Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday. Pennsbury/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Abington/UD photo courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Check back for galleries of both games. CB West/NP photo courtesy of Marge Bullock (http://www.margebullock.com)
SOL Patriot Division
PENNSBURY 3, BENSALEM 2 (OT)
The Falcons – in their season opener – watched an early two-goal lead slip away in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Owls. On Thursday, the tables were turned, and the Falcons – who trailed early – won it when Jaden Haig put the finishing 
touches on a brilliant performance with his third goal of the day late in the first OT.
“Not a surprising result,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “It’s really such a privilege to be in a league where each game that we go out there – we have all rights to win, but we also have all rights that we might not win. It’s just a lot of fun.”
The Falcons’ coach was pleased with his team’s response when the Owls took an early 1-0 lead.
“It was the polar opposite of what happened over at their place where we got the early two-goal lead,” Stoddart said. “They got the early lead and deserved it.
“I thought we did a good job of taking our time and getting ourselves back into the contest. We started to win the game without scoring for a little while, which is big for us. We knocked the ball around and made them work, and this was their third game this week. I thought we did a good job.”
With three minutes remaining in the half, the opportunistic Haig banged home a rebound of a goalie save to knot the score at the intermission.
“In the second half, I thought we did a really good job early on of setting the tempo and really taking command of the game,” Stoddart said. “We were able to get up 2-1 when Jaden Haig had a great finish off a play that was completely created by Evan Reichard.
“Evan actually drew three guys and then was able to lay the ball out for Jaden, and he just crushed it off the post and in.”
A miscue by the Falcons on the defensive end gave the Owls a penalty kick, which they converted to knot the score 2-2. Pennsbury was a man up after a Bensalem player drew back-to-back yellow cards.
“I thought we got a little unsettled even though we had the extra guy, but in overtime, we just did a really good job of staying patient, pushing the ball around, keeping the pressure on and waiting for our opportunities,” Stoddart said.
In the final minute of the first overtime, Haig scored the game-winner after a restart.
“Aidan Tonrey made a heads-up play and got the ball out wide to Zach Summer,” Stoddart said. “Zach Summer just served in the box. Jaden was able to come across and get a little touch on it to pop it over the goaltender.
“Jaden was absolutely fantastic today, but I also was very pleased with how dangerous Evan was and how involved he was. If you have two guys that are that dangerous, one is going to be the benefactor, but it’s going to be the other guy helping him out too. I thought both of those guys were fantastic today, and we flipped the result from the last time we played Bensalem.”
The Falcons’ coach also credited the play of several other players in the win.
“I thought Erik Mauro, our other attacker, was really dangerous as well and able to give those guys fits on the outside,” Stoddart said. “I thought our midfield really was able to hold up. We used six different guys in and out of the midfield, and I thought they did a fantastic job maintaining the way we wanted to play the game.”
Manning the midfield for the Falcons were starters Gustavs Mednis, Josh Rodriguez and Reese Jones. Coming off the bench were Colin Plunkett, Alen Ibric, and senior captain Daniel Paton.
Pennsbury (2-2-1 SOL)) will travel to Neshaminy on Tuesday, and Bensalem (2-2) is off until next Thursday when the Owls will host Council Rock North.
Bensalem 1-1-0 2
Pennsbury 1-1-1 3
NESHAMINY 1, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
Defense has been the calling card of the Redskins this year. Spot them a lead, and chances are, they’ll keep it.
On Thursday, Neshaminy notched its fifth shutout in six games. A first-half goal by Jason Spencer – better known as Tap-In J – was all the Redskins would need to earn the win and maintain the top spot in the conference standings.
“Jose Rivera won a ball inside the 18 on the right side, he slipped a pass to JoJo Maxwell, and JoJo slipped another ball to Tap-In J, and he tapped it in for the goal,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said of the game-winner. “It was one of those days we missed a penalty kick, we missed a point blank shot. We’re creating chances. We just have to do a better job of converting them.
“They had a PK with about three minutes to go, and fortunately, they blew it way over the top of the net. The lesson is you have to put teams away because one silly error, and it’s a game again.”
Neshaminy’s backline – Ryan Schoeneman, Mike Albarran, AJ Rivera and Lou Salmi – once again stood tall.
“I have to credit our defense again,” Foley said. “We focused on shutting out number 21 – we knew he was their best player, and we just made him dribble away from the net.
