Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Thursday’s SOL boys soccer games. UD/Upper Moreland photo provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography; photos from Neshaminy/CR South provided by John Gleeson; and photos from North Penn/Pennridge by Keith Clemens…CLICK HERE.
By Jarrad Saffren
Twenty Suburban One League boys soccer teams played league games Thursday, the last day of the regular season for most clubs. One played a non-league game.
Conferences crowned champions. Playoff teams strengthened or weakened their cases. And, of course, a non-playoff team upset a contender on senior night.
The results and recaps are below.
SOL Continental
North Penn 3, Pennridge 0
North Penn clinched its first league title since 2007.
“And we were in the SOL National then,” Knights coach Paul Duddy said. “It’s great. It was very satisfying for the players. I’m happy for the players and coaching staff. It feels good for the night. Hopefully we have more in us.”
North Penn finished second for five straight years from 2011-2015. The Knights finished third for three straight years from 2008-2010.
“We’ve certainly been right there for a lot of years. But CB East was a powerhouse,” Duddy said. “Give all of the credit to them. They were just a little better.”
CB East won 10 of 12 league titles from 2004-2015.
Noah Kwortnik, Nate Baxter and Mike Kohler scored for North Penn. Aidan Jerome, Kohler and Kevin Seitt assisted on the goals.
North Penn keepers Bobby Dean and Tyler Rothman made three and four saves, respectively.
“The guys were extremely happy. They did celebrate,” Duddy said. “But they also know that we still have a game tomorrow and then districts and hopefully more.”
North Penn (14-3, 10-2 SOL) plays Phoenixville Friday at 3:45. The Knights are No. 6 in the power rankings. They are 2-0 since the rankings came out.
Pennridge (6-10-1, 1-10-1 SOL) ends its season Friday against Harriton. That one starts at 3:45.
North Penn 2-1 3
Pennridge 0-0 0
Central Bucks West 5, Plumstead Christian 1
Central Bucks West closed its regular season at 9-7-2. The Bucks are 18th in the power rankings. They are 2-1 since the rankings came out.
“I’m hoping we did enough for a home playoff game. That would be nice to get one of those,” CB West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “These guys play above their pay grade when it comes to the playoffs.”
It was senior night at CB West. So of course there was a Cinderella story.
Senior Noah Griffin comes off the bench for the Bucks.
“He gets shifts and contributes,” Szygiel said. “He brings a lot of energy and pace.”
Griffin had zero varsity goals before Thursday. He scored two against Plumstead Christian.
“I was really, really happy for him,” Szygiel said. “He’s a really great kid.”
Sports. America.
A familiar name—Tarin Morris—also scored two goals for the Bucks.
“Tarin is our engine. He makes everything tick. It was good to see him come on for two goals,” Szygiel said. “He doesn’t have the stats this year but he’s our key guy. What he brings on both sides of the ball is just tremendous. He’s been in a defensive midfield role.”
Morris had two goals before Thursday. Marcos Urffer also scored for CB West. Dom Bianchini had two assists. Nick Doyle, Reed Sturza and Casey DiFrancisco each had one.
Bucks keeper Dylan Smith made three saves.
Central Bucks West 3-2 5
Plumstead Christian 1-0 1
Souderton 3, William Tennent 2
Souderton controlled what it could control.
The Indians won four of five to end the season at 10-8 (5-7 in SOL Continental play). They are No. 31 in the District One Class 4A Power Rankings. Twenty-four teams make the 4A playoffs.
They have nothing else to do but wait.
Souderton’s Cameron Hart scored in the 11th minute. Dylan Molyneaux assisted. Ray Ricci scored Souderton’s second goal, in the 63rd minute. Ben Campman netted the game winner in the 73rd. Nick Marculo assisted.
Central Bucks East 2, Central Bucks South 0
Central Bucks East closed a strong regular season at 11-4-3.
The record is especially impressive when you consider that the Patriots lost nine starters—and legendary coach Mike Gorni—from their 2015 PIAA Class 3A champion.
CB East finished 9-2-1 in SOL Continental play. North Penn went 10-2. So the Patriots fell two points short of their 11th league title in 13 seasons.
But they should still earn a home first round playoff game. The Pats are No. 11 in the power rankings. They went 1-0-1 this week.
Will Eisold and Tanner Chwal scored a goal each for the Patriots.
Central Bucks South may be in trouble. The Titans lost their last two games and finished 9-8-1 (6-5-1 in Continental play).
They are No. 25 in the power rankings, the first team out. And they are 1-2 since the rankings came out on Sunday.
SOL National
Council Rock South 2, Neshaminy 1
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley always talks about how Council Rock South gives his team fits.
The Golden Hawks did so again on Thursday.
Kevin Bowers scored both goals for CR South. Ethan Benedict and Conor Sweeney assisted. The Hawks led 2-0 at halftime.
Neshaminy scored midway through the second half. But South held on.
“I thought we looked good tonight, worked hard and deserved the points,” South coach Alan Nicholl said. “It’s an interesting feeling to finish the season with a win against an excellent Neshaminy team, and yet fall short of our goal of making the postseason.”
South ends the season at 7-9-1 overall and 4-7-1 in SOL National play.
“The SOL National is a beast,” Nicholl said. “And I’m proud to have been as competitive as we were.”
Neshaminy closes at 13-5 and 8-4. The Redskins are fourth in the power rankings and 1-1 since they came out.
