Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday. Bensalem/Truman photos courtesy of John Gleeson. New Hope-Solebury/Cheltenham photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for galleries of both games.
Patriot Division
Neshaminy 1, Pennsbury 0
Matt Diamond was as good as gold on this day.
Diamond scored off a setup from Dylan Reheil in the 77th minute to net the game’s only goal as Neshaminy edged neighborhood rival Pennsbury 1-0 in Thursday’s Patriot Division game.
A Neshaminy team that won just three games last season is 12th in the latest District One 4A rankings.
Scoring Summary
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
Matt Diamond (N) from Dylan Reheil, 77th minute
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley: “It was a real good win for us. Pennsbury kind of gave us a new look that I’ve never seen from them before. They had nine guys behind the ball most of the night. They let us play in front of them, and we were getting a little frustrated. We were playing a lot of long balls, kind of playing right into their hands. They were winning balls and trying to get back up the field. We’d get it again and launch another ball, so there was not a lot of quality opportunities at all for either team in the first half.”
—The second half: “We told them, ‘You have a little bit of space, knock the ball around.’ We started getting balls to the middle and knocking them wide and started generating some chances. We had a real good chance midway through the half and just missed the top bar by about a foot, but we just kept plugging. I don’t think they really had any clean looks other than their corners – they always are dangerous on corners and set pieces. They didn’t really generate any quality opportunities that I can remember in the course of play, but they’re Pennsbury. It’s a neighborhood rival, and we just go tooth and nail the whole time. We were just fortunate enough to break through eventually. I thought we played some good soccer, and we deserved at least to get a goal out of it, and I’m glad to see we got the win.”
—The game-winner: “Dylan Reheil slid one through their two center backs, and Matt Diamond went in on the goaltender, and he slipped it in. It was a nice, composed finish. There was about 3:25 left, and we just knocked balls out of harm’s way the rest of the night and got away with the win.”
—Props: “Mark Andreyeu and Brian Birmingham are our two center backs, and they played an outstanding game. Brian won just about every ball in the air. He distributed the ball really well. Mark has been a stud for us all year – just winning balls. He’s very clever. He created a chance late and just missed getting a really good shot off. He’s very, very composed on the ball. He’s done a great job. Our front line – once we got in the second half, Rezi Tebize and Matt Diamond started generating opportunities as well. Zach Hargraves came off the bench and gave us 25 real solid minutes when he got in, and he kind of got his confidence back, so we were happy to see that. All in all, it was a really good result for the guys.”
Next up: Neshaminy (4-2-1, 3-1-0 SOL) hosts Harry S Truman at 3:30 pm Tuesday. Pennsbury (3-4-0, 2-2-0) will visit Council Rock North for a 5:30 pm Tuesday game.
Pennsbury 0-0 0
Neshaminy 0-1 1
Bensalem 5, Harry S Truman 0
Angel Duran scored twice and Aboubacar Bayo had a goal and an assist as Bensalem blanked Harry S Truman in Thursday’s Patriot Division game.
Bayo scored the game’s first goal – off an assist from Jacob Oniate – and the Owls made it hold as the eventual game-winner. Duran’s first of the game (Tommy Hurst assist) boosted Bensalem to a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Chase Esposito had a goal and an assist for Bensalem. Tejas Sassan scored once, and Humza Baig had one assist.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Aboubacar Bayo (B) assist from Jacob Oniate
Angel Duran (B) assist from Tommy Hurst
Second Half
Tejas Sassan (B) assist from Aboubacar Bayo
Chase Esposito (B) assist from Humza Baig
Angel Duran (B) assist from Chase Esposito
Bensalem coach Kevin Bock: “This was another game where we maintained a strong level of intensity while keeping our composure throughout.”
—Getting an early lead: “We broke through about 13 minutes into the game when Jacob took a quick throw-in, which sprung Abou on a break that he was able to finish. We got a second goal before the end of the half on a free kick that bounced around in the box and Angel was able to ultimately finish. We continued to maintain pressure in the second half and get the win.”
—Props: “Matt Rowan got his second shutout of the season today.”
Next up: Bensalem (4-4, 2-2 SOL) is back in action today, hosting Holy Ghost Prep in a nonleague game at 3:45 pm. Truman (0-7, 0-4) returns to action at Neshaminy at 3:30 pm Tuesday.
