Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Monday. CB West/CR North photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Patriot/Colonial Division Crossover
Central Bucks West 3, Council Rock North 1
Amidst a six-game winless stretch earlier in the season, Central Bucks West coach Stefan Szygiel challenged his young team to understand the legacy of Bucks soccer and what it meant to be a part of that legacy.
It seems that the players were listening. The Bucks broke the skid with a 6-0 win over Bensalem last week, Szygiel’s 100th win as head coach. After stumbling against district powerhouse Conestoga over the weekend, the Bucks bounced back again, toppling Patriot Division frontrunner Council Rock North by a 3-1 count in Monday’s crossover game.
“I’m pleased with how we played, and we told the boys, ‘That’s great, but you have to keep going,’” Szygiel said. “This group, because they’re so young and inexperienced, any time they experience a little bit of success they feel like, ‘That was pretty good, that’s good enough.’ The answer to that is a resounding, ’No, that’s not good enough. You have to follow it up, you have to show consistency.’”
Kevin Leiva-Benitez (Ben Sterling and Wade Haflett assists) and AJ Rihl (Leiva-Benitez assist) staked the Bucks out to a 2-0 halftime lead.
“It was nice to see Kevin and AJ get on the scoresheet today,” Szygiel said. “They’ve been working hard for us, so that was good for them to get on the scoresheet.”
North cut it to 2-1 about 15 minutes into the second half on a goal from Nick Wise. In addition to Wise, North received strong efforts from defender Jeremy Kamp and midfielder Nick Cirincione.
Rihl netted his second of the game (Carter Philo assist) shortly thereafter to regain the two-goal lead for West.
“I was actually pleased, we came back down to their end pretty quickly, and AJ Rihl got on the end of a good Carter Philo ball, and he was able to put it away,” Szygiel said.
Griffin Blokker made 6 saves to record the win in goal for West. But Blokker was one of many West players who shined on this day.
“We have a senior center mid, Justin Moore, who the past few games has been really, really grinding for us and doing a great job patrolling the middle of the park, and doing all the things that we need center mids in our program to do,” Szygiel said. “That was something we didn’t have the first six, seven games from anybody. He’s really starting to give it to us, and it’s rubbing off on the guys around him.
“My whole backline area, I’m pretty pleased with them: Ryan Horst, Zach Martine, Joey Dowd, Kyle Flaherty, and Chase Peterson. Those five rotated through the back and did a nice job. Our sophomore goalkeeper Griffin Blokker really played with more maturity. Not that he hasn’t been playing with maturity, but he was putting his body on the line today. That’s what this game is, that’s what this league is. You’re going to get bopped around, and you’ve got to deal with it. He was putting in the physical part of the game today, which you have to do. You’re not going to win games in this league if you aren’t willing to put your body on the line.”
With the victory, West improves to 4-7-1 overall, 4-5-1 Colonial Division. The Bucks will look to continue their winning ways when they visit Harry S Truman at 3:30 pm Wednesday. North (4-6-1 overall, 4-5-1 Patriot Division) visits North Penn at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Central Bucks West 2-1 3
Council Rock North 0-1 1
Pennridge 4, Council Rock South 1
Jake Saville scored twice and Aiden Castle scored once and added two assists as Pennridge exploded for four late second-half goals en route to a 4-1 victory over Council Rock South in Monday’s crossover game.
“Aiden Castle was fantastic, really just working his butt off,” said Pennridge coach Pete Valimont. “Jake Saville as well, and Shane Velez in the back. Shane and Tommy McKinney really just locked things down. It got a little sloppy at times here and there, but overall, they did a really, really nice job keeping everybody under control, marks and shots defended.”
The two teams battled through a scoreless first half and more than half the second period before Pennridge found the back of the net.
“The first half was a couple chances for them, a couple chances for us,” Valimont said. “We hit the crossbar at the end of the first half with a couple seconds left. It was pretty even, pretty fair. With 18 minutes left, we broke it open, so a good 60 minutes of back and forth. Each of us had a good amount of chances here and there.”
Saville opened the scoring (Castle assist) with 18 minutes left in regulation. Saville followed it up less than 3 minutes later off an assist from his brother Ryan Saville. Castle then set up Nicky Williams for a 3-0 lead with 12 minutes left.
