Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action on Friday. Souderton/CB West photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Colonial Division
Souderton 5, Central Bucks West 2
Giuseppe Sirchia scored two goals, while Nolan Hughes dished out three assists as Souderton’s offense started the 2022 season in a big way, pulling back CB West with a five-goal effort.
Sirchia opened with a goal in the 10th minute, using a Hughes assist. Brayden Power scored off a Jake Luciani assist in the 20th minute to put the Indians up 2-0.
Sirchia, Colin Hughes and Ty Quintois all scored goals in the second half. Nolan Hughes assisted on both the Sirchia and Colin Hughes goals.
“We certainly don’t expect to score five goals in a Colonial game ever,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner. “Every game is so tight.
“It was one of those things where our boys were in the right positions. They made good runs. Nolan Hughes had a really, really good day of getting guys involved in the game from the midfield, and the guys were there to finish. A lot of credit goes to everybody on the team.”
Benner said the second goal, from Power, was an impressive one.
“He just hit a really, really strong left-footed shot from outside the box, and it really just energized the team to keep pushing on,” Benner said.
“It was a typical Colonial style game. It was back and forth. West had some chances, we had some chances. To be honest, West might have left a couple out there in the first half. Their kids have a lot of speed and athleticism in the top half of the field. They created opportunities. They were really pushing our back line. A ball or two went over the net. Had it gone in, it could have been a completely different half.
“We made sure to talk to the boys about that at halftime. ‘Hey listen, we have to take advantage of our opportunities because West is going to get on the board at some point,’ and they did. They got two on us in the second half, but our boys showed good resolve and played until the end.”
Chris McKenna had three saves in goal for Souderton.
“It was just a real team effort today,” Benner said. “We played a lot of guys off the bench today. We tried to keep our legs fresh, whether it be rotating guys through the midfield or keeping the outside wingers fresh and mixing up the guys on the backline, just really trying to make it a team effort today. I thought the boys did a really nice job of that.
“We played 16-17 guys today, and that’s one of the things I’m hoping we can continue this year is to continue to get contributions from a lot of guys because different from years past, I think we have more depth, and we have a lot of guys with varsity experience, so we’re looking to cash in on that.”
The Indians (1-0, 1-0 SOL) host CB South on Monday night in another SOL Colonial game. The Bucks (0-1, 0-1 SOL) looks to bounce back at home against CB East on Monday.
Souderton 2 3 – 5
CB West 0 2 – 2
Nonleague
Central Bucks East 3, Abington 2 (2 OTs)
Brandon Epstein scored his second goal of the game in overtime, as the Patriots battled back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win their season opener in dramatic fashion.
“These kids are going to give me a heart attack,” said CB East coach Josh Isaacsohn. “It’s a great way to start the season. The big challenge to the boys was – can we mentally get over a deficit knowing we’re playing against a really, really good team. It was very exciting.
“We were getting on them a little bit in the second overtime, and we got by them. Brandon laid the ball off and got to Joe (Sims) and then got the ball back in front of the net and had a fairly open net and just buried it.”
Abington’s Luke O’Donnell opened the scoring with a long shot from 30 yards out, and then later in the half made it 2-0 on a penalty kick.
“It was a restart that he put the ball in the mix,” said Ghosts coach Randy Garber. “He probably took a restart 10 yards over midfield. They played it out, and he ran onto a ball that they played out on the floor. He must have hit that 25-30 yards out. It was a screamer on the ground that the goalkeeper never saw. It went in the far post. Before we scored that goal, they were all over us. The first 10 minutes they were all over us.”
Liam Hartman – who led the Ghosts in scoring last year – buried the penalty kick, but later left the game with a hamstring injury.
“Liam went out late in the game, and when he went out of the game, they got people forward and scored two goals.”
East’s Epstein made it 2-1 11 minutes into the second half, off a Michael Montabana assist. Then, in the 70th minute, Toby Senior tied it, with Luke Christmas picking up the assist.
“At about the 60th minute, we sort of woke up a bit,” Isaacsohn said. “We came out not playing the soccer that I think we can play – not connecting, not playing the feet, a little bit spread out, a little bit of a lack of enthusiasm.
“I think a couple of hard tackles, a couple of defensive plays and a couple subs that bring a little bit of chippiness to our team is what turned the tide.”
The Patriots’ coach lauded the efforts of several players.
“Dylan Walker, our center back, was just a warrior,” Isaacsohn said. “He was really getting beat up and did a great job. Joe Sims had a really, really nice game, and a difference maker that wasn’t on the scoreboard is Cole Hedden. Cole brought us an energy and spark in the middle of the field when we didn’t necessarily have one there, and that was part of the difference today.”
It was only the season opener, but a win over Abington is always a good one.
“I’ve known Randy (Garber) forever,” Isaacsohn said. “They’re always super organized and very blue collar and chippy. I want to give their goalie (Kevin Kretchman) massive props because he played an incredible game. He really, really played well, and obviously, Randy and the coaching staff over there.
For Abington, after grabbing the early lead, it was a difficult one to watch slip away.”
On the other side of the field, Garber was disappointed with the outcome.