Harry S Truman 0-0 0
Bensalem 2-3 5
Colonial Division
Central Bucks South 1, Pennridge 0
Central Bucks South kept its undefeated season rolling as Anthony Bice scored the only goal of the game off a rebound from a Miraziz Melikov shot, and Pat VanLuvanee and the Titans’ defense held the fort to give the hosts a 1-0 victory over Pennridge.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Anthony Bice (CBS) from Miraziz Melikov
Second Half
No Scoring
Central Bucks South coach Ed Brnardic: “Last night Mirazaz Melikov was our best player at practice, so we gave him extra minutes in the game today which turned out to be a good return on investment. Thirteen minutes into the first half, Miraziz hit a volley on a loose ball from the top of the box that found its way through several players and was destined for the bottom left corner. The Pennridge goalie made a great save to keep the ball out, but thankfully Anthony Bice was first to react to put the rebound into the goal.”
—On Bice’s efforts: “Anthony Bice continues to deliver for us game after game. He’s an old-school player that every team wants to have – he puts his head down, never gets rattled, quietly does his job without any unnecessary attention, and makes an impact every single game.”
—Holding the 1-goal lead: “The rest of the game was a defensive battle. It was the kind of game where we need to pick our starting 11 and stick with them to give them time to find their rhythm. Hindsight is 20/20, and while we were trying to rest some legs after a tough week, looking back I made too many substitutions and it disrupted any flow we tried to build. But on a positive note, it gave us an opportunity to demonstrate that we can win by grinding out a tough, physical contest.”
—Props: “Our defense gained confidence that they can lock down the opposition and shut the door if we need them to. The entire defense stood tall tonight and among them it was Sean Clevenstine who stood the tallest. Sean was rock solid in the back and was our player of the game today.”
Pennridge coach Aaron Rapsinski: “We are happy with how we played. We knew the type of team we were up against today, but the boys were up for the challenge. They play physical and are smart and are well coached. We played really tough and had a handful of chances. Difference in the game is they put one of theirs away and we didn’t. We’ll look for a bounce-back result Saturday against Quakertown.”
Next up: Central Bucks South (7-0, 4-0 SOL) plays a neutral site match vs Archbishop Curley (Maryland) on Saturday. Pennridge (1-5, 1-3) will visit Neshaminy for a 3:30 pm Tuesday game.
Central Bucks South 1-0 1
Pennridge 0-0 0
Souderton 2, North Penn 0
Souderton rode first-half goals from Tannor Wiszneski and Fin Williams to a 2-0 win over North Penn in Thursday’s Colonial Division game.
Trevor Alderfer earned the shutout in goal.
With the win, Souderton continues its impressive undefeated start and sets up a showdown with Central Bucks South on Tuesday, with both teams undefeated in league play.
The loss was the third in a row for the Knights on the heels of a four-game winning streak.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Tannor Wiszneski (S) from Cam Taylor, 1-0
Fin Williams (S) from AJ Pisoni, 2-0
Second Half
No scoring
Souderton coach Frank DeMas: “Both teams battled hard and played a great game. Big shoutout to Trevor Alderfer on keeping the clean sheet! I give props to the entire Souderton squad on their work ethic and desire.”
Next up: Souderton (6-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Dock Mennonite Academy for Community Night at 7 pm Monday, then will host Central Bucks South at 3:30 pm Tuesday. North Penn (4-4, 1-3) will visit Central Bucks East at 5 pm Tuesday.
North Penn 0-0 0
Souderton 2-0 2
Liberty Division
Upper Dublin 3 Hatboro-Horsham 2
The pendulum swung wildly in a five-minute span of the second half of Thursday’s Liberty Division matchup, and when the smoke cleared and the game had ended, Upper Dublin used two goals less than two minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and hold on for the hard-fought victory.
Evan Paone scored in the 41st minute to break a 1-1 halftime tie and give the Hatters the 2-1 lead. Leo Kuznits scored in the 45th minute (Chase Rappaport assist) to forge a 2-2 tie, then Jackson Bryan (Corey Abramson assist) netted the eventual game-winner in the 46th minute. Christian Patelmo got the Hatters on the board with the game’s first goal in the 12th minute.
