Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Wednesday’s SOL boys’ soccer action. CR North/CR South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. CLICK HERE to go directly to the boys' soccer gallery.
By Jarrad Saffren
Twenty Suburban One League boys’ soccer teams played league games on Wednesday. There were 10 games in all.
It was another busy day in the busiest week of the 2017 season. The results and recaps are below.
SOL American
Hatboro-Horsham 6, Upper Moreland 0
It has been quite a week for Hatboro-Horsham so far. The Hatters have beaten two SOL American rivals—Springfield Township and Upper Moreland—by a combined score of 10-0.
Hatboro-Horsham has been explosive all season. But its offense is becoming even more fluid and multi-faceted.
Four Hatters scored on Monday. Five scored on Wednesday, including repeat offenders Nick Hatzenbeller, Danny Harmon and JD Mallinder. Josh Luke joined the goal-scoring party on Wednesday. He merely had an assist two days ago. Colin Bateman also joined the party with a goal.
Ryan Cole assisted on two goals. Andrew Hurrell, Jason Czaplicki and Hatzenbeller all had one assist. Hurrell scored a goal on Monday.
“The last two games we’ve had a lot of the same group of guys score. It’s a result of the work they’ve done at practice and getting better at offensive tactics,” said Hatters’ coach Kyle McGrath. “Early on we focused on getting it over the top and running it down. Now there is more movement without the ball.”
Hatzenbeller is up to 14 goals in 14 games.
“I knew he was going to have a good year. I didn’t know he was going to score as many as he’s had,” McGrath said. “He has also drawn four or five penalty kicks that other guys have finished.”
Hatboro-Horsham (11-2-1, 8-2 SOL) travels to Quakertown on Friday for a 3:15 start. Upper Moreland (0-13, 0-10 SOL) buses to Cheltenham for a 3:30 start.
Hatboro-Horsham 4-2 6
Upper Moreland 0-0 0
Upper Dublin 5, Quakertown 4
Upper Dublin won a back and forth game and kept pace with Hatboro-Horsham atop the SOL American standings. Both teams have seven league wins and 21 points.
On Wednesday, Upper Dublin took a 2-0 lead on goals from Quinn Middleton and Jerry Bardol. Middleton scored in the opening minute.
“We always start very well,” said Upper Dublin coach Andy Meehan.
But Quakertown responded with two goals to tie the game. Then Upper Dublin took a 3-2 lead on Dan Ness’s goal. Then Quakertown scored twice to take a one-goal lead into halftime.
“We forgot how to defend the cross and they were able to capitalize,” Meehan said. “That put us in a much tougher spot than we needed to be in.”
Nate Besch, Joel Welliver, Adam Wunsch and Caleb Rudloff scored Quakertown’s goals. But the Panthers were shut out after halftime.
Upper Dublin, meanwhile, scored twice in the second half to sneak by the Panthers. Bardol scored the tying goal off a free kick. Defender Garrett Breslin scored the fifth and winning goal.
“The goals we had we scored on hard work. Free kick by Jerry (Bardol) was exactly what he always does. He’s very dangerous out there,” Meehan said. “The others were deflections and putting them in, we scored two that way. We moved the ball well.”
Upper Dublin (7-2, 7-1 SOL) hosts Wissahickon on Friday at 3:30. Quakertown (2-8-2, 1-6-1 SOL) plays Hatboro-Horsham on Friday at 3:15.
Upper Dublin 3-2 5
Quakertown 4-0 4
Wissahickon 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2 (2 OT)
Wissahickon scored a goal in the second overtime to beat PW and improve to 7-2 in league play. The Trojans are one win behind Upper Dublin for first place in the SOL American. They are very much in the league title race.
Christian Vorchheimer, Jacob Cohen and Blake Geisler scored Wissahickon’s goals. Gavin Hendrick scored for the Colonials.
Wissahickon keeper Jun Yuh made three saves. The Trojans outshot the Colonials 12-8.
Wissahickon (9-3, 7-2 SOL) plays Upper Dublin on Friday at 3:30. PW (7-4-1, 6-3 SOL) battles Springfield Township on Friday at 3:30.
Wissahickon 1-1-0-1 3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-2-0-0 2
Springfield Township 1, Cheltenham 1 (2 OT)
Two overtimes could not determine a winner between the neighboring schools. Jack Meder scored with an assist from Sam Steele for Springfield. John Toulane found the net for the Panthers.