“He was able to cut up their last defender and slot a nice ball in,” Valimont said of Williams’ tally.
Everett Kurtz (Stepan Kovalev assist) put Council Rock South on the board before Jhoa Hernandez set up Castle for the final goal of the game.
“Jhoa stepped in, drove one right down the middle of the field, laid it off perfectly to Castle, and he was able to do the rest,” Valimont said. “Our final shot, our final pass wasn’t there at the beginning. Once we were able to catch them a little bit, I think the two goals back-to-back opened things up a little bit and then we were able to really open it up with goals three and four. Overall, we were playing on grass away, tough team. It’s always great to see coach Alan (Nicholl). It was great catching up with him. He does a fantastic job. I hope they can make their way in. It would be great for the playoffs.”
South coach Alan Nicholls was happy with his team’s efforts – up to a point.
“It’s the closest blowout I’ve ever been part of,” Nicholl said. “At the end of the day, we lost to a better team. While we were very much up for it for 60 minutes, I was very disappointed with our last 20. We had no response and lacked a bit of maturity and focus in sticking to the game plan. Pennridge has a very potent offense, and we couldn’t afford the mental mistakes so late in the game. It was a good lesson for us, albeit a costly one.”
With the victory, Pennridge improves to 8-1-2 overall, 6-1-2 Colonial Division. The Rams host Bensalem at 3:30 pm Wednesday. The Golden Hawks (7-4-0 overall, 5-4-0 Patriot Division) will look to get back on the winning track when they visits Souderton for an 8 pm game under the lights on Wednesday.
Pennridge 0-4 4
Council Rock South 0-1 1
Souderton 2, Neshaminy 1
Tyler Bovell and Brandon Fornwall scored seven minutes apart late in the second half to rally Souderton to a 2-1 victory over Neshaminy in Monday’s crossover matchup.
“Neshaminy has very athletic kids, and they have good size throughout the field,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner. “They were really able to take it to us in some stages of the game, but our boys responded well. We were able to have a good talk at halftime and made some changes in the second half after we were down a goal.
“I think the whole team showed a lot of character. I think it’s a really good character win for us as a program for their ability to play all the way to the final whistle, overcoming a setback—a tough goal to concede—against a really, really good team in Neshaminy. I think the whole team came together and said, ‘Hey, listen, we’re at home, we’re playing well, we’re on a good roll right now as a team, we want to keep pushing ourselves forward.’ They dug in, and they were really, really effective towards the end of the game. The whole team deserves credit tonight.”
Matt Lamb scored off a Rich Faul setup to open the scoring and give Neshaminy a 1-0 lead.
“Matt came in from the left side and hammered it with his right foot, which was nice because he’s a left-footed player,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “It kind of ticked off somebody and went right under the crossbar and was a really nice goal.”
But Souderton regrouped and rallied in the final eight minutes of the game. Bovell scored in the 72nd minute off a long throw from Matt Andryushin, then Fornwall added the second off a corner kick (Thomas Smith and Ryan Schewe assists) in the 79th minute. Aidan McClure made four saves in net for the Indians.
“Once we got it tied, we felt like we had generated the better play over the last 15, 20 minutes of the game, and we said, ‘We’re not doing to change anything. We’re going to stay in it, and we’re going to push for the winner because we feel like we have some really positive momentum going,’” Benner said. “(On the game-winner), the ball got played to the back post, Thomas Smith had a really strong header, played it back across goal, Ryan Schewe actually had a header that was played toward goal that was cleared off the line and fell back to Brandon about 12 yards out and he put a really good left-footed shot off the post and in. He kept his composure really well, kept his head up and put it home.”
For Neshaminy, the defeat comes with the bitter sting of knowing the team lost another game it had every opportunity to win.
“It’s the same old story with us: We carry the play for large portions. We had several opportunities to put a stake in their heart and we didn’t,” Foley said. “We lost a mark in the box on the long throw. I watched the video, and their kid snuck behind one of our guys, and he went up unchallenged and flicked it past our goalkeeper. That’s a mental breakdown that can’t happen.
“We give up a corner with a minute left and one of my guys does something silly and gets a yellow card, so he’s off the field, and he’s one of my better players, and lo and behold, they score on a corner kick with a minute left in a game we had a pretty firm grasp on, and we let it slip through our fingers again. It’s at a point where my guys have to understand that we are what our record says we are. We’re 4-5-2 (overall, 3-4-2 Patriot Division). We have to turn things around or we’re going to be on the outside looking in, that’s the problem.”
