Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday. Neshaminy/Pennsbury photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ SOCCER can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Colonial Division
North Penn 2, Pennridge 1
North Penn’s late-season surge continued and the Knights also sent the SOL Colonial standings back into chaos with a huge 2-1 upset over a Pennridge team that entered Friday on a eight-game win streak.
“So, it was an important game and it was the win we needed at this moment for many reasons, not the least of which is our district ranking,” said North Penn coach Chris DePeppe. “But it really ought to give us a lift in terms of our belief in ourselves. We have talked about the value of playing the game well despite the score, but we all know the reality and today was about the result.
“This should strengthen our resolve and I think it’s a just reward for this group. The boys deserved this one because they have worked hard and come a long way.”
It was North Penn’s third straight win, as it looks for a late season push to make noise in the District One Class 4A playoff chase. Now 6-7-1 overall (5-6-1 SOL), the Knights are ranked No. 28, unofficially, in the most recent rankings for the 26-team field.
To have a chance against Pennridge, the Knights were going to have to find a way to at least slow down Rams’ senior Shane Velez.
“Pennridge is a handful, and we knew they’d put Shane up top in the second half and we weathered the storm for a while but he’s a dominant player and very strong on the ball and just manhandled a few players in the box and finished one cleanly,” DePeppe said.
“And the last 18 minutes were nail biting, but our keeper, junior Troy Nine, really stood strong today. Troy’s been great all season. Our goals allowed number is no reflection of his play. We were a mess defensively for a few games and he suffered the consequences, but today he was decisive and loud and came off his line when needed. More importantly he is developing as a leader and he’s a much steadier presence behind us now.”
DePeppe also gave a lot of credit to center back Nate Kim.
“He’s the consummate field general and a great defender,” the coach said. “I’m kicking myself for not starting the season with him there, but his best position is defensive center midfield, and I think he could be an All-State midfielder.
“But today he was a warrior and his shot-blocking in the last few minutes was absolutely valiant.”
Offensively, North Penn jumped in front 2-0, the first from Ryan Miller and the second off a Miller assist.
“He’s a bad man and a stone-cold killer,” DePeppe said. “His first goal came in the 8th minute when he ran onto a nice pass from Kyle McKeever in the left edge of the box, took one touch and hit a cannon in full stride with his left. (Pennridge’s) keeper just watched it go inside the post and hit the side panel.
“Our second goal was just a ridiculous dribbling run that Ryan started 40 yards out after Cody Perrin played him a very smart diagonal ball. And once Ryan turned and faced that first defender, I knew he had one thing in mind.
“And he almost pulled it off but after the third defender he was off balance and couldn’t get a shot off, but fortunately for us Connor Sullivan was happy to finish the job and buried a first timer near post – (Pennridge keeper CJ) Dimmick had no chance. But Ryan’s work rate and movement off the ball were outstanding.”
Going down 2-0 was not something Pennridge planned.
“Two down going into halftime was a bit frustrating for us because we knew we didn’t play that well,” said Rams coach Pete Valimont said. “However, I feel as though we had a good amount of possession.”
And then after Velez’s goal with 18:55 remaining – off an assist from Ayoob Herzi – Pennridge had chances to tie it up.
“We just threw everything in the kitchen sink at them,” Valimont said. “We had five forwards the last 10 minutes and just couldn’t find that sweet spot to get it through.
“Credit to their guys being at the right spot at the right time, Especially at the end, I think we had 30 seconds left, we worked the ball across, their guy had a slide tackle save which blocked the shot. If he doesn’t block that, we’re probably tied up and going into overtime.
“Credit to them for finishing the chances they had. Credit to my guys for the amount of effort and the no quit the entire game.”
DePeppe also credited the play of Ian Bialisalisa, Brian Scott and Hayden Wagner, as well as Kim. He also gave kudos to the referees
“I thought the officiating was rather good today,” he said. “There should be six yellow cards shown in many of these games.”
North Penn hosts CB West in another important league game on Tuesday. Pennridge (11-3, 9-3 SOL) is now back in a first-place tie with CB East and CB South, and dropped back to No. 10 in the District One power rankings. The Rams look to bounce back at Souderton on Tuesday night.
