Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday. CR North/William Tennent photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
American Conference
Upper Dublin 3, Abington 1
The key to having a successful season is to focus on what is directly ahead … to follow the old adage of taking it “one game at a time.”
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple key dates circled on the schedule.
The last time Abington and Upper Dublin squared off, on Sept. 10, the Ghosts came away with a 2-0 win. From the moment the final whistle sounded in that game, the Flying Cardinals had their eyes on Friday, the second meeting of the two American Conference powers.
And this time, the Cardinals turned the tables, handing Abington its first league loss of the season.
“This was a big one for us,” Upper Dublin coach Andy Meehan said. “We had this one marked off for a while since we played them the first game. We knew we could have played better, and this game today just shows it.
“(The first game) highlighted some of the mistakes we continually made, so that’s the stuff we worked on throughout the season. Now with all the hard work they’ve been putting in, they’re improving, and we’re improving almost every single game. Today was another step. We played exactly how we wanted to play against them. We had a game plan going in, and everyone executed it to perfection.”
Jordan Kahny scored off a free kick from Oliver Berman in the 10th minute to open the scoring for Upper Dublin.
“We had a good start, which is something that we’ve been working on,” Meehan said. “We just continued to pile on the pressure.”
Reese Gibbs knotted the score on a penalty kick in the 28th minute, and the two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1.
“They got the PK, and it kind of changed the momentum a bit,” Meehan said. “Then we regrouped and got everything together and started playing again.
“One of our focuses is not letting things we can’t control affect the way we play, and today really showed it. They really responded to that.”
Midway through the second half, Upper Dublin broke through as Sean Seabrook finished a setup from Giovanni Astorino. Seabrook added his second on a free kick later in the half to add to the Cardinals’ lead.
“Everybody stepped up today,” Meehan said. “It was one of those things where everybody had a good game. In particular, some people did have spectacular games. Sean Seabrook has been a player who always works his butt off every single practice, every single game. You know that he’s going to bring maximum effort. Now he’s starting to be rewarded for that by continuing to score goals. He’s really stepped up, and he had a really good game today.
“Jordan Skversky in goal, he had a couple of really good saves that kept us in the game. He was really big back there in goal.”
Meehan praised the play of center backs Oliver Berman and Ciaran Sutherland and outside backs Zach Berman and Ethan Hill.
“Offensively, I know that we have talent, and that shouldn’t be a problem, but defense was an issue for us early on,” Meehan said. “But our entire back line has been getting better every single game. It’s at the point now where they’re really starting to figure each other out. They’re getting great chemistry, they’re talking to each other, and they’re doing all the little things right. They’ve been really stepping up, and they’ve been huge for us.
“That was an issue for us going into the season because we lost essentially our entire back line with the exception of Oliver. He was the only returning starter in the back line, and he’s actually playing out of position, so he’s stepping up in a role we need.”
The victory moves Upper Dublin to 7-3 SOL, 8-6 overall and gives the team momentum as well as a key victory as teams shuffle for postseason position.
“This will be big for us moving forward as far as the playoff picture,” Meehan said. “Hopefully, we can continue this momentum we have that has been building up towards.”
Upper Dublin looks to continue its winning ways when it visits Upper Moreland on Monday. Abington (8-1-1, 10-2-1) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh on Monday.
Abington 1 0—1
Upper Dublin 1 2—3
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Upper Moreland 0
Getting out to a quick start is becoming a trademark of the Hatboro-Horsham boys’ soccer team. For the fifth straight game, the Hatters scored in the opening 16 minutes to stake themselves out to an early lead en route to a 2-0 win over neighboring rival Upper Moreland.
“We talked before the game – any time we can start a game like that, it gives us a very good opportunity to win,” Hatters’ coach Kyle McGrath said. “We like to get off to fast starts, and we were able to capitalize on an opportunity, and that was the game-winning goal.”
On this day it was Matt Harmon (Enrico Romano assist) in the 15th minute to open the scoring with what would hold up as the game-winner.
“We had a throw-in deep in their end, and Zach Joachim threw it into the box, and Enrico Romano flicked it on,” McGrath said. “Matty was open at the top of the six, and he just poked it home.”
Harmon returned the favor late in the second half, setting up Romano on the second goal with about five minutes left in the game.