Foley lauded the efforts of several players.
“Matt Lamb did a great job, Vince DiMaria did great today, and Richie Faul did a great job,” the Redskins’ coach said. “All the kids should learn from them. They go out there, they do their job, they say nothing, and they work 100 percent. When they come off, they’re tired, and as soon as they’re recovered, they get back in again, and they’re just a pleasure to be around. I wish all players could be like that. They do everything that’s expected of them, and they’re always looking to do more. Sometimes players like those guys might not be the most skillful in the world, but they more than make up for it with their hard work and attitude. They’re a coach’s dream to have. I’m happy for those guys. They really played well tonight.”
Souderton moves to 7-1-2 overall, 5-1-2 Colonial Division, and hosts Staff Appreciation Night in hosting Council Rock South at 8 pm Wednesday. Neshaminy will try to get back on the winning track when it hosts Central Bucks South under the lights at 7 pm Wednesday.
Souderton 0-2 2
Neshaminy 0-1 1
North Penn 4, Bensalem 1
It doesn’t seem to matter where on the field Hunter Stites lines up. He’s going to find the net.
Despite moving into the midfield for Monday’s crossover game against Bensalem, Stites still dented the twine three times to lead North Penn past the Owls by a 4-1 count.
“I actually moved Hunter from the forward line to holding center mid, and he still scored the first goal,” said North Penn coach Chris DePeppe. “After that, he started pushing forward a little bit.”
Stites scored off a Jimmy Perrin corner kick six minutes into the game. Less than 10 minutes later, Stites netted his second (Kyle McKeever assist) to make it 2-0 before Bensalem cut the lead in half.
“We were up 2-nil but we just kept making terrible mistakes out of the back—miscommunication, not talking, and Bensalem got in on one and should have actually had two,” DePeppe said. “I expressed my dissatisfaction at halftime, but we came out and took care of things in the second half and were able to secure the win.”
Dan Lee scored his first varsity goal (Riley Baker assist) as the Knights regained the two-goal cushion.
“Riley, on the right wing, beat his man, got in the box, made a nice pass to Dan, who finished a one-timer in close,” DePeppe said.
Stites closed out the scoring off an assist from Jack Gorham late in the second half.
In addition to those who marked up the scoresheet, DePeppe praised the consistent excellence of Alex Stewart in the midfield.
“Alex just continues to be the absolute workhorse and dynamo at center mid for us,” DePeppe said. “There’s no replacing his energy in the middle of the pitch.”
North Penn moves to 7-3-0 overall, 6-2-0 for first place in the Colonial Division. The Knights host Council Rock North at 3:45 pm Wednesday a showdown between division leaders. Bensalem (2-8-1, 2-7-0 Patriot Division) visits Pennridge at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
North Penn 2-2 4
Bensalem 0-1 1
Central Bucks South 2, Pennsbury 0
Central Bucks South came frustratingly close to finding the net through the first 66 minutes of Monday’s crossover game against Pennsbury.
“More crossbars hit, another couple of near misses, we made their goalie stretch out a bunch,” said South coach Joe Coscia. “We just kept knocking on the door. The second half started, we made a couple of adjustments. It was a little bit back and forth. No team had clear possession of the ball. It was an evenly contested half. They didn’t get behind my backline too much. They just kept playing long balls over the top, so we caught them offsides a few times, they overhit a few balls, Logan Campbell headed a few back to Aydan Horniak in net to kind of stop the chance.”
Finally, in the 67th minute, South broke through as AJ Peev scored off a corner kick from Aidan Davis as the Titans battled to a 2-0 victory.
“We got a corner kick, and we had already tested them on a couple—a header off the post, another near miss,” Coscia said. “Aidan (Davis) hit a beautiful ball in under the crossbar, and AJ beat his man, swung his leg at it and volleyed it to the top corner.
“From there, they started pushing a lot of guys higher. We were kind of content to see out the win. I took AJ off with about five minutes left, put Sean Rieber up top, and he did a great job holding onto the ball, winning us a couple of throw-ins, kicking it off defenders, holding the ball in the corner of the field to run some time down.”