The Spartans are still second in the District One Class 2A Power Rankings, and two teams make the playoffs.
Springfield (6-4-2, 3-4-2 SOL) plays PW on Friday at 3:30. Cheltenham (3-7-1, 2-6-1 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on Friday at 3:30.
SOL National
Abington 2, Pennsbury 1
Abington’s first goal was classic team soccer. In the first half, Nevin Bair’s corner kick found Bryce Lexow on the right post, the far post. Lexow kicked the ball into the net to give Abington a 1-0 lead.
Abington’s second goal was classic Sean Touey soccer. In the second half, as Abington coach Randy Garber said, “Sean got the ball on the right side and did his magic. He got the ball, beat a defender and then beat another defender.” It was yet another unassisted goal for a junior who scores many of them.
“He’s a big, strong boy and he’s determined,” Garber said. “His ability to score is higher than most players.”
Touey has so many goals this year that Garber has lost count.
“It’s gotta be close to 20. I asked someone on the bus. He couldn’t tell me,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Sean would know.”
But Garber knows exactly how many goals Lexow has scored.
“He’s a freshman. That was his first career (varsity) goal. He was very excited,” Garber said. “We got a lot of injuries so I had to keep some freshmen with us.”
Abington does not have enough players to field a full varsity and junior varsity team. So Garber has a pool of players that swing back and forth. Lexow is in that pool.
“Four freshmen train with varsity every day. And at the last minute, we decide whether to keep them on varsity or JV that day,” Garber said. “Bryce was playing right flank today.”
Pennsbury’s Matiss Mendis scored a second half goal to make it 2-1. But Abington held off the Falcons the rest of the way. Ghosts’ keeper Nick Brownholtz made eight saves.
“Nick did a nice job in goal. Blair Barber really stepped up and Reese Gibbs too in the back. We had to make adjustments because Dave Miazio didn’t play at all because of a back injury,” Garber said. “Nevin (Baer) also had an outstanding game in the midfield.”
Abington pulled into a second-place tie with Pennsbury with this win. Both teams are now 5-3 in league play.
Abington (10-4, 5-3 SOL) hosts Neshaminy on Friday at 3:30. Pennsbury (7-4-1, 5-3 SOL) plays Neshaminy on Tuesday night at 5:30.
Abington 1-1 2
Pennsbury 0-1 1
Bensalem 2, Neshaminy 1
Robbie Montero scored two goals, including the tiebreaker with 20 minutes left, to lead Bensalem to a close win over its neighborhood rival. Montero has 10 goals in 12 games.
“There’s been no team that’s bottled him up,” said Bensalem coach Lew Mladjen.
Val Flores and Ryan Antry assisted on Montero’s goals on Wednesday.
Montero’s first goal came in the first half and gave Bensalem a 1-0 lead at halftime. Neshaminy tied the game 10 minutes into the second half. But 10 minutes later, Montero scored the go-ahead goal.
“Then it was defend, defend, defend. Neshaminy kept coming and my defense held up. Neshaminy had a number of corner kicks and they are good in the air,” Mladjen said. “Eddie Farnsworth and Val Flores played really well. It was an all-around defensive effort. Even when there was a breakdown, someone was always there to cover.”
Bensalem keeper Louis Estrada also played well, in his first start of 2017. He found out he was starting minutes before the game began.
“Our starter went down and Louie was good. He had to make a couple saves. There were a lot of balls served in and he came out and punched when he had to,” Mladjen said. “It’s not easy to keep Neshaminy to one goal. To come in cold was big.”
Bensalem (6-6, 4-5 SOL) travels to Council Rock South on Friday for a 3:30 tap. Neshaminy (3-9-1, 2-6 SOL) battles Abington at Abington on the same day and time.
Bensalem 1-1 2
Neshaminy 0-1 1
Council Rock South 1, Council Rock North 1 (2 OT)
CR South’s Dan Maggio scored on a penalty kick in the first half. CR North’s Jon Pugh answered with a penalty kick goal in the second half to make it 1-1. Neither team scored again, through the rest of regulation and two overtimes.
“I’m never satisfied unless we win. But after 100 minutes, it’s a fair result,” said CR South coach Alan Nicholl. “It was a very physical and emotional game, typical for North-South under the lights. But it wasn’t a pretty game.”
“It was a so-so game,” said CR North coach Joe Stackhouse. “We had the better of the play early. They had some better opportunities in OT. We had two go off the crossbar.