“Matty Harmon picked up a ball on our half of the field, beat a guy on the dribble and then played a through ball to Enrico Romano, who finished on a breakaway,” McGrath said.
The H-H back four of Joachim, Vince Buccafuri, Caleb Hudson, and Jake Weiss helped the visitors maintain the shutout.
“My back four – any time we get a shutout, that’s great,” McGrath said. “They did a good job of keeping Upper Moreland off the scoresheet.
“It was a tricky game because it was very windy today. The first half we were going into the wind and we couldn’t really connect a lot of passes, and free kicks were dangerous for Upper Moreland because of the wind. In the second half, we had the wind, and we kind of controlled most of the second half.”
The Hatters (8-1-1 SOL, 10-2-1 overall) at back in action Monday at Springfield Township. The Golden Bears (3-7, 5-8) host Upper Dublin on Monday.
Hatboro-Horsham 1 1—2
Upper Moreland 0 0—0
Wissahickon 3, Springfield Twp 1
Wissahickon netted a pair of goals in the second half to lift the Trojans to a 3-1 victory over Springfield Twp in Friday’s American Conference game.
Nathan D’Aquanno scored in the first half as Wissahickon took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Leo Morales and Jake Slackman added second-half goals for the Trojans.
Mike Iller (Matt Leibfreid assist) scored Springfield’s only goal.
Wissahickon improves to 5-5 SOL, 5-8 overall. The Trojans return to action when they host Senior Night on Monday against Cheltenham. Springfield drops to 3-7, 5-7. The Spartans host Hatboro-Horsham on Monday afternoon.
Springfield Twp 0 1—1
Wissahickon 1 2—3
National Conference
Bensalem 2, Pennsbury 2, OT
There might not be a hotter team in the area than Bensalem. After losing its first five games, the Owls rode a dominating eight-game winning streak into Friday’s matchup against National Conference frontrunner Pennsbury.
So while the Falcons didn’t come away with a win, Friday’s 2-2 tie – which saw Pennsbury battle back from a 2-0 deficit – was a pretty acceptable result.
“I don’t know if in my 11 years I’ve seen a run quite like Bensalem is on, so to get out of there and slow them down a little bit, I’ll take it,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “We literally were the last team to beat them. We scored eight goals against them (in an 8-4 win on Sept. 10) – you would think they’re buried. They gave up eight goals and they’re 0-5, but to go on the run that they have is very impressive. We were at least able to slow them down a little bit and protect our standings where they lay and give ourselves a chance to keep moving forward.
“We certainly didn’t play our best, but all things considered, we got a result out of it that we can live with.”
Bensalem started the game strong against the league and district power, and the Owls opened the scoring early when Ryan Antry earned a penalty kick in the first six minutes. Bensalem captain Jordan Lee took the kick and buried it to put the Owls on the board.
Dictating much of the first-half play, Bensalem would add to its lead when Antry beat his defender baseline and crossed the ball to Brian Gibson, who deflected it into the net.
With just under 10 minutes left in the half, Evan Reichard scored on a great individual effort to put Pennsbury on the board and cut Bensalem’s lead in half.
With about 15 minutes left in the second half, Zach Summer scored on a corner kick after a scramble in the box to tie the game at 2-2.
“Pennsbury kept hitting long balls to try to get past the defense, but we fought off a lot,” Bensalem coach Rob Brown said. “Pennsbury did eventually get an equalizer.
“One of their goals was controversial. The ball was played high and keeper Chris Rowan caught the ball and was hit by a Pennsbury player. The ball came loose, and they finished the play for a goal.”
The overtime saw both teams get some scoring opportunities, but neither was able to capitalize.
Bensalem moves to 5-3-1 SOL, 8-5-1 overall. The Owls are back in action on Monday when they host Council Rock South. Pennsbury stands at 6-1-1, 9-1-2 and will visit William Tennent Monday evening.
Bensalem 2 0 0—2
Pennsbury 1 1 0—2
Council Rock North 3, William Tennent 0
Facing a nasty wind and a game William Tennent squad, Council Rock North scored twice in the first half and earned a 3-0 victory over the Panthers.
North was able to spread out playing time, with 25 players getting onto the field during the matchup. Senior captain Vinny Colon led the way for the Indians, scoring the game’s first goal and assisting goals by Matt Cobos and Christian DiSomone.
“Everyone played very well and stayed disciplined, kept a high work rate, and we defended restarts well, which has been our Achilles’ heel all season,” said North coach Joe Stackhouse.