Thijs Popma scored on a counter attack in the final seconds of the game on a nice solo effort.
Coscia had plenty of praise to pass around after the hard-fought victory.
“Definitely to Aydan Horniak, my goalkeeper, for the shutout,” Coscia said. “Logan Campbell, Dennis Cleary were excellent. Eric Green, my left back, and I definitely want to give a shoutout to a guy I called up off the bench, and he had an absolutely phenomenal second half—Reese Levinson, who played right back.”
While Pennsbury took the loss, there were plenty of positives to be seen on this day.
“We have had a rough go of late, but tonight we were very good against an outstanding opponent, and we had a chance at the end to equalize,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “I am very pleased with our group to be able to rebound after a tough three-game stretch. It was a great team effort on our part.”
Pennsbury (3-5-2 overall, 3-5-1 Patriot Division) hosts Central Bucks East at 3:30 pm Wednesday. South (8-2-1, 6-2-1 Colonial Division) visits Neshaminy for a 7 pm Wednesday game.
Central Bucks South 0-2 2
Pennsbury 0-0 0
Central Bucks East 4, Harry S Truman 1
Prior to Monday’s crossover game against Harry S Truman, the Central Bucks East soccer team honored its elder statesmen with a Senior Day ceremony.
Those seniors then helped boost the Patriots to a decisive 4-1 win over the Tigers.
Senior Dylan Rose scored twice and classmate Liam Darreff added two assists to break open a game that was scoreless at halftime. By game’s end, all 13 seniors— Casey Prajzner, Dan Kuhns, Matt Patrick, Nick Knepp, Pranav Kuppuswamy, Ethan Green, Armaan Ahmed, Owen Willis, Drew Owen, Brock Davis, Ethan Zhang, Rose, Darreff—had a chance to play, including a three-goalie rotation to make sure the senior keepers had a chance to get in the game.
Jared Needles had a goal and an assist for East and Michael Montabana scored once.
East improves to 6-3-2 overall, 5-2-2 Colonial Division and visits Pennsbury at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Truman (0-10-0, 0-9-0 Patriot Division) looks for its first win of the season when it hosts Central Bucks West at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Harry S Truman 0-1 1
Central Bucks East 0-4 4
Liberty/Freedom Division Crossover
New Hope-Solebury 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0
There are big wins, and then there are BIG wins.
The Lions’ win over the Hatters – their first win in 10 games this season – falls into the latter category. Exactly how big was it? So big that the Lions, one of three teams in District One 2A, vaulted from third to second over a Collegium Charter squad that boasts a 4-6 record.
“To beat Hatboro-Horsham at their place was huge,” NHS coach Dave Bachart said. “That one win just threw us into the playoffs. We play all big schools, and we’ll be ready to go into this and do our thing.
“This was our first complete game, and we finished strong. It was a huge win for us.”
Ethan Sirken scored the game’s only goal in the first 10 minutes of the game.
“It was a ball across, and he happened to be at the right place at the right time and was inside the 18 and put it in the back of the net,” Bachart said.
After that, the Lions threw some serious defense at the Hatters.
“We didn’t park the bus, but we went to a more defensive shape and tried to hold them at bay,” Bachart said. “Our instruction at halftime was – ‘Please don’t give up three corner kicks in a row like we just did to end the half,’ and we gave up three corner kicks to start the half. I was like, ‘Oh no!’”
The Lions’ defense held, and there was plenty of credit to go around, starting with goalkeeper Kyle Campbell.
“Kyle came up big – he had a lot of great saves, and he had a huge save in the second half,” Bachart said. “Kyle Northrup is my center back, and he and Declan Curran were working their tails off in the back to keep them from running through the middle. Also, Logan Moore in the midfield was a huge part of the defense, clogging the middle.”
There was no mistaking the significance of the win for a NHS squad that entered the SOL last year.
“Last year was only eight games, and it wasn’t that big of a transition, but this year, going with the full 18 games and playing the bigger schools – we’ve led most of our games, but we just kind of petered out at the end and given up goals we shouldn’t have given up,” Bachart said. “The only team we didn’t lead against was Abington, and they’re a great club.
“We were up and coming back for most of the games, but we never completed the games. Last night, we were worried going into the second half because a one-goal lead is nothing, it can turn on a dime. Hatboro-Horsham certainly had their chances to change that. When we got to 20 minutes left, they started to realize what was at stake here, and being 0-9 coming into the game – we’ve never been in that situation in a team, and I’ve been with the team for 18 years.”