“He turned a couple of times, and we managed to collapse on him and shut him down. Other than the penalty kick, they had one shot in the run of play from about 18 yards out, and it was a pretty easy save for our keeper. We’re not giving teams easy chances at the goal. We haven’t given up a goal in the run of play all year. The only goal we’ve given up was a free kick inside our 18. That aspect we’re really pleased about.
“Our back line did a tremendous job today. Connor Steele was really strong in the end getting the ball out of our back. He did a tremendous job as our central defensive midfielder.
Finishing consistently is Foley’s one concern.
“We’re getting guys in great positions, and we just got to have a little more concentration to finish and get the goal,” Foley said. “We have to convert our opportunities.
“We do some really nice things and get in some really good positions, and we stub our toe in front of the net. We just have to do better if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”
Neshaminy (4-0-2, 3-0-2 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Council Rock South (1-4, 1-2) will visit Council Rock North on Tuesday (7 p.m.).
Council Rock South 0-0 0
Neshaminy 1-0 1
SOL Continental Division
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2, NORTH PENN 1
The Bucks opened up a 2-0 lead with a pair of second-half goals and then held off a charging Knight squad for their first win of the season.
“It was a big one, obviously – hopefully, it just keeps kick-starting us, riding the momentum,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “We had a great week. It was a four-point week. When you play away at Souderton and home against North Penn, and you can get four out of six points, that’s a great week.”
Thursday’s game was scoreless at halftime.
“They had more of the ball, they were more dangerous,” Szygiel said. “We kind of held our lines, bend don’t break – all the stuff that has become staples of the program.
“We bent a lot and didn’t break. They missed a couple of chances. Any time you play North Penn, you’ve got to hope they do miss a few, and they did. We did talk at halftime about – we just have to be a little cleaner in the offensive third, and we have to value our touches in their end and do more with them because we’re not going to get a lot of them.”
The took a 1-0 lead when James Lutz scored with a Jayden Morris assist.
“We were able to counterattack a little bit, and we were able to play a ball in,” Szygiel said. “Jayden Morris was able to get another touch on it. Their keeper was coming out, and James Lutz was running in on it. He was able to get a touch on it and put it in. It was a quick bang-bang type of thing, so that was good.
“Then we started winning more balls in the back, we started winning more balls in the air. North Penn had to push forward a little more.”
Ten minutes later, the Bucks tacked on a second goal to go on top 2-0.
“Tommy Monaghan hit a good shot off of a second ball opportunity,” Szygiel said. “A rebound kind of popped around a little, and James Lutz and Christian Evans both crashed on the rebound. We’re not quite sure which one of them got the final touch on it – it might have been Lutz, it might have been Evans.
“Either way, it went in, and it was good to see two guys hunting for that possible opportunity. We have to be opportunistic in the offensive third, we’re not going to score a lot of goals.”
As expected, the Knights didn’t go down quietly, and with 16 minutes remaining, Dominik Gedek found the back of the net to cut the Bucks’ lead in half.
“They just poured it on us,” Szygiel said. “They have so many talented players. They work the ball so well, they create massive problems.
“Dominik Gedek, a really nice player, scored a good goal, and we just had to hold on for the last 16, and we were fortunate to hold on.”
The Bucks’ coach lauded the play of his defense.
“We moved some key guys around, and the back line of Vincent Cavanaugh, Cole Young, Conor O’Brien and Ryan Horst had a fantastic night dealing with North Penn’s attacking players,” Szygiel said. “Tommy Monaghan did a great job winning balls in the air, working on Josh Jones – who’s such a great player – as much as possible. Jayden Morris and James Lutz had a great night.
“Luke Shank in goal probably had 10 or 11 saves and came out on a lot of flighted balls and punched it, took some physical plays. Luke Shank had a great night – reminded me of watching Ryan VanPelt and watching Dylan Smith. He absolutely elevated his game to that level tonight, which is awesome.”
The Bucks’ coach went on to acknowledge the efforts of some of his reserves.
“I can’t say enough about guys that didn’t play a lot of minutes, but they played key minutes,” Szygiel said. “Carter Philo played a good amount tonight and did a nice job. He’s a really promising player for us.
“My forwards – the rotation of Chase Naso, Zach Martine and Luke Parlee – had a great night. Kerrigan Moran, another promising young player, came off the bench and really logged some good minutes for us as well. That was important to see.”