Pennridge 0 1 – 1
North Penn 2 0 – 2
SOL Patriot Division
Neshaminy 3, Pennsbury 0
Resurgent Neshaminy went on the road and handed rival Pennsbury a devastating shutout loss in a Patriot Division game Friday afternoon.
The win was the second in three games for Neshaminy.
“Today was a good win for us,” said coach Tom Foley. “I thought we played pretty well. We’re not as bad as our record indicates. We’ve been in a lot of games. We’ve just been very charitable this year. We limited their chances. Every ball that bounces seems to bounce away from us, but we got a couple of bounces today, which we finally took advantage of. That was the difference.
“I thought we controlled the game for large stretches. We had the shooting advantage – we outshot them 15-8, somewhere in that neighborhood. We’ve been playing well. They just haven’t been rewarded. They have had lapses, and today we played pretty stiff defense, limited the chances and took care of ours. That was good for the boys.
“We have a little bit of a streak going – we’ve gone 2-0-1 in our last three, so why not try and run the table and see what happens.”
The game was still scoreless at halftime, but in the second half, Neshaminy took over.
“In the first half, no one really had anything terribly dangerous – a couple free kicks here and there,” Foley said. “The game was played pretty much between the 18s.
“In the second half, I thought we started to assert ourselves. We talked at halftime that we wanted to, No. 1, just get a goal. We don’t care how it goes in. Ugly goals are just as good as beautiful goals. We talked about sharing the ball. I think some of our guys are a little frustrated, and they’re trying to do too much themselves.”
Owen Beideman scored in the 50th minute, off a Joe Joe Maxwell assist, for the game’s first goal.
“Joe Joe Maxwell had a free kick outside their 18 on the left side,” Foley said. “He put it into the mix, it pinballed around it seemed like forever, and it wound up on Owen Beidemen’s foot, and he was two yards off the goal line, and he tapped it in for a goal.”
In the 61st minute, Maxwell cashed in on a penalty kick for Neshaminy.
“We had a nice little buildup,” Foley said. “The ball went to Joe Joe Maxwell in the box, and it happened to come up and hit one of the Pennsbury kids in the hand, so we got a penalty. On one hand, it’s great, but penalty kicks haven’t been our friend the last two years. We’re at a point where my assistant coach doesn’t even watch penalty kicks anymore. He just turns away and listens. It wasn’t
a glamorous shot. The goalkeeper went one way, he went another way. It kicked off the post and in. He got the PK and got us off the PK losing streak.”
Pennsbury then started pushing forward and had some chances, but Neshaminy held strong and eventually put the game away.
“Pennsbury started pushing numbers forward, but we limited their chances,” Foley said. “Their most dangerous chances were free kicks from about 40. They would float them in the box and were hoping for a flick, and they never really got any heads on it, so our goalkeepers were able to catch them on the bounce, so that’s about as dangerous as they got.
“(In the 77th minute), Joe Joe got the ball 10 yards on our side of the mid-stripe. He went down the left side, he was running past guys, he got to the end line, got the ball across and Owen Beideman was standing right there, and he tapped it in.
“It was a heck of a play by Joe Joe. He just took the ball, got it forward for us, and that put the icing on the cake. That was a really nice goal and a great individual effort on his part.”
The Redskins’ coach lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Joe Joe Maxwell has been our engine all year,” Foley said. “He sets the table for us. We moved him all the way up top at the end of the first half just to get some energy. We were short three guys to get some playing time today, so we had to plug some holes here and there.
“We moved Josh Anderson, who has been playing forward for us, to the middle of the defense, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear it, but he did a great job. That worked for us.
“Kaleb Raymond did some nice things for us. He was switching back and forth between attacking midfield and the forward spot, and he did a nice job for us. Jack Sexton in the back continues to do a nice job.”
Neshaminy (4-8-1, 3-8 SOL) next plays at Council Rock South on Tuesday. Pennsbury (5-7-1, 5-6-1 SOL) hosts Truman on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 0 3 – 3
Pennsbury 0 0 – 0
Council Rock South 2, Bensalem 1
Bensalem came out of the gate strong, scoring first, and the Golden Hawks found themselves trailing 1-0 15 minutes into the game.