New Hope-Solebury (1-9, 1-7 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Wednesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (7-4, 6-3) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Wednesday.
New Hope-Solebury 1-0 1
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5, William Tennent 1
Despite playing down one man for about 60 minutes, Plymouth Whitemarsh gutted out a decisive 5-1 win over William Tennent in Monday’s crossover game.
About 20 minutes into the contest, a Colonial player was red-carded for speaking to the referee, leaving the hosts with 10 players for the rest of the game.
“It was for sure a long time, but honestly our guys didn’t even seem to be bothered by it,” PW coach Rich Kessler said of the man-down situation.Joe Redmond scored for the Colonials from just inside the 18-yard line about 5 minutes into the first half. Henry Couchara scored on a corner kick a few minutes later, then Luke Edwin made it 3-0 before Tennent scored its lone goal in the 17th minute to make it 3-1.
Mason Clatterbuck scored on a counter attack midway through the second half to up the PW lead to 4-1 before Brendan Corpus capped the scoring. PW goalkeeper Dan Small denied a penalty kick late in the game to keep the score at 5-1.
Kessler singled out the outstanding defensive efforts of Couchara, Dean Allen, and Sam Cohen.
The Colonials (6-4-0 overall, 6-3-0 Liberty Division) travel to Upper Moreland for a 3:30 pm Wednesday matchup. Tennent (4-5-2, 4-4-1 Freedom Division) hosts Abington at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3-2 5
William Tennent 1-0 1
Abington 3, Springfield Twp 0
Thiago Danielle had a goal and an assist as Abington topped Springfield Twp, 3-0, in Monday’s crossover matchup.
Liam Hartman opened the scoring for Abington (Danielle assist) to give the Ghosts a 1-0 advantage at halftime. Oscar Hoffmann scored off a corner kick from Steve Fajardo to make it a 2-0 game before Thiago added the insurance goal.Abington coach Randy Garber acknowledged Drew Paxson, Jose Rosario Martinez, Jimmy Marino, Micheal Lyou, and Patrick Capone for their stellar efforts.
The undefeated Ghosts run their record to 10-0-1 overall, 8-0-1 Liberty Division, and will take to the road to battle William Tennent at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Springfield (5-3-1, 4-3-1 Freedom Division) hosts Hatboro-Horsham at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Springfield Twp 0-0 0
Abington 1-2 3
Upper Moreland 4, Quakertown 3
Max Gerlach posted a hat trick—including two goals off penalty kicks—to boost Upper Moreland to a 4-3 victory over visiting Quakertown in Monday’s crossover game.
Mike Kane also scored for the Golden Bears, who improve to 5-3-3 overall, 3-3-3 Freedom Division.
Coach Justin Allegra also noted Mike Scollon and Logan Taylor for their solid play in preserving the one-goal win.
Quakertown (1-8-0, 1-7-0 Liberty Division) hosts Lower Moreland at 7 pm Wednesday. Upper Moreland hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Upper Moreland 2-2 4
Quakertown 1-2 3
Wissahickon 3, Cheltenham 0
Aditya Shah and Joey Connolly combined to make 2 saves to share the shutout as Wissahickon rolled to a 3-0 win over Cheltenham in Monday’s crossover game.
Ziggy MacFarlene put the Trojans on the board two minutes in, and the visitors never looked back. Phil Dias scored in the 48th minute, and Michael Om capped the scoring in the 71st minute. Dias and Blake McClinitic each registered one assist in the win.
The Trojans held a decisive 15-5 advantage in shots.
Wissahickon (5-5-1 overall, 5-4-0 Liberty Division) hosts New Hope-Solebury at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Cheltenham (1-8-0, 0-8-0 Freedom Division) visits Upper Dublin at 3:30 pm Wednesday.
Wissahickon 1-2 3
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Lower Moreland 1, Upper Dublin 0
(Information will be added when it is received)
The Cardinals (4-7-0 overall, 4-5-0 Liberty Division) host Cheltenham at 3:30 pm Wednesday. Freedom Division frontrunner Lower Moreland (6-1-2, 6-1-2 Freedom) visits Quakertown at 3:40 pm Wednesday.
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