Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday. New Hope-Solebury/ANC photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for a gallery.
Non-league
North Penn 2, Neshaminy 0
Bruno Brnardic and Gavin Keijzer scored second-half goals, as North Penn broke a scoreless tie to pick up the home win on Thursday night.
“I think we have a pretty strong team this season,, and I expect to see improvement game to game,” said Knights coach Chris DePeppe. “But after three straight road games and a week with three games in four days – and yesterday being the first day of school – I probably should have seen this performance coming. But it was also our home opener, so I thought they had sufficient motivation to jump on Neshaminy early.
“But we were flat and sloppy in the first half, and they like to sit at midfield and pounce on bad passes and force mistakes, and for 30 minutes, they did it to perfection.
“I thought our top players would start to assert themselves and certainly Fionn (Regan) and Demetri (Ilovski) did that eventually.
By the Numbers:
Second Half –
Bruno Brnardic (NP)
Gavin Keijzer (NP) from Demetri Ilovski
North Penn coach Chris DePeppe: “I thought a few reserves really changed the dynamics for us. Senior Nate Moyer made a few strong tackles and showed his maturity. And sophomore Matt Bakir came on as a fullback and looked like a seasoned pro. His composure on the ball is outstanding, and he really made a difference tonight.
“But Neshaminy just worked so hard, and I was getting a bad feeling that a goal against the run of play was imminent. It wasn’t until we took the lead that we started to connect passes and look comfortable, but credit to Neshaminy and coaches Tom Foley and Jim McCourt. They always have classy teams.
–Scoring: “Matt Haines created our first goal midway through the second half. He intercepted a pass and pushed it past a defender, and he managed to get to the ball before the keeper but just couldn’t get anything on it. But Bruno was very quick to put away the loose ball. Bruno logs a lot of hard miles for us and has assisted on two goals already, so it was good to see him get rewarded with a goal. And the second one came from an in-swinging corner kick from Demetri. I think it skipped off a head maybe, but it came to Gavin Keijzer, and he took the chance coolly.”
–Props: “Senior defenders Nino Brnardic and Ahmaar Gidhanian and Ian Balisalisa all had strong second halfs to earn the clean sheet. Brady Schwengels was our man of the match last night versus Holy Ghost Prep, but he didn’t have too much to do tonight.”
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley: “Despite losing 2-0, I thought our guys were well organized and kept NP bottled up most of the night. A couple of unlucky bounces led to their two goals.
“We need to be a little more composed in the final third. I thought the opportunities we generated were rushed. If we slow ourselves down just a bit, we’ll give ourselves a better chance to hit the target.
“Matt Diamond continues to play well on both sides of the ball.
“We had a great effort tonight against an outstanding NP team. … They are big, physical and fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were near the top of District One when the season is over.
“If we continue to play hard like we have to open the season, we will definitely have a successful year.”
Next up: North Penn (3-1) hosts CB West in its league opener on Wednesday night.
Neshaminy (1-1) plays a nonleague game at Southern Lehigh on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 0 0 – 0
North Penn 0 2 – 2
Central Bucks South 3, Downingtown West 2
Trailing by one at halftime thanks to a penalty kick goal, CB South rallied with three straight goals in the second half to get past Downingtown West in an impressive nonleague win on Thursday.
Anthony Bice scored two of the Titans’ goals in the second half, and assisted on the other – to Evan Jaskelewicz.
Downingtown West scored late to make it a one-goal game, but CB South held on for the victory.
By the numbers:
Second Half –
Anthony Bice (CBS) from Brennan Franklin 1-1
Evan Jaskelewicz (CBS) from Anthony Bice 1-2
Anthony Bice (CBS) 1-3
CB South Coach Ed Brnardic:
–The game: “On a day when things just didn’t seem right – touches were off, uncharacteristic mistakes were made, and our opponent was well organized and caused us all sorts of problems – we found ourselves in a hole at the end of the half after giving up a PK goal.
“Halftime could not have come any sooner and could not have gone any better, as it gave us a chance to relax, collect our thoughts and get everyone on the same page. The second half went according to the script we drew up at halftime, and on a day when we were not at our best, we are thankful that Anthony Bice was. He scored the tying goal to give us life, he assisted on the next goal to put us ahead, and then he punched in what proved to be the eventual game winner.
–Props: Anthony Bice was the star of the game, but he was also supported by our midfield dynamo of Brennan Franklin, Tyler Jaskelewicz and Josh Dozier, and we also got some very valuable minutes from Christian Canally and Jackson Tait up top who provided energy when we desperately needed it.”
Next up: CB South (2-0) hosts rival CB East in the league opener on Wednesday night.
Downingtown 1 1 – 2
CB South 0 3 -3
Central Bucks West 4, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Sophomore Beck Walton scored two goals in the first half, as CB West jumped out on top and never looked back on the way to the shutout win, its first of the season.
Chris Hannon and Andres Reyes also scored goals for the Bucks
By the Numbers:
First Half – Beck Walton (CBW)
Chris Hannon (CBW)
Beck Walton
Second Half – Andres Reyes
Coach John Adair: “A lot of credit to a young Plymouth Whitemarsh team with a new coaching staff who never gave in and competed for everything for the entire 80 minutes.