Central Bucks West (1-4-1 SOL) will celebrate Senior Night when the Bucks host Central Bucks South on Tuesday (7 p.m.). North Penn (4-2) will travel to Pennridge on Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
North Penn 0-1 1
Central Bucks West 0-2 2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 4, SOUDERTON 2
Midway through the second half, the Indians took a 2-0 lead. That lead, however, was anything but secure as the Titans erupted for four unanswered goals in a dazzling 15-minute span against a stingy Indian defense to earn the stunning come-from-behind win.
“It was an exciting game,” South coach Joe Coscia said. “It was definitely a roller coaster. “All those goals came bing, bang, boom and we just kept pushing, pushing and pushing.”
Making the four-goal explosion even more remarkable is the fact that Souderton had not allowed more than one goal in any of its five preceding contests.
“Definitely I would say it was our best performance this year even with some of the really close and tough matches we’ve won and lost thus far,” Coscia said. “It felt really good to just go and take it to them, especially after the disappointing result we had at Soudy (a 2-1 loss).”
The Indians got on the scoreboard in the 33rd minute when Sean Healy scored with an Ethan Lacher assist.
“The ball went through our back line – my backs kind of stopped because they thought he was off-sides, and they didn’t play the whistle,” Coscia said. “Souderton was off-sides about seven times preceding this. Their guy got through and dinked one with his head past my goalkeeper.”
The Indians took that 1-0 lead into halftime and added to it in the 63rd minute on a TJ Hibsman goal (Nolan Hughes assist).
“In a pretty similar sequence, Souderton got their second goal,” Coscia said. “They put a lot more bodies behind the ball, but in one run of play, they were able to get behind us, and the ball was bouncing around the box. My keeper came out, and their guy beat him to it and poked it in.”
The game was far from over.
“Corey Bethel pushed up into the midfield, and Souderton’s best defender almost started man-marking him,” Coscia said. “When he did that, we started to expose their back line.
“We got our first goal off a set piece that turned into a scrum inside the box that Corey was able to poke home.”
A few minutes later, Bethel (Ethan Cunningham assist) scored the equalizer on a similar play off a set piece.
“The ball got pushed out wide and sent back in the box quickly that Corey tapped home,” Coscia said.
Mike Monser’s corner kick set the stage for the go-ahead goal.
“Mikey put it in, didn’t beat the front post man, but the ball came right back out,” Coscia said. “He took a touch inside the box and rifled one to the near post.”
The Titans weren’t finished yet, and Nick Biello added an insurance goal, scoring on a rebound of a Tasso Malitas shot for the 4-2 final.
“Once they stepped that center back out of their back line and more into a defensive midfielder, we really started picking them apart because he wasn’t in a position to win the balls that we were able to play over the top of them because he was further up the field,” Coscia said. “On top of that, Corey (Bethel) would move the ball out of his feet so quickly that we played around and behind him, so we kind of isolated him out of the play and really started to create some good opportunities.”
There were plenty of props to go around after this one.
“Definitely Corey Bethel has to get a shout-out for really just being a captain and taking the initiative and pushing himself further up the field to try and go and get us back in the game,” Coscia said. “I have to give a shout-out to my other defenders – Shane (Landue), Logan (Campbell) and Eric (Green) – because even when Corey left them a man down in the formation, they still didn’t give Souderton anything with just three in the back.
“I don’t know what it was – this season we have not been a goal-scoring team, but Corey (Bethel) pushing up and the attention that he drew and the momentum shift we had after getting that first goal – it was almost as if the game was over at the point, and Souderton looked kind of defeated. I think they were really expecting to see out a 2-nil victory, and we didn’t let them.”
Souderton keeper Aidan McClure recorded eight saves.
“Props to their coaches,” Coscia said. “We both complimented each other’s play after the game. Their boys played really, really well.”
Central Bucks South (3-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest. Souderton (2-2-2) will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Souderton 1-1 2
Central Bucks South 0-4 4
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 4, PENNRIDGE 1
The Patriots struck quickly, finding the net for a pair of goals to take a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. They never looked back.
“This was really a whole team effort,” East coach Josh Isaacsohn said. “Most of the kids got a little bit of playing time, but even more importantly than that, we have been sort of ravaged by contact tracing issues.
“We have been down six players – a quarter of our team – for the last two games. For the CB South game last Friday and the North Penn game on Tuesday, we had six guys out, so it massively affected us. To the credit of our boys, both of those games were still really close. They did really well, and it was hard because we started off with three shutouts and coming off a very emotional win against West on Thursday night to all of a sudden 12 or 18 hours later to be down so many guys, so that was a real challenge.”
