal: “Tannor Wiszneski beat a guy on the end line, sent the ball back to Drew Kerns, who finished it. It was an awesome goal – a really good goal, really well worked from us. It was fantastic.”
–On the second half: “From there, we played really well. I thought we had the game pretty much in hand for a while. The second half we were still playing well. The entire game changed with one unlucky moment when they got a free kick. It was kind of out of nothing, and they ended up scoring on it. The tide kind of changed from there, but we were battling back. We had a couple chances from distance. We had a great chance one of their guys blocked. They got another chance, and they scored. We just couldn’t quite find our way through at the end. We were in that game.”
–On a special senior class: “We had an amazing senior class, an absolutely incredible senior class. These boys have been amazing. My captains – Danny Brun, Colin Hughes, Tannor Wisznewski and Drew Kerns – have just been incredible all year, and it’s not just them. All the seniors – Nico Ziegler, Derek Stefanowicz, Drew Grebe, Cam Taylor, Lukas Sailer, Zachary Vaszily, Nolan Watkins and Faustin Mutarambirwa.”
On the season: “This year for our program has been incomparable in recent history. It put us back on the map and showed that Souderton can produce really good soccer teams.
“Probably the best thing to come from this entire year is the support from the high school, from our boosters, from our community and from our fan base. It’s been absolutely insane. Even today, we had a bus for our fans and filled the bus completely and then all the parents, so we must have had over a hundred and some fans there, which is crazy for a game two-and-a-half hours away. All these kids came out – some of the girls’ soccer team, some of the boys’ lacrosse team, some of our Red Sea. It was just absolutely incredible.
“This year has hopefully set the standard for what we’re going to do in the future. Now we know we can do this, now we know our program can get this kind of thing done, they know they can get this kind of exposure and produce on the big stage, which they have. They played amazing today.”
Souderton closed out its season with a 18-6 record overall, 7-3 SOL.
Souderton 1-0 1
Cumberland Valley 0-2 2
#3-1 Camp Hill 1, #1-2 New Hope-Solebury 0
A remarkable season came to a disappointing end in Tuesday’s opening round game when Camp Hill broke a scoreless tie in the 63rd minute and then held on for the 1-0 win.
Tuesday’s season-ending loss aside, this season represented the kind of turnaround that’s all but unheard of at any level as the Lions – winners of just one game last season – became a team to be reckoned with not only in the SOL but in the postseason under first-year coach Christ Van Pelt.
“Even though we couldn’t quite reach our goals in the postseason, the improvement not only on their record but also culturally within the program is something these guys should be incredibly proud of,” Van Pelt said.
“I’m sure it will take some time to realize it with the sting of the past two games still fresh, but I hope this group can realize the magnitude of the success they’ve had this season in such a short time and take pride in getting the program to where it is today.”
Scoring Summary
First half – No score
Second half
Camp Hill goal 63rd minute
New Hope-Solebury coach Chris Van Pelt:
–On the game: “Really tough game to finish such an incredible season with. We never really settled and found any rhythm and had a couple of things working against us especially at the end of the game that produced some really shocking moments.”
–On the season: “When I first came into the program back in February of this year, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I quickly realized this was a very talented group with potential.
“I think early into the summer/preseason the guys realized things would be different and the buy-in from them was great. Together we created an identity and culture that became the base for all our success. At the start of the season, our goal was to have a .500 record and to hopefully sneak into district playoffs – a goal that by the first game of the season I knew we would be able to achieve.
“Despite losing 3-2 at home to start the year after being up 2-1 at halftime, the fight and execution of our game plan that day showed me this group could do a lot better than .500. We were only just two weeks into the season and had a lot to learn still.
“After a 2-2 start, we went on a six-game winning streak that included five shutouts and some wins against much bigger schools. We eventually finished the regular season with an 11-6 record, with 40 goals scored and only 18 goals conceded… earning a third place finish in the conference and second in the district.
“It’s been an incredible first year as a head coach. I’m going to really miss this group of seniors, I really wish I could’ve had more time with them. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to inherit and can’t thank them enough for all the work they’ve put in this year and making it such an unforgettable experience.”
New Hope-Solebury closed out its successful season with a 13-8 record, 6-4 SOL.
New Hope-Solebury 0-0 0
Camp Hill 0-1 1
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