Jarrad Saffren recaps Friday’s SOL boys’ soccer action. North Penn/Tennent photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. CR South/Truman photos courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of the South/Truman game.
By Jarrad Saffren
Eighteen Suburban One League boys soccer teams played league games on Friday. Two—Pennsbury and Souderton—played non-league games against Methacton and Saucon Valley, respectively. Council Rock South played Truman on Thursday. Eleven results and recaps are below. We are still waiting on the Central Bucks East-Pennridge result.
SOL National
Neshaminy 4, Abington 1
In the fifth minute, Sean Touey gave Abington a 1-0 lead with “an easy tap-in in front of the net,” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. But Neshaminy scored four unanswered goals and ran away with the win.
Mike Mandia tied the game in the 10th minute when he “curled a ball inside the far post from 18 yards out on the corner of the penalty area,” Foley said.
Mandia put Neshaminy in front 10 minutes later when he settled a cross off his chest and kicked it in.
Neshaminy led 2-1 at halftime. Then in the 51st minute, Mandia crossed the ball behind the Abington defensive line. Vince Hosephros headed it past the goalkeeper.
Ten minutes later, Hosephros made a run down the right flank and passed the ball to Alex Swiderski on the penalty spot. Swiderski booted the ball into the net.
“It was nice to play a full 80 minutes against a very good Abington team. Mandia dominated the game,” Foley said. “Kevin Sheenan, Kais Jawawdeh and Gavin Rowan controlled the midfield the entire game.”
Neshaminy (4-9-1, 3-6 SOL) plays Downingtown West on Saturday at 10 a.m. Abington (10-5, 5-4 SOL) plays Council Rock North on Tuesday at 3:30.
Neshaminy 2-2 4
Abington 1-0 1
Council Rock North 1, Bensalem 0
Dylan Akay scored with seven minutes left to lift CR North to its eighth league win of 2017 (8-0-1). The Indians remain in first place in the SOL National.
“David worked really hard and deserved it,” said North coach Joe Stackhouse. Conor O’Donnell made a “great assist” on the winning goal, Stackhouse added.
Ed Mancinelli earned the shutout in goal for the Indians.
“We played excellent defense,” Stackhouse said. “We just need to finish more chances.”
Bensalem keeper Louis Estrada made eight saves. “Most of which were spectacular,” Stackhouse said.
CR North (8-4-1, 8-0-1 SOL) hosts La Salle on Saturday at 2:30. Bensalem (6-7, 4-6 SOL) plays Dock Mennonite on Saturday at five.
Council Rock North 0-1 1
Bensalem 0-0 0
SOL American
Hatboro-Horsham 7, Quakertown 0
Nick Hatzenbeller and Danny Harmon both scored hat tricks in yet another dominant performance by the Hatters. They have won three games this week by a combined score of 17-0.
“It was a great team performance from everyone. I was very happy with the effort and the ability not to take Quakertown for granted. We got standout individual performances from Nick and Danny,” said Hatters’ coach Kyle McGrath. “The focus this week has been incredible and I am very happy with the group after a 3-0 week.”
Harmon (two) and Hatzenbeller (one) also combined for three assists on Friday. Matty Harmon also had an assist.
Hatboro-Horsham (11-2-1, 8-2 SOL) hosts Wissahickon on Tuesday night at seven. Quakertown (2-10-2, 1-8-1 SOL) plays Cheltenham on Tuesday at 3:30.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3, Springfield Township 2 (OT)
Gavin Hendrick scored five minutes into overtime to clinch the win for Plymouth Whitemarsh. Jacobe Sandcroft assisted on the goal.
PW took a 2-0 lead in the first 18 minutes on goals from Hendrick and Ryan Heaton. Springfield scored two goals to tie the game before halftime. Jacob Friedman and Caedmon Curry scored the goals. Troy Rumer had an assist.
“We played good for the first 20 minutes but lost focus after going up 2-0,” said PW coach Jeff Heaton. “We played better in the second half, though.”
“Gavin Hendrick made the biggest impact obviously and created several chances up top. Ryan Heaton challenged for every head ball and pressured the other team well,” Heaton added. “With several injured players, Brandon Cohen and Sebastian Campos stepped in and came up strong.”
PW keeper Blake Rosen made six saves in the first half. Patrick Corpus made four in the second half. Springfield goalie Cole Hutchinson stopped eight shots.
PW (8-4-1, 7-3 SOL) plays Upper Dublin on Tuesday. Springfield (6-5-2, 3-5-2 SOL) battles Upper Moreland on Tuesday at 3:30.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-0-1 3
Springfield Township 2-0-0 2
Cheltenham 3, Upper Moreland 1
Cheltenham took a 2-0 lead on goals by Harry Stackhouse and Lionel Smoler-Schatz. Upper Moreland scored in the second half to make it 2-1. Then Wes Paik scored to put the game away for the Panthers.