“While it’s great to keep a clean sheet and get goals from multiple players, we still lacked the sharpness that we’re looking for in stretches. Ultimately, we gained control and never really let them back into it, but our boys still know that we have a long way to go to reach our ceiling.
“With another game tomorrow, it was great to get 25 guys on the field and rest some guys before a difficult match-up with CR South.”
–Props: ”As much as everyone played a role in today’s win, it wouldn’t be right for me to not mention Beck Walton. The kid’s only a sophomore but has a nose for goal and the desire in and around the box to match. His profile gives our team something different than other guys on our roster do, and he’s only going to continue to get better.
Up Next: CB West (1-1) hosts Council Rock South on Friday night.
CB West 3 1 – 4
PW 0 0 – 0
Upper Dublin 2, Germantown Academy 0
A pair of first half goals were the difference, as the Flying Cardinals defeated nearby private school rival Germantown Academy on Thursday afternoon.
Jackson Bryan and Adriano Roman scored for UD.
“I was pleased with the way the boys played today,” said coach Noah Johnson. “I still think there’s always room for improvement, whether we’re playing good or we’re playing bad. They got the job done today and made sure we went into Labor Day with our spirits high and kept the Cards rolling.”
By the Numbers:
First half –
Jackson Bryan (UD) from Chase Williams
Adriano Roman (UD) penalty kick
UD coach Noah Johnson:
—The scoring: “Midway through the first half, Chase Williams was able to get the ball to Jackson Bryan after pressuring their defense and winning the ball back from midfield and being able to run down the sideline. He got a cross off to Jackson Bryan, who was able to tap the ball past their keeper. The second goal was a similar story, just a little different result. Near the end of the first half, Reilly McLaughlin was able to recover the ball at midfield and dribble all the way down the right side of the field, and he got fouled in the box. As the generous guy he is – he passed off the PK to our only freshman who made varsity – Adriano Roman. Adriano stepped up and put the ball in the back of the net. I thought Reilly was going to take it, but he picked up the ball and gave the ball to Adriano. That was pretty cool for him to pass it off to a freshman.”
—Props: “Again, my entire back line did a fantastic job, but I think (center back) Brady Hillman stood out dramatically today. These past two games he’s just been on fire. Ever since he made that mistake in the first game, he’s had very few mistakes. I would love for him to be able to keep performing at this level. Leo Kuznits once again did a nice job stepping into a role that’s not familiar but causing people lots of trouble being over there. The next shoutout would be for Adriano Roman. We made a little joke about opening up his bank account, so it’s pretty nice and pretty special to get a goal under his belt. Hopefully, it only gets easier from there for him.”
Next Up: UD (2-1) opens up league play at Wissahickon on Wednesday.
Upper Dublin 2 0 – 2
GA 0 0 – 0
Pennsbury 1, Conwell-Egan 0
Vincent Manney scored in the 67th minute to break a scoreless tie, as Pennsbury scored the shutout win over nonleague neighborhood rival Conwell-Egan on Thursday to pick up its first win of the young season.
By the Numbers:
Second Half – Vincent Manney (P) from Aiden O’Donnell
Coach Tom Stoddart: “We were outplayed most of the game, but found a way to make enough plays defensively and one play of offensive to get the victory.
“We had a tough three weeks against some quality teams the last three weeks. We are looking forward to starting league play after the holidays.”
Next up: Pennsbury (1-2) plays at Council Rock South on Wednesday.
Pennsbury 0 1 – 1
CE 0 0 – 0
New Hope Solebury 4, Academy of the New Church 0
Aramis Shire scored in the first half and then early in the second, as New Hope broke open a close game with three goals in the second half to post its second nonleague win in as many games over ANC on Thursday.
Luca Tersigni and Devin Heble added goals for the Lions.
By the Numbers:
First Half – Aramis Shire (NHS) from Luca Tersigni, 26th minute
Second Half – Aramis Shire (NHS) from Dillon DeMeo, 43rd minute
Luca Tersigni (NHS) from Aramis Shire, 47th minute
Devin Heble (NHS) from Thomas Marschall, 71st minute
Coach Chris Van Pelt:
“Great win today and week for the team. John Nettles made a crucial save in the first half on his way to another clean sheet. After a tough result to start the season I’m very proud of the guys for how they’ve responded and continued to progress leading into league play.”
Next Up: New Hope (2-1) is off until Wednesday when it opens league play at defending champ Springfield.
ANC 0 0 – 0
NHS 1 3 – 4
Upper Moreland 10, Pottstown 0
Nine different players scored goals for UM in this one-sided nonleague win over Thursday.
Goal scorers for the Golden Bears included Jackson Townsend, Davide Acosta, Jackson Stuetz, Max Hubbard, Satya Gogineni, Ian Distel, TJ Ryan, Luca Rohn, and Vinny Vito.
Next Up: UM (2-0) hosts William Tennent in a league game on Wednesday.
About the Author
