Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action on Friday. To view photos of the CB West/Upper Dublin game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1, CONESTOGA 0 (2 OT)
Jake Shefsy scored the golden goal a minute into the second overtime period to propel the Golden Hawks to the dramatic win in their season opener.
“It’s so unpredictable this early in the season, and to get a win like this against a quality program like Conestoga is great,” coach Alan Nicholl said. “To be honest, it could have gone either way – they had their chances, and we had ours. It was pretty tightly contested.”
Nicholl lauded the superb defensive play of Kevin Maten.
“He was outstanding in the back,” the Golden Hawks’ coach. “He was terrific. He’s the center fullback, and he just anchored the defense. Most of what we did well defensively came through him, and ironically, most of what we did well on the offensive side started with him.
“I thought he kind carried the team on his back today. He was mistake-free, and to be that proficient this early in the season in our first competitive game – I was very, very impressed. I look forward to see what he’ll be able to accomplish this year.”
Keepers Chase Spinelli and Nolan Gaudet combined for the shutout for the Golden Hawks, who avenged last year’s 2-0 loss to Conestoga in their season opener.
Conestoga 0-0-0-0 0
Council Rock South 0-0-0-1 1
SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 1, FATHER JUDGE 0
History has not been on its side when the Spartans have faced the Crusaders in non-league action, but the tide turned on Friday when Springfield stunned the defending PCL champions, thanks to Matt Bonacci’s game winner late in the second half.
“It’s a great win for us,” coach Dan Meder said. “It’s the first time we’ve beaten them. The game was a really exciting game. It could have gone either way.
“It’s cliché, but it was a total team effort. Every kid played well in every position. We brought a couple of guys off the bench that helped too. To do it without one of our physical leaders was even more impressive.”
Absent in Friday’s opener was senior captain Ben Wiley, who was sidelined with an injury he sustained late last week.
“He’s one of our central midfielders who helps us control the game,” Meder said. “We ended up starting a freshman (Trevor McCaffrey) outside, and we were worried about him because Father Judge is normally a physical team.
“The kid was playing well enough that we moved him into the middle during the game, and he settled in even nicer there and helped us control the game.”
Bonacci’s game winner came with five minutes remaining. Igor McVeagh was credited with an assist on the goal.”
“It was a free kick from about 40 yards out, and he served it in,” Meder said. “There was a mad scrum in there. They were bigger than us. They had two center backs that were three inches bigger than our biggest guy, so it was a real fight.
“It was a nice goal for us because we don’t expect to win those balls because we’re generally the smaller team.”
Meder lauded the standout performance by goalkeeper Kevin Sykes in Friday’s shutout.
“He did a lot of controlling the box,” the Spartans’ coach said. “Balls that were played in early – he was coming out and intercepting them. Crosses – he was coming out and intercepting them. He controlled the box for us.
“All of our returning players played well. Riley Warren is our other co-captain. He’s just a workhorse for us. He didn’t get an assist on the goal, but with his physical play created the opportunity for the goal – went up for the header and no one could win it cleanly.”
Judge had its share of opportunities, most notably in the first half when they had a shot off the crossbar and another off the post.
“We lost one of our scrimmages, so we didn’t get a chance to really sort out our lineup all the way,” Meder said. “In the second half, we made some changes, and we started to move the ball a little bit against the run of play and started to create our own chances and luckily put one in.”.
“As the game went on, we settled in more. We started to take control of the ball a little more. It was a matter of finding ourselves. We weren’t positive we had people in the right positions to start the game with missing that scrimmage. As we moved guys around, we looked more and more comfortable.”
Father Judge 0-0 0
Springfield 0-1 1
NESHAMINY 3, HOLY GHOST PREP 2
Kenny Herrmann scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the Redskins sprinted to a 3-0 lead on their way to the impressive non-league win.
“We looked very good for the first 60 minutes,” coach Tom Foley said. “We even sorted out some of the problems we had against their big tall forward that is back from last year. He’s a handful, and we did a nice job.”
It was Herrmann – who earned ‘Man of the Match’ honors - putting the ‘Skins on the scoreboard in the 18th minute, using a Kevin Goetz assist. Three minutes later, James McCourt turned a Herrmann pass into a goal, sending the Redskins into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Herrmann connected for his second goal in the 43rd minute, this time using an Eric Schaffer flick, before the Firebirds closed it out with a pair a of unanswered goals.
“With 16 minutes to go, we made a couple of silly errors, and they had the firepower to finish,” Foley said. “They had us on our heels after their second goal for the last four minutes.
“Our goalkeeper (Chris Rush) made a really good save with 30 seconds to play. He bailed us out. It was to their credit – I thought we had the better of play for most of the day, but they had us on our heels for the last 10 minutes.”
Foley lauded the play of Herrmann, McCourt as well as sophomore defensive back John Albarran.