Jeremy Berman recorded three saves and posted the shutout.
North improved to 5-3-1 SOL, 7-4-2 overall, and will visit Neshaminy under the lights on Monday evening. Tennent falls to now 3-6, 5-7 and will host Neshaminy in a Monday evening matchup.
Council Rock North 2 1—3
William Tennent 0 0—0
Neshaminy 2, Harry S Truman 0
Sometimes, you gotta win ugly.
While Friday’s National Conference tilt between Neshaminy and Harry S Truman wasn’t pretty, a win is a win, and Neshaminy pulled out a 2-0 victory to keep pace near the top of the conference.
Neshaminy earned the first goal on what was officially credited as a Truman own goal in the opening period.
“It could have been over the line, but Mike Albarran forced them into a bad pass, so he kind of followed the ball into the net – I don’t know if he was over the line or not,” Neshaminy coach Mark Foley said.
There was no doubt that Neshaminy’s second goal – scored 10 minutes into the second half – came from Albarran.
“It was a nice sequence up the field,” Foley said. “He got a pass from Connor Steele, and he shot from about 18 yards. It kind of deflected off of one of their kids and into the goal.
“Mike is kind of our all-purpose penknife. We put him up top to get goals, and then when we get goals, we put him in the middle in the back. He played all over the field today.”
Foley also praised the play of Cole Jackson.
“Cole did a nice job later in the second half in the defensive midfield,” Foley said. “One of our kids got hurt who usually does that, so he jumped back and did a nice job there. We played pretty solidly defensively. We had a couple of bumbles at the end, but overall, we played pretty solid defense all game.
“We had most of the possession, but let’s put it this way – I’m not going to send it to the Soccer Hall of Fame. It was a good week for us. We played well against Bensalem and Abington (in one-goal losses) and didn’t get the results, so it was good to get two wins this week going into next week, getting to 9-4, which is nice. We’ll go from there. We have a tough game against Council Rock North Monday night, and we can’t look past them.”
Neshaminy improves to 6-3 SOL, 9-4 overall; Neshaminy will host Council Rock North on Monday evening. Truman drops to 0-7-2, 4-7-2 and will take on Bensalem on the road on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 1 1—2
Harry S Truman 0 0—0
Continental Conference
North Penn 1, Central Bucks East 0
Ryan Stewart knocked home a rebound of a Carter Houlihan shot with four minutes left in regulation to boost North Penn to a 1-0 victory over Central Bucks East in a battle of Continental Conference frontrunners.
With the victory, North Penn avenged its only league loss, a 1-0 defeat at the Patriots’ hands in the teams’ first meeting of the season.
The Knights improve to 7-1 SOL, 12-1 overall, and will be back in action Monday evening at Quakertown. East drops to 5-2-1, 6-4-2, and will look to bounce back when Souderton visits on Monday afternoon.
North Penn 0 1—1
Central Bucks East 0 0—0
Central Bucks South 1, Souderton 0
A second-half goal by Kyle Rylack stood up as the only tally of the game as Central Bucks South topped Souderton in a Friday evening game under the lights.
Riley Finger had seven saves in net for the Indians.
Both teams are back in action on Monday, when Souderton (3-5-2 SOL, 6-6-2 overall) visits Central Bucks East and South (5-3-2, 8-4-2) hosts Pennridge.
Central Bucks South 0 1—1
Souderton 0 0—0
Nonleague
Council Rock South 8, New Foundations Charter 0
Mike Morini posted a four-assist effort as five different players scored and eight players in all contributed at least one point as Council Rock South dominated New Foundations Charter, 8-0, in nonleague play on Friday.
Connor Weinberg scored twice and added an assist, Trey Blazik and Gavin Hagan each added two goals, and Andrew Rosenfeld and Colby Brown each netted one. In addition to Morini’s quartet of assists, Rosenfeld, Weinberg, Jake Brossman, and Damon Andreoli each chipped in with one assist.
Andrew Roberto and Kieran Barry split time in goal to record the shutout for the Golden Hawks, who led 6-0 at halftime.
The Hawks improve to 5-7-1 overall (2-7-1 SOL), and will look to build on this win as they visit Neshaminy on Monday for a National Conference matchup.
New Foundations Charter 0 0 – 0
Council Rock South 6 2 – 8
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