“We got the result today because we thought we had the game under control, and we fell asleep,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “We only have four seniors that are starting, but we’ve got a lot of high level kids that play at a good club level, and you’d think that wouldn’t take place.
“I’m not making excuses for the heat and we’re playing on our field, but we practice restarts, restarts, restarts. They throw the ball into the mix I don’t know how many times, and between the 12 and 6, which is where all their goals came from – it was because we couldn’t clear the ball. They just threw it in the mix. We just gave them too many restarts in a situation where eventually it caught up to us.
“They’re a good team, don’t get me wrong. They’re very organized. Those kids from East worked. Josh does amazing things with those players, and they’re going to do well this year. This game is going to set them to have a great season. They’re going to get all our points because we’re going to win a lot of games. That set them off to a very good season.”
Abington (0-1) is back in action Monday as it opens league play at Plymouth Whitemarsh. CB East (1-0) plays at rival Central Bucks West on Monday night.
Abington 2 0 0 – 2
CB East 0 2 1 – 3
Upper Moreland 8, Harry S. Truman 0
Max Gerlach scored the first two goals and that sent the Golden Bears on their way to the big nonleague win over Truman.
Markus Meakim also had two goals for UM, while Brandon McLaughlin, Chris Heron and Gabe Hendrickson also had goals.
Keeper Aaron Snyder picked up the shutout.
UM (1-0) is back in action Monday against Lower Moreland. Truman (0-1) plays at Council Rock North Monday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Spring-Ford 1
Both teams scored in the first half and the defenses played well the rest of the way as the Colonials opened the season with a nonleague tie.
After Spring-Ford opened the scoring in the 10th minute, PW’s Jeffrey Schneider tied it in the 16th minute.
“The game was tight with both team having chances to score,” said PW coach Rich Kessler. “The heat was definitely a factor.
“I thought we pressed very well and were able to keep the game in the opponent’s end, but to (Spring-Ford’s) credit, they defended very strongly.
“Tyler Gartland, Sammy Cohen, Kaden McNew and (goalkeeper) Dan Small were all fantastic defensively on our end.”
PW (0-0-1) hosts Abington in its SOL Liberty opener on Monday.
PW 1-0-0 – 1
Spring-Ford 1-0-0 – 1
Palisades 3, New Hope-Solebury 2 (OT)
Marco DeMeo and Joe Picone scored goals for the Lions, but they came up just short as Palisades pulled this one out in overtime.
“Declan Curran, our center attacking mid, played all over the field and really helped to keep our team together when we did not have the ball bouncing our way,” said NH-S coach Dave Bachart. “Palisades was a good side and capitalized on our mistakes. We hope to grow from this game and learn from our mistakes and continue to move forward throughout the season and make a strong push to the playoffs in (Class 2A).”
New Hope (0-1) opens league play Monday at Cheltenham.
North Penn 1, Lansdale Catholic 0
Senior Matt Willis converted a header with three minutes left in regulation as North Penn escaped with the razor-thin win over rival Lansdale Catholic in the nonleague opener for both teams.
Ryan Miller picked up the assist on the game-winner, after beating his man down the left side and he “put it on a platter at the far post,” said Knights coach Chris DePeppe.
“LC played tenaciously and the few times we did get in behind them we were either offside or their backs did enough to break it up,” the Knights’ coach said. “Their backs played well and their keeper did well to grab a lot of our corners and crosses.
“It wasn’t pretty but we weren’t looking for style points today. We had to have the right mindset today and just stick with it and keep coming at them.”
DePeppe acknowledged the efforts of several players in the win.
“I thought Nate Kim was outstanding in our midfield and he and sophomore Dmitri Ilovski are doing a lot of the dirty work, so we’ll need more guys doing that because we are not where we need to be in terms of controlling play and securing the ball,” DePeppe said. “Cody Perrin, off the bench at left back, was very good too. Caden Myers and Logan Smith did a nice job defending as well.”
North Penn (1-0) opens SOL Colonial play Monday afternoon at Pennridge.
North Penn 0 1 – 1
LC 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks South 2, Downingtown East 0
Sean Rieber gave the Titans the lead in the first half, and then Colin O’Hara put the game away with five minutes to go against a very good Downingtown East squad.
“(Downingtown East) came out strong, fast and aggressive in the first 10-15 minutes,” said CB South coach Kyle Pettican. “CB South managed to keep their cool and hold on to the shutout.”
Pettican also listed Mikey Nemec, Michael Monser and Andre Medl as standouts for his squad.
CB South (1-0) opens up SOL Colonial play at Souderton on Monday.
CB South 2
Downingtown East 0
Wissahickon 5, Southern Lehigh 1
The Trojans scored three goals in a three-minute stretch in the first half to help break their nonleague opener against Southern Lehigh wide open.
Michael Om opened the scoring in the 25th minute, followed by an “own goal” and then a Jack O’Donnell goal in the 27th minute to make it 3-0.
In the second half, Logan Schorn and Ryan Berger had goals for Wissahickon.
Om, Nolan McClintic and Bobby Graefe had assists.
The Trojans play at Hatboro-Horsham Monday.
Wissahickon 3 2 – 5
Southern Lehigh 0 1 – 1
Northwestern Lehigh 2, Pennsbury 0
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