“We got off to a slow start,” Rock South coach Alan Nicholl said.
After Bensalem’s early goal, CR South tied it with a Reid Vandermrk goal off the assist from Frankie Rafferty. The two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1.
“We were the better team in the second half and took the lead with Garrett Cohen scoring off of a Tyler Dobson free kick,” said Nicholl. “We missed plenty of chances to put the game away, but credit to Bensalem for keeping us off the board and giving themselves a chance as the game wore down. (Reid) Vandermark was terrific today, and (Frankie) Rafferty was very busy all day.”
Nicholl also credited his defense, and backs George O’Brien and Andrew Lindros.
With the win, the Hawks (8-4-1, 8-3-1 SOL) remained just one point behind CR North in the Patriot standings and are No. 20 in the District One Class 4A power rankings. They host upstart Neshaminy on Tuesday afternoon before the big game at North on Thursday.
Bensalem (2-9-1, 2-8-1 SOL) plays at Conwell-Egan in a nonleague game Saturday.
CR South 1 1 – 2
Bensalem 1 0 – 1
Council Rock North 9, Harry S. Truman 0
Nick Wise scored two goals to lead first-place CR North to the easy win, as eight different players scored in the game.
Also scoring goals were Will Kamp, Keertan Palayam, Cole Meyer, Windso Varady, Ari Pollack, Tanmay Ondkar and Nick Pagluighi.
Jack Randolph and Max Leff had two assists each for the Indians.
Coach Joe Stackhouse also credited defenders Danny Ugras, Will Potero and Chris Pinho, as well as goalkeeper Gavin Roon, who made four saves.
CR North (9-2-2,8-2-2 SOL) remained in first place by one point over rival CR South, and is currently No. 14 in the most recent District One Class 4A power rankings. The Indians play at nonleague game at home Monday night against Archbishop Ryan.
Truman (0-13, 0-12 SOL) plays at Pennsbury on Tuesday.
CR North 9
Truman 0
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Liam Hartman – who had both of his team’s goals – scored his second goal of the game midway through the second half to give the Ghosts a lead they would not lose, and Abington bounced back from a difficult loss earlier in the week to Springfield and an early 1-0 deficit in this one for the key win in the SOL Liberty standings.
“It was a long, drawn-out second half, but we hung in there and got the result,” said Galloping Ghosts coach Randy Garber. “It wasn’t our best outing after a loss (to Springfield), but it definitely was a good win.”
PW struck first as Mason Clatterbuck scored on a penalty kick in the first half.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Garber said. “It was very physical. They scored on a penalty kick. Their top forward (Mason Clatterbuck) got behind our defense and went one-on-one with Kevin (Kretschman), and Kevin slipped going out to win the ball. The kid got to the ball first, and Kevin just took him out.
”(Clatterbuck) is a heck of a forward and did a nice job. They had the better of play in the first half.”
Late in the half, the Ghosts picked up the equalizer to send the game into halftime tied at 1.
“The ball came across from Luke O’Donnell, and Liam Hartman headed the ball in to make it 1-1 with 30 seconds to go in the half,” Garber said. “It was definitely a good goal to get because I think if they would have gone into halftime with a 1-0 lead, they might have made some adjustments to make it difficult for us to score a goal.”
Hartman scored the game-winner midway through the second half.
“In the second half, we had the better of the play,” Garber added. “It was physical. We finally got a ball behind their defense – Liam got a ball behind their defense, went on-on-one with the goalkeeper and tucked it in. It was a ball that was played out of the back. Drew Paxson played the ball over the top. Liam got behind and just slotted a nice ball behind the goalkeeper.
“Drew Paxson played extremely well in the back. He did a nice job. Peter Cleary, who’s got a little bit of a groin pull on the left side, marked (Clatterbuck), their best player. He did a good job.
“Liam Hartman is just a horse. He’s doing all the goal scoring, and he got beat up today. They played him hard.”
The Ghosts’ coach tipped his hat to the Colonials.