“They worked real hard. Possession-wise, we probably held the ball longer, but it is what it is. Tough environment for these kids cause of what’s at stake.”
South ended North’s undefeated, untied SOL National campaign. The Indians were 7-0 in league play coming into Wednesday. They are still in first place by six points over Abington and Pennsbury.
“The way we’ve been playing recently, we’ve been very responsive to the physical aspects of the game. The kids have been very focused. We are grinding out results,” Nicholl said. “I thought tonight for a while we were the more dominant team, and probably deserved a result. But we couldn’t quite pull it out.”
CR South (6-6-1, 4-3-1 SOL) hosts Harry S. Truman on Thursday night at six. CR North (7-4-1, 7-0-1 SOL) welcomes Bensalem on Friday at 3:30.
Council Rock South 1-0-0-0 1
Council Rock North 0-1-0-0 1
SOL Continental
Central Bucks East 4, Souderton 2
Central Bucks East won its third consecutive game and improved to 7-4. The Patriots also kept pace with North Penn atop the SOL Continental standings. They beat the Knights on Monday.
“It’s great,” said CB East coach Jerry White. “It’s unfortunate to concede two goals but it’s a good run we’re on.”
East may have conceded two goals, a season-high, but it also scored a season-high of four.
“This was our most productive offensive display. We got three goals from the run of play, which is unusual. If we can continue to do that, it’ll be great,” White said. “And in large chunks we had possession. But Souderton is a tough team. They play hard.”
Ryan Keane, Stephanos Panos, Luke Schloffel and Thomas Cannon scored East’s goals. Brenden Leasoff, Keegan Cannon and Rushil Shetty assisted on the goals.
CB East keeper Jordan Geller stopped six shots.
For the Indians, Robert Shea scored in the 40th minute, and Kidane Gebremichael found the back of the net in the 69th minute with an assist from Abbel Carranza.
Souderton goalkeeper Mitchell Race had five saves.
The Patriots (7-4, 6-2 SOL) host Pennridge on Friday at five. Souderton (2-8-2, 2-6 SOL) plays Saucon Valley on Friday at 3:30.
Central Bucks East 1-3 4
Souderton 1-1 2
North Penn 1, Central Bucks West 0
Carter Houlihan scored in the 57th minute to give North Penn a 1-0 lead. Luke McMahon assisted.
It was the only goal North Penn needed. Knights’ keeper Joey Lindsay made eight saves, including a sensational save in the final minute.
“They had a free kick and got it in the middle and the kid hit a great shot,” said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. “Joe got a hand on it and put it over the bar. That saved the win for us.”
The win kept North Penn in a first place tie with CB East. The loss dropped CB West into second. The stakes led to high intensity throughout the game.
“It very much felt like a playoff game,” Duddy said. “(CB West coach) Stefan (Szygiel) and I talked afterwards and we agreed that these games in our league prepare us for districts.”
“It was a really good high school game, district playoff environment,” Szygiel said. “It was fairly even. We both had some really dangerous spells. They did a little more finding the finish.
“They poked it through and then finished it. We have to be more heads up there. We have to recognize that in games like that one goal could decide it. We may have gotten caught ball watching a little and there you go, there’s the one goal that decides it.”
Dylan Smith recorded seven saves in goal for the Bucks.
North Penn (10-2, 6-2 SOL) hosts William Tennent on Friday at 3:45. CB West (8-4, 5-3 SOL) plays CB South on Friday at 3:30.
North Penn 0-1 1
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Pennridge 4, Central Bucks South 1
CB South took a 1-0 lead in the first four minutes. But in the 29th minute, Matt Stevenson tied the game for Pennridge.
In the second half, Marco Grenda scored off a free kick from Stevenson, breaking the tie. Later, Pat Coughlan headed the ball into the net to make it 3-1. Finally, even later in the half, Stevenson “turned and burned up the left side and kicked the ball off the left post and in,” said Pennridge coach Pete Valimont.
Stevenson has four goals in two games this week.
“He’s done really well the past couple games, fighting all over the place,” Valimont said. “It’s nothing different. It’s just starting to click a little bit.”
Pennridge has won both of its games this week, improving to 6-6. But it gets much harder for the Rams (6-6, 2-5 SOL) on Friday. They play CB East at five.
CB South (2-9-1, 2-6 SOL) plays CB West on Friday at 3:30.
Pennridge 1-3 4
Central Bucks South 1-0 1
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