The visiting Patriots were close to full strength Thursday, and Austin Bing Zaremba got the ball rolling with an early goal. East had a two-goal lead after Michael Ferrante scored. Dylan Rose connected on his first of two goals on a breakaway to put the Patriots on top 3-0.
Pennridge’s Carlos Erazo turned a loose ball in the box into a goal, trimming East’s lead to 3-1 with two minutes remaining in the opening half.
“You can’t let your guard down at all, and even with a 3-0 lead – Pennridge is such a well-coached team, and they have such strong players on the ball,” Isaacsohn said.
Rose accounted for the only score of the second half for the 4-1 final.
“We threw everything but the kitchen sink at them in the second half, and they were able to hold on,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “They got us on a breakaway, and they made it four.
“The bottom line – hats off to Josh and his team. They came out ready to play today. We did not, and the scoreboard shows it.”
“Pennridge did come out stronger in the second half,” Isaacsohn said. “They were moving the ball around well, and they had a few chances.
“Our goalkeeper, Kyle Dunigan, made a few real clutch saves in the second half. In particular, halfway through the second half he knocked one over top that was a really good save. He had a really strong game as well.”
Central Bucks East (3-2-1 SOL) will be on the road at Souderton Tuesday for a 4 p.m. contest. Pennridge (4-3, 3-3) will host North Penn on Tuesday.
Central Bucks East 3-1 4
Pennridge 1-0 1
SOL Liberty Division
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1, WISSAHICKON 0
Jacob Kim’s first varsity goal nine minutes into Wednesday’s contest turned out to be the game-winner and the contest’s only goal.
“It was a beautiful goal,” said HH coach Kyle McGrath. “The ball came across to Jacob Kim at the top of the box. He took a touch, and he hit a half volley that went off the crossbar and down into the goal for his first varsity goal. The goal was fantastic.”
The Hatters – who fell to Wissahickon in the initial meeting between the two schools – held off the charging Trojans for 70 minutes to earn the win.
“Wissahickon pressured us the entire rest of the game, so we defended like madmen for 70 minutes,” McGrath said. “Wissahickon was better than us tonight. They hit the post, they had plenty of opportunities to finish, and fortunately, they were a little off, and my goalkeeper, Noah Schlosser, played well, and we were able to escape with the win.
“Wissahickon actually had the ball in the back of our net, and the referee had called for an obstruction foul and didn’t play the advantage. I don’t know if my guys stopped playing when the whistle blew and that’s why the ball went in or what. We were a little bit fortunate there. Credit to my guys for not giving one up. It was two good teams battling, and we both traded 1-0 victories against each other.”
The Hatters’ coach credited the efforts of several players.
“Caleb Hudson and Ryan Toporowski, my two center backs, did a good job against their forwards who are good players,” McGrath said. “Jake Weiss and Fran Moio, my outside backs, did good enough tonight.
“We weren’t great, but we did enough to get the victory, and at the end of 80 minutes, that’s all that matters.”
Hatboro-Horsham (4-2 SOL) is off until next Thursday when it travels to Abington for a key conference showdown at 7 p.m. Wissahickon (3-2-2, 2-2-1 SOL) will be on the road at Abington on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game.
Hatboro-Horsham 1-0 1
Wissahickon 0-0 0
ABINGTON 1, UPPER DUBLIN 0
Arsene Bado headed home Gavin O’Neill’s corner kick 25 minutes into the first half. That goal turned out to be the game-winner.
“We played well the first half, had some chances, and the second half they played extremely well,” Abington coach Randy Garber said. “We looked like two different teams out there.
“The second half we just couldn’t do anything right. We just kicked the ball all around, and they played very good soccer. They hit the crossbar once and put all the pressure on us. It wasn’t that I told the kids to pack it in, but it almost looked like that. It could have easily been a 1-1 game in overtime. We just held on and won the game.”
The Cardinals actually had a goal waved off in the second half.
“They had a goal called back on a restart from about 35-40 yards,” Garber said. “The kid knocked the ball into the box, another kid went up and knocked it in, and the one referee called the kid off-sides.
“He was there on the line. The one official thought it was a good goal and the other one said – ‘No, he was off-sides.’ We were all the way up at the other end, and it was a very good goal.”
The Ghosts’ coach credited the efforts of several players.
“Bryce Lexow did a nice job in the midfield,” Garber said. “Alex Woll in the defense played extremely well, and Aresene (Bado) worked hard up top and ended up getting the winning goal.”