Upper Dublin – tied with Abington for the top spot in the division standings – is sixth in the latest District One 4A power rankings.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Christian Patelmo (HH) from Miller Kahmar 12th minute (1-0)
Jackson Bryan (UD) from Reilly McLaughlin 38th minute (1-1)
Second Half
Evan Paone (HH) 41st minute (2-1)
Leo Kuznits (UD) from Chase Rappaport 45th minute (2-2)
Jackson Bryan (UD) from Corey Abramson 46th minute (3-2)
Upper Dublin coach Noah Johnson: “It definitely was a sloppy game from both sides, if you ask me, but obviously, always glad to go into the weekend not stressed and able to start focusing on what comes next and not ‘What did we do wrong’ so much. Today it was more of the boys adjusting to the climate changes for both teams. It goes from hot to cold and cold to hot. You could tell that even some of my fittest guys were looking at me like, ‘Dude, I’ve got to come off. I can’t go another five minutes.’ It was more of a fatigue thing the end of the week. We all played multiple games during the week and had practices.”
—Falling behind early: “They scored first on a mistake from us – just goofy decision-making from one of our veteran guys. It was just a mistake, but it happens in soccer. I wasn’t upset whatsoever because we talked about it going into the game – ‘Hey, if this happens, this is going to be what comes next.’ I think us talking through what happens and what comes next helped us fight a little bit harder to get a draw at the end of the first half.”
—The scoring: “They scored in the 12th minute, and we scored in the 38th minute. Reilly McLaughlin played a ball in to Jackson Bryan for him to get a one-time shot on the goalie’s near 
post, and then we went off for halftime two minutes after that. They scored in the 41st minute. I don’t know – it’s like the bell never rang to let us know we were fighting again. We were still kind of sitting around. Off the tap, the kid literally dribbled around everyone and shot the ball, and it was like, ‘What is going on guys?’ So they go up 2-1.
“At halftime, we had the same conversation. I said, ‘Hey, errors happen.’ Thank god we had that conversation because my boys were able to immediately score back-to-back goals right away. We scored in the 45th minute and then in the 46th minute. Chase Rappaport played a ball to Leo Kuznits, and Leo from outside as an outside back was able to chip the keeper and put the ball past him in the top right corner. The third goal was Corey Abramson to Jackson Bryan, giving him his brace.”
—Props: “Jackson Bryan definitely for helping us out today and getting us the win and Leo Kuznits for always working very, very hard. Kaleb Abebe was working really hard. James Smith had a very good game today. Reilly McLaughlin once again – the kid’s been very solid. I’m glad to be able to see him grow up through the years and continue to keep getting better and continue to just keep playing at the level he’s playing at. It’s very nice to be able to see one of my guys from the start and able to see him finish and go out strong.”
Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath: “I thought we did well at times defensively, but in the key moments, we lacked maturity to deal with difficult situations. We got punished for those moments and credit to Upper Dublin for capitalizing on them and stealing the momentum away from us at times.
“Offensively, we scored two nice goals, the first off of a well-worked corner kick routine. The second goal was right out of halftime, we had great combination play and Evan Paone had a wonderful strike from about 22 yards out.”
Next up: Upper Dublin (5-1-1, 3-0-1 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh at 3:30 pm Tuesday. The Hatters (3-3, 2-2) will visit Wissahickon at 3:30 pm Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 1-2 3
Hatboro-Horsham 1-1 2
Abington 6, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Abington exploded for five goals in the second half to pull away from Plymouth Whitemarsh in Thursday’s Liberty Division matchup. Brandon Murtaj scored twice and added an assist for Abington, which is ranked eighth in the latest District One 4A power rankings. Jazafith Vasquez had a goal and an assist for the Ghosts.
Junior Brett Westerfer scored for the Colonials.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Brandon Murtaj (A) from Jazafith Vasquez
Second Half
Bryan O’Neill (A) from Brandon Murtaj
Jazafith (A) from Brady Hartman
Brandon Murtaj (A) from Bryan O’Neill
Bryant O’Neill (A)
Cooper Blynt (A)
Brett Westerfer (PW)
Next up: Abington (5-1-1, 3-0-1 SOL) will host Quakertown at 3:45 pm Tuesday. PW (0-7, 0-4) will visit Upper Dublin at 3:30 pm Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1 1
Abington 1-5 6
Freedom Division
New Hope-Solebury 1, Cheltenham 0
John Nettles was perfect in goal for New Hope-Solebury, and Aramis Shire’s goal (Will Malone assist) in the 28th minute provided all the help Nettles would need as the Lions pulled out a huge 1-0 win over Cheltenham in Thursday’s Freedom Division game. The Lions withstood a strong effort from Cheltenham to pull out the win.