Council Rock South 2-0 2
Neshaminy 0-1 1
Abington 3, Bensalem 0
Abington closed at 11-6 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Ghosts are 15th in the power rankings and 1-1 since they came out. They will almost certainly make the playoffs.
Micah Portis scored two goals for Abington Thursday. Juan Castillo had two assists. Sean Touey also scored. The Ghosts took a 2-0 lead into halftime and never looked back.
Bensalem ends 2016 at 5-9-1 and 3-8-1.
Abington 2-1 3
Bensalem 0-0 0
Pennsbury 5, Harry S. Truman 1
Pennsbury won three straight games to end the season, finishing 15-3. They went 9-3 in SOL National play and finished second to Council Rock North.
Andrew Roccograndi scored a pair of goals while Randy Dickersbach, Joe Ficarotta and Nyles Cayemitte each added a single goal.
The Falcons are No. 5 in the power rankings and should earn a bye in the first round. They are 2-0 since the rankings came out.
Harry S. Truman closes at 5-13 overall and 0-12 in league play.
SOL American
Upper Dublin 3, Upper Moreland 0
Upper Dublin clinched the SOL American title for the second straight year. The Flying Cardinals are 23-3-2 against American opponents in the last two seasons.
“I was very pleased for the guys. They were delighted,” UD coach Derek Priest said. “We have been at the top of the league all year. And we were the one with the targets on us, so it was nice to get over the line.”
Chris Touchete, Jerry Bardol and Jose Palomeque scored for Upper Dublin. Jason Stone stoned three shots.
Upper Dublin is No. 8 in the power rankings. Eight teams earn byes in the 4A first round.
“Losing to CB West on Monday may have hurt us. It’s really difficult to say,” Priest said. “The players were saying they’d prefer the bye. But me, I say it’d be nice to have the rest. But either way, we’ll make sure we’ll be ready.”
Upper Moreland ends the regular season at 7-10-1. The Golden Bears are eighth in the 3A power rankings. Eight teams make the playoffs. But UM is 0-2 since the rankings came out.
Wissahickon 2, Springfield 0
Wissahickon ended the season on a 10-1-1 tear. With this win, the Trojans moved into second place in the American standings. Hatboro-Horsham held that spot all season. The Trojans leapfrogged the Hatters on Thursday.
“We’ve been on a nice run,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. “Everyone’s doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
Eddie Fortescue and Jacob Cohen scored for Wissahickon. David Goldstein assisted on Fortescue’s goal.
Wissahickon is ninth in the power rankings, one spot below the last bye. The Trojans are 3-0 since the rankings came out.
“It’s a system that I really haven’t adjusted to,” Malcolm said. “I just try to put together a decent non-league schedule against large programs to see how we match up.”
Springfield (6-10-1, 5-8-1 SOL) plays Lower Moreland in its season finale Friday at 3:30. Springfield is third in the 2A rankings. Two teams make the playoffs.
Cheltenham 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Cheltenham sent its coach and seniors out with a win over a district playoff team.
On senior night at Cheltenham, a junior and a sophomore led the Panthers to victory.
Junior Colin Boyle scored in the 62nd minute. Boyle launched the ball over the keeper’s head from 60 yards away.
“The keeper was looking forward thinking the ball was going to get crossed, and it went over his head,” Cheltenham coach Chuck Gesing said. “It was a fortuitous bounce.”
Sophomore keeper Justin Grady made 12 saves.
“Some were him coming off the line and grabbing balls that were floated in,” Gesing said. “But still, if he doesn’t grab them, it’s a goal scoring opportunity.”
Gesing is stepping down as Cheltenham’s coach after seven seasons.
“This was my swan song,” Gesing said. “It was a great way to send me off. I’m happy for the kids and happy for myself.”
Gesing went 49-67-6 in seven seasons. His daughter is a freshman at Abington.
“I missed all but three of her games this year,” Gesing said. “I’m looking forward to watching her play next year.”
The Panthers celebrated after the biggest win of their season.
“You would have thought we won the Olympics,” Gesing said. “They were thrilled.”
Hatboro-Horsham ends the season at 12-3-3 overall and 9-2-3 in league play. The Hatters fell to third in the American with this loss. They led second-place Wissahickon all season.
Hatboro-Horsham is 10th in the power rankings. H-H went 0-1-1 this week.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Quakertown 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh went 7-3 in its last 10 games.
“We went down early in the season and turned things around. We found some scoring combinations near the end of the season,” PW coach Jeff Heaton said. “Adding Rich Veon up top was key. He’s a taller guy who can hold the ball and distribute wide. That helped a lot for us.”
At 8-9-1, PW will most likely miss the playoffs. The Colonials are 36th in the power rankings.
But young players emerged down the stretch.
“Sophomores and juniors who came up came into their own,” Heaton said. “Andrew Stricklin and Tommy Hoy. Kenny Diamond was one of the juniors who started coming into his own midway through the season.”
Heaton hopes they can carry that momentum into 2017.
“We’ll have to come up with some new combinations for our D,” Heaton said. “But we have a good core coming back. There should be good things on the horizon for them.”
Jacobe Sandcroft scored PW’s first goal on Thursday. Alex Goldring scored the game-winner in overtime. PW keeper Patrick Corpus made two saves.
“But I have to give hats off to their keeper, Stephen Hippauf. He stood on his head and played an unbelievable game,” Heaton said. “We had the vast majority of possessions. They didn’t make it to our half too many times. Rich Veon played well up top, holding the ball, distributing the ball.”
Quakertown ends 2016 at 5-13 overall and 3-11 in league play.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1-1 2
Quakertown 1-0-0 1
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