“It was a team effort,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We all played pretty well.
“I was happy because we were starting to get a little stale with the long preseason. It was actually a really hot day. I was able to get five guys in and our play stayed the same, which is always a plus.”
Holy Ghost Prep 0-2 2
Neshaminy 2-1 3
ABINGTON 1, CHELTENHAM 0 (OT)
By Antonio Pelullo, Intern
The Cheltenham/Abington rivalry dates back to World War I, and on Friday, it continued with a futbol match. It started out slowly for the Panthers as they were on the defensive for most of the first half while the Ghosts were on the offensive.
Abington came closer and closer to scoring, but senior goalie Thomas Hipwell was able to fend off any serious scoring threat with his eyes on the ball and his cries for help to his defense. With Hipwell out of the box, the Ghosts delivered a shot that would just miss the inside of the far post.
Three minutes later, Cheltenham would come oh so close to the ball falling into the back of the net. The rest of the half would be filled with missed opportunities that would only to carry on into the second half.
The second half began with a missed corner kick by Cheltenham. Hipwell’s outstanding performance was beginning to be matched by Abington goalkeeper senior Tim Suydel, who came up big in the final minutes of regulation. Suydel fought off an almost perfect goal set up by Cheltenham towards the end regulation.
With the score 0-0 at the end of regulation, the name of the game became “Golden Goal” - two ten-minute periods and first goal wins. The winning goal would come off the leg of Abington’s Matt Bachmann at the five-minute mark of overtime.
“I saw it (come) over top (of) me,” Bachmann said after the game “(I) saw the goalie coming out, decided to head it over (and he) tackled me, that’s it.”
“We battled hard,” Cheltenham coach Chuck Gesing said. “We had more better opportunities, we need to put the ball in the back of the net early and often.”
“It wasn’t the prettiest game to watch as a spectator I would imagine, but it could have gone either way” coach Randy Garber after the game.
Abington 0-0-1 1
Cheltenham 0-0-0 0
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 6, EAST STROUDSBURG NORTH 0
J.R. Eisold scored 10 minutes into the game, sparking a 6-0 scoring run by the Patriots in a deadly 15-minute span, and Friday’s opener was over almost before it began.
“That won’t happen very often in the course of our year,” coach Mike Gorni said. “It was a good win. We got a lot of kids in and got to rest our starters because we have back-to-back games tomorrow with Spring-Ford.”
Stephen Sheehan scored a pair of goals while Evan Vare, Andrew Walters and Julian Klokner each added single goals for the Patriots, who made the road trip to East Stroudsburg.
“They did us a favor last year because we lost a game on our schedule, and we needed a fill in,” Gorni said. “They came all the way down to play us, so we went all the way up to play them.”
Central Bucks East 6-0 6
East Stroudsburg North 0-0 0
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0, UPPER DUBLIN 0 (2 OT)
Defense was the name of the game when the Flying Cardinals travelled to Doylestown for their non-league opener.
For the Bucks, the senior goalkeeper Daniel Merritt was credited with seven saves. The defensive unit of senior captain Jason Douple, junior captain Brady Boylan, junior Sam Winderman, junior Kyle Tilley and junior Joey Recupero earned the shutout.
Upper Dublin 0-0-0-0 0
Central Bucks West 0-0-0-0 0
WISSAHICKON 2, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
Cole Kropnick broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 60th minute and then assisted on a goal by teammate Sam Hunt (Kropnick assist) seven minutes later that put the Trojans on top 2-0.
The Indians made things interesting when Nick Guarna scored two minutes later, using a Tim Casey assists, but neither team scored the rest of the way.
Wissahickon keeper John Carrozza was credited with five saves while Rock North’s Billy Storm had three saves.
Wissahickon 0-2 2
Council Rock North 0-1 1
PENN WOOD 2, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
Tom McElrath scored the Hatters’ loan goal, using an assist from Justin Paluszek.
WILLIAM TENNENT 3, FAITH CHRISTIAN 0
The Panthers, who found themselves deadlocked 0-0 at the intermission, received second half goals from J.R. McCabe, Conner Weiss and Steve Testa. Joey Lees and Brendan Hanratty combined for the shutout in goal.
William Tennent 0-3 3
Faith Christian 0-0 0
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3, QUAKERTOWN 0
Alex Bilodeau scored a pair of goals to lead the Colonials while Dom Wlodarczyk added a single goal. Shane Smith was forced to make just one save in the shutout win.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 6, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 1
Michale Towle scored in the third minute, and the Titans were off and running. By halftime, the Titans had three goals on the scoreboard - one each from Danny Remick and Colin McGonigal. Int he second half, the Titans received single goals from Colin Fagan (52nd minute), Connor Bechtel (56th minute) and Remick (67th minute).
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 3, UPPER MORELAND 1
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 3, NORTH PENN 1
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