The Lions have won three straight, including a pair of 1-0 victories this week, and remain atop the division with the big victory over the Panthers.
New Hope-Solebury is first in the latest District 1 1A power rankings while Cheltenham is 19th in Class 4A.
Scoring Summary
First Half
Aramis Shire (NH-S) assisted by Will Malone, 28th minute, 1-0
Second Half
No scoring
New Hope-Solebury coach Chris Van Pelt. “It’s been a great week for us so far but we still have one more to go. The guys that came off the bench for us played really well and were a big part of the result tonight. It certainly was not an easy result to get, there were a lot of scary moments. I’m really impressed with the fight the boys have shown this week and their ability to keep focused and see out games. There are definitely things to improve upon and a lot of season still ahead of us but I’m very proud of the boys and what they’ve achieved so far.”
–Nettles a rock in goal: “It was another great performance from John. He produced multiple big saves in the second half to keep his fourth shutout of the year. John very aggressive off his line which is key for us, and he always seems to make the right decision and is great at managing the game for us.
–Lions get defensive: “Our defensive shape was the main focus during preseason, and the guys’ ability to not only understand everything but apply it in games the way they have is very commendable. It definitely felt like Cheltenham was on the front foot all night, and the shots total certainly shows that. We were a little lucky at times, but the backline also produced a lot of big moments. Each game we’re learning and understanding how to deal and adapt to different types of teams and play styles so they’re only going to get better.”
–A signature win: “This is a big win as we continue to work towards our regular season goals. We’re proud of the results we’ve had so far this year, but we also can’t rest on them. We have to keep improving and stay focused because it’s a long season and there are a lot of things we want to accomplish this season. We know there might come a point where the results start going the other way so results like this are nice to have to look back on and draw motivation and encouragement from.”
Cheltenham coach Bill Tonkin: “We have a finishing problem. We outshot them, 19-1. We had a lot of chances that just went wide or just went over. We played really well, possessed the ball nicely, moved the ball, and really played our game tonight. We just were unlucky on the scoreboard.”
Next up: NH-S (5-2, 3-1 SOL) will play at Jenkintown at 12:30 pm Saturday. Cheltenham (2-2-1, 1-2-1)will host Springfield Twp at 3:30 pm Tuesday.
New Hope-Solebury 1-0 1
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Springfield Twp 5, Upper Moreland 1
Harry Bates (2 goals, 1 assist) and Harry Drapkin (1 goal, 2 assists) each posted three-point games as Springfield Twp rolled past Upper Moreland 5-1 in Thursday’s Freedom Division game. Nate Gazzara and Eden Ha each scored once for the Spartans, while Shawn Bleaker added one assist.
Jackson Stuetz scored the lone goal for Upper Moreland.
The Spartans, the PIAA 3A runner-up last season – are ranked fourth in the latest District One 4A rankings.
Scoring Summary
Springfield
Harry Drapkin – 1 goal, 2 assists
Harry Bates – 2 goals, 1 assist
Nate Gazzara – 1 goal
Eden Ha – 1 goal
Shawn Bleaker – 1 assist
Upper Moreland
Jackson Stuetz – 1 goal
Next up: Springfield Twp (6-0-1, 3-0-1 SOL) visits Cheltenham at 3:30 pm Tuesday. Upper Moreland (2-4-0, 0-2-0) is back in action Friday, hosting nonleague opponent Interboro at 3:30 pm.
Springfield Twp 2-3 5
Upper Moreland 1-0 1
Lower Moreland 0, William Tennent 0
Lower Moreland and William Tennent battled to a scoreless tie in Thursday’s Freedom Division game.
William Tennent coach Angelo Albanese: “It was a very good game. Lower Moreland has a disciplined and very good team. They were stingy and tough defensively, and they worked hard to put our back line under pressure when we were in possession. Both teams played very hard, with passion and intensity. I believe a tie is a just result.”
Lower Moreland coach Bob Barnhart: “It was scrappy on both sides and neither side could find the net. Both sides had chances and couldn’t finish. It was not our best game and after a disappointing loss in New Hope, I thought we would have come out more hungry to finish and unfortunately we didn’t “
Next up: Lower Moreland (x-x, x-x) will visit neighborhood rival Upper Moreland for a 3:30 pm Tuesday showdown. William Tennent (x-x, x-x) will host New Hope-Solebury at 3:30 pm Tuesday.
Lower Moreland 0-0 0
William Tennent 0-0 0
Wissahickon at Quakertown, PPD
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