Abington (5-1 SOL) will host Wissahickon Tuesday (4 p.m.), and Upper Dublin (2-3-1) will travel to Quakertown Tuesday.
Abington 1-0 1
Upper Dublin 0-0 0
SOL Freedom Division
UPPER MORELAND 2, LOWER MORELAND 1 (OT)
Travis Slear turned Mateo Infante’s corner kick in the first overtime into the golden goal, propelling the Golden Bears to their fourth win and first win on the road.
“On a nice restart corner kick from Mateo Infante, Travis Slear just hit a seed, upper 90, right hand corner, game over,” UM coach Justin Allegra said. “It wasn’t our best game. They had the better of play after the first 10 minutes of the first period and the second period. In overtime, we were coming on. Restarts have been our thing all year.”
The opening minutes of the game were highlighted by missed opportunities for the Golden Bears.
“In the first 10 minutes – it might have even been five minutes, we had three golden opportunities – missed them,” Allegra said. “They changed their formation a little bit and gave us fits.
“We tried to make adjustments at halftime that didn’t work, and they went up 1-0.”
The Lions broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 59th minute, but two minutes later, the Golden Bears got that back, thanks to a goal by Logan Taylor.
“We’re just a resilient bunch,” Allegra said. “We just kept hammering it in, kept peppering them.
“We scored a goal late and took it into overtime where it was kind of back and forth. We had chances, they had chances.”
The Golden Bears won it in OT, but the win was anything but easy.
“They took it to us,” Allegra said. “I told the guys after the game – we didn’t deserve to win that game, but good teams find a way to win.
“It was odd that all of our guys had off games, and it happened at the worst time.”
Allegra lauded the efforts of several players.
“We had one of our center backs go down for most of the second half, and Logan Holman solidified that middle defense,” the UM coach said. “Logan had one of his better games.”
Both teams finished the game with double-digit shots.
Upper Moreland (4-1 SOL) is off until next Thursday when the Golden Bears will travel to Springfield Township. Lower Moreland (1-4) will travel to New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 0-1-1 2
Lower Moreland 0-1-0 1
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 1, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 0
The Spartans notched their first win of the season, and they did it in impressive fashion, shutting out the Lions on their home field.
Peter Schmidt scored with an assist from Pierson Rubincam to send the Spartans into halftime with a 1-0 lead that held until the final whistle.
Springfield Township (1-3-2, 1-3-1 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday, and New Hope-Solebury (1-3-1) will host Lower Moreland on Tuesday.
Springfield Township 1-0 1
New Hope-Solebury 0-0 0
Non-league
WILLIAM TENNENT 4, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 0
The streaking Panthers won their sixth straight game, and they did it in convincing fashion, notching their second shutout win of the shortened season over the Indians.
The key to this one, according to coach Nick D’Andrea, was an early own goal by North off a long direct kick by JT Stone that found the net and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game.
“We’re playing good soccer, but that early goal was really helpful,” D’Andrea said. “It looked like the defender mishit it – it went off his foot wrong. It went in the net, and from there, it just looked like we got a lot of energy.
“From that energy, anything can happen in high school soccer. We took that energy, and the next thing you know we found the net again and again. We’ve had some chances the last couple of games, but we haven’t been lucky enough to score. Today they went in.”
Senior Mike Liddy converted a head ball goal off a cross by JT Stone to give the Panthers a two-goal edge. Another goal by Liddy – this one from a centering ball by Gavin Magrann – sent the visiting Panthers into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
In the second half, senior Damian Dangler scored off of a feed from Jimmy Manning for the 4-0 final.
D’Andrea lauded the performances of several players.
“Mike Liddy had two goals, and he played great,” the Panthers’ coach said. “Mike is coming off an ACL injury last year, and he’s still playing himself back to full health, and he looked good today.
“Sean Metz played great for us up top. He was hard to cover. Damian Dangler played center mid, and I thought he controlled the game for us. He was our best player.”
Tennent notched a 2-0 win over Rock North in the season opener for both squads.
“I think scoring that first goal early was key to the game today, as we knew North was coming off of a huge win in their last game and would come out with lots of energy,” D’Andrea said. “We played well against a real good team today and we were fortunate to get the win. Good luck to North the rest of the way as they are a dangerous team.”
William Tennent (6-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Springfield Township Tuesday, and Council Rock North (1-4, 1-2) will host Council Rock South Tuesday at 7 p.m.
William Tennent 3-1 4
Council Rock North 0-0 0
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