“Let me tell you – they gave us everything we could handle,” Garber said. “They never gave up. They’re a good strong solid team. They’re going to upset somebody in our league because they’re capable of beating some teams. Their kid up top (Clatterbuck) is good, he’s very good. He could have very easily had one or two goals early in the first half, and the ball just didn’t go in the back of the net. It stayed right on the goal line, and Kevin (Kretschman) had to make a couple of good saves. Jose (Rosario Martinez) took a ball right off the goal line. It was that close.”
The win moves Abington into a first-place tie with Upper Dublin at 10-1-1 in the SOL (11-2-1 overall), heading into a huge week, which includes a game at Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday and then Thursday night at home against Upper Dublin. Unofficially, the Ghosts are at No. 7 in the most recent PIAA District Class 4A power rankings for the upcoming 26-team district playoffs.
PW (7-6-1, 7-5 SOL), which is currently at No. 21, hosts Quakertown on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 0 – 1
Abington 1 1 -2
SOL Freedom Division
Upper Moreland 3, Lower Moreland 3 (2 OT)
The Golden Bears twice trailed by two goals in this one, but scored two goals in the last two minutes of regulation to earn a 3-3 tie against rival Lower Moreland in a hard-fought SOL Freedom Division battle on Thursday.
Even though it ended in just a tie, to comeback and earn the tie was huge for Upper Moreland.
“We definitely didn’t play our best game, but found a way to extend the game,” UM coach Justin Allegra said. “We have always had a tough time playing LM due to their formation and switching of players throughout the game.
“I just keep telling the boys to keep working and the team that works the hardest will get the result. The boys were excited but knew they should have gotten the ‘W’.”
Lower Moreland was in position to win this one, and wasn’t happy with the tie either.
“I give Justin and his players credit, because they never packed it in, even though they were down two goals,” said LM coach Bob Barnhart. “We had trouble closing out the game today and let them get to the goal twice in the last 15 minutes and then couldn’t find the net in the OT periods.”
Neither team scored in the two, 10-minute overtimes.
Trailing 2-0, Will Elfreth scored to make it 2-1 at halftime. LM went back in front 3-1, only to see UM’s late rally force the tie.
Senior Eden Attias scored two of the three goals for the Lions.
Mike Scollon’s goal with 4.2 seconds remaining tied it up.
Allegra also credited the play of Markus Meakim and Diego Melgar.
UM (7-7, 5-7 SOL) plays William Tennent on Tuesday. Lower Moreland (7-6, 6-6 SOL) looks to get back on track Tuesday at Cheltenham.
“We had three players go down today with injuries and had to move players around to fill in the holes,” Barnhart said. “Injuries are part of the late season, and we will have to regroup before Tuesday and our goal against Cheltenham.”
Lower Moreland 2 1 0 0 – 3
Upper Moreland 1 2 0 0 – 3
New Hope-Solebury 3, Cheltenham 1
Aramis Shire scored two goals and Joe Picone added one as New Hope pulled away in the second half for the Freedom Division win.
“We moved the ball well and finished when we needed to,” said Lions coach Dave Bachart.
“Aramis played as a holding center mid, attacking mid. He was man of the match.”
New Hope (3-10, 2-9 SOL) next plays at Springfield on Tuesday. Cheltenham (1-11, 1-10 SOL) has a crossover home game Saturday against Hatboro-Horsham.
Cheltenham 0 1 – 1
New Hope 1 2 – 3
Springfield Twp 6, William Tennent 0
Coming off a huge win earlier in the week over Abington, Springfield showed no signs of a letdown, scoring five goals in the first half on the way to the easy win over visiting Tennent.
Goal scorers for the Spartans included Harry Bates, Riley Martin and Jack McKittrick.
Martin, Bate, Ben Hubley, Peter Schmidt and Julian Casabon picked up assists.
Springfield (10-3, 9-3 SOL) remained in first place by two games in the loss column with the win
in the Freedom Division standings. It is currently at No. 2 in the District One Class 3A power rankings. The Spartans host New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday. Tennent (4-9, 4-8 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland Tuesday.
Tennent 0 0 – 0
Springfield 5 1 – 6
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