“Cheltenham had many chances but Upper Moreland’s goalkeeper made so many great saves to keep the game close,” said Cheltenham coach Bill Tonkin.
Cheltenham (4-7-1, 3-6-1 SOL) plays Quakertown on Tuesday at 3:30. Upper Moreland (0-13, 0-10 SOL) battles Conwell-Egan on Monday at 3:45.
Cheltenham 2-1 3
Upper Moreland 0-1 1
Upper Dublin 1, Wissahickon 1 (OT)
Wissahickon’s Eddie Fortescue scored with an assist from David Goldstein in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Upper Dublin’s Dan Ness scored off a Jerry Bardol corner kick to tie the game in the 75th minute. Neither team scored in overtime.
“They had the better of the play in the first half and were able to capitalize with a goal at the end of the half. The second half we came out stronger and were able to generate some chances,” said Upper Dublin coach Andy Meehan. “With the last 15 minutes, we put another forward up top and we were able to get a goal. We relied heavily on our defense today, which played great. Our keeper Alex Goldenberg had some excellent saves today which kept us in the game.”
Upper Dublin (8-2-1, 8-1-1 SOL) plays West Chester East on Saturday at 3:30. Wissahickon (9-3-1, 7-2-1 SOL) takes on Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday night at seven.
Upper Dublin 0-1-0-0 1
Wissahickon 1-0-0-0 1
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 3, Central Bucks South 2
CB West ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 9-4. Alan Zlotin, Miles Neal and Tarin Morris scored for the Bucks. Morris and Kanishk Nazareth had assists.
Goalkeepers Dylan Smith and Brendan Gibbons combined for the win.
“Overall we played a really solid first half. I thought we created a lot of chances and had a good amount of possessions in the midfield and offensive thirds,” said Bucks’ coach Stefan Szygiel. “I thought South played a better second half and caused us some problems and we had to defend a bit more.”
Szygiel was happy with a lot of his players.
“CJ Lang, James Lutz, Nick Centenera and Reed Thompson in the back,” Szygiel said. “Reed Sturza and Kanishk Nazareth in the midfield, and Alan Zlotin up top.”
CB West (9-4, 6-3 SOL) plays CB East on Tuesday at five. CB South (2-10-1, 2-7 SOL) hosts William Tennent on Tuesday night at seven.
Central Bucks West 2-1 3
Central Bucks South 0-2 2
North Penn 4, William Tennent 0
Carter Houlihan scored a hat trick to lead North Penn to another league win. The Knights remain in first place at 7-2 in Continental play.
North Penn (11-2, 7-2 SOL) battles Souderton on Thursday night at seven. William Tennent (6-5, 4-4 SOL) hosts Council Rock South on Monday night at seven.
North Penn 2-2 4
William Tennent 0-0 0
Non-League
Pennsbury 2, Methacton 0
Pennsbury played a complete game and improved to 8-4-1.
Obi Onouha put the Falcons on the scoreboard with a goal in the first half that turned out to be the game winner. That 1-0 lead held until just two minutes remained when Alec Lobanov found the back of the net.
“It was a great win against an out-of-conference opponent with a winning record…we treated the game like a playoff matchup and answered with a big win,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. “It was a solid team performance and a big shutout by the back four and Nate Slotnick in goal.”
Pennsbury (8-4-1, 5-3 SOL) plays Neshaminy on Tuesday night at 5:30.
Pennsbury 1-1 2
Methacton 0-0
Souderton 3, Saucon Valley 0
David Hafler scored two goals to lead Souderton to a win. Danny Marculo also scored. Tommy Sonn and Ethan Bell assisted on goals.
“It took us a little while to get going in the first half but once we did I thought we played pretty well. It was nice to get a couple goals on the board and go into halftime in control of the game,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner. “Our defense played well and there wasn’t much to do for our keeper so I was pleased with that. It was a group effort in the back. Six, seven different guys saw time.”
Souderton (3-8-2, 2-6 SOL) plays Pennridge on Tuesday at 3:30.
Souderton 3-0 3
Saucon Valley 0-0 0
Thursday, Oct. 5
Council Rock South 1, Harry S Truman 0
The Golden Hawks won a tightly contested game against Truman Thursday. Freshman Conor Weinberg netted the game winner with eight minutes remaining on an impressive drive from 22 yards out.
“(We) mounted plenty of pressure throughout but couldn’t break Truman’s packed defense,” South coach Alan Nicholl said. “I was very impressed with Truman’s defensive organization and discipline.
“They depended on the quick counterattack, and it was certainly dangerous as we pushed for the breakthrough. This was a very good win for us, especially after a 100-minute thriller against North 24 hours earlier. We didn’t have much left in the tank for Truman but showed our toughness to grind out the result.”
Council Rock South (7-6-1, 5-3-1 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Monday for a 7 p.m. contest, and Harry S Truman (4-9, 0-8) will be on the road at Bensalem on Tuesday.
Harry S Truman 0-0 0
Council Rock South 0-1 1
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