Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Wednesday. CR South/CB East photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ SOCCER can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Patriot/Colonial Division Crossovers
Pennsbury 3, North Penn 0
Josh Rodriguez scored twice as the Falcons went on the road for a big win over North Penn in a crossover game Wednesday.
Rodriguez scored in the opening seconds of the game off a Bryan Sanchez assist, as Pennsbury took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The second half saw Rodriguez (from Caleb Mangiaracina) and Chris Vergantino (from Sanchez) score four minutes apart to put Pennsbury in command at 3-0.
“From there, we just calmed the game down, withheld their attack,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. “It was another shutout for us, which is amazing. We split time again just as we’ve been doing with both keepers (Henrik Boekemp and Justin Brown), and they were great.
“The defense again never gets caught ball watching. They just keep moving because North Penn moved the ball well. They played a really nice game. We were just able to not allow them any dangerous chances, and we’re just very dangerous on the counterattack right now.”
Stoddart credited the play of the backline of Andrew Prebola, Connor Labiak and Cooper Gray.
“We’re nursing a little bit of an injury back there,” he said. “So, Jake Ruepp has been filling in in the middle, and our rotation on the outside has been very good too.
“North Penn played very well, so they were very enjoyable to play against.”
Pennsbury (5-1-1, 5-0-1 SOL) remained in first place in the Patriot Division with the win and has outscored opponents 14-1 in its six league games. It hosts Pennridge on Friday. North Penn (2-5-1, 1-4-1 SOL) looks to bounce back at home Friday against Neshaminy.
Pennsbury 1 2 – 3
North Penn 0 0 – 0
Souderton 3, Bensalem 1
Less than 24 hours after an overtime loss to Central Bucks West, the Indians had to step on the field again, and Wednesday, they took care of business with a solid 3-1 win over Bensalem.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak.
“They were a little bit frustrated last night, having played as well as they did in the second half, especially against West, and just not being able to come out with the three points at home, so it was good to get back on the road and play again today,” said Souderton coach Matt Benner. “I said that to them in the locker room last night. ‘We have a chance to get right back to work, go back and play a game tomorrow,’ and I think they were happy to just go out and play.”
Jake Luciani opened the scoring in the 14th minute for Souderton, off a Guiseppe Sirchia assist. In the second half, Ty Quintois and Sirchia scored goals, with Ethan Lacher picking up an assist as well.
“A lot of guys stepped up today,” Benner said. “We did a good job of getting balls out wide like we talked about at halftime and trying to put pressure on Bensalem’s back line and really just trying to score the first goal in the second half to take some of the pressure off, and that’s exactly what we did.
“We were able to get a goal within 10 minutes of the start of the second half, and that certainly helped set the tide for the rest of the game.”
The Indians’ coach credited the efforts of several players in the win.
“Ty Quintois was really good for us today,” Benner said. “He stepped up and made some really good tackles in central midfield and made some good passes to his teammates and really set the tone for the second half early, so I thought he did a nice job.
“I thought Giuseppe Sirchia had a really good game today, scoring a goal and having an assist. He had a nice performance too.”
Souderton (2-5, 2-5 SOL) closes out its week Saturday with a crossover game at Harry S. Truman (10 a.m.). Bensalem (1-5, 1-4 SOL) plays at CB East on Friday.
Souderton 3
Bensalem 1
Council Rock South 1, Central Bucks East 0 (OT)
Two of the top teams in their respective divisions squared off, and it took overtime to determine a winner. Frank Rafferty found the net 90 seconds into the first OT to give the Golden Hawks the key
1-0 victory over visiting CB East.
“(East coach) Josh (Isaacsohn) does a terrific job,” CR South coach Alan Nicholl said. “He’s a pleasure to listen to. He does a professional job on the sidelines. His teams are physical, they work hard. You can tell they bring an awful lot of experience. They bring good depth. Even when they go to the bench, they’ve got a nice talented team with some really good experience, and it’s very obvious.
“They certainly had their opportunities. They might have hit the crossbar early in the first half and then had a chance to score right before the end of the second half inside the box, and it ended up hitting the side netting on the outside.
“But if I compare what showed up in front of our goal and what showed up in front of theirs, I think I would have felt disappointed with the draw, for sure. I thought we were the more dangerous team today. They’re physical, they move the ball well, they try to play a good brand of football, which I respect.”
In overtime, Rafferty took advantage of an opportunity and cashed in for the Hawks.
“A corner kick got knocked into the box,” Nicholl said. “Franky Rafferty just put a first-time shot in the back of the net. Before anybody could even react, it was in the back of the goal. It was definitely a striker’s finish. He didn’t move, he didn’t run, he didn’t dribble. It was just boom – in the back of the net, and that’s what strikers do.”
The Golden Hawks’ coach lauded the play of his team in the win.
“Our center midfielder Mike Burns was terrific,” Nicholl said. “His energy, his work rate, his distribution, his ability to move the field on the dribble, his vision – it was his game today, for sure.
“I thought Garrett Cohen in the back was relentless. Any attack they had coming down that left side, Garrett was equal to it because they do have a potent attack. They have some very, very dangerous players. Their #32 wide (Josh Daniels), their #10 (Brandon Epstein) coming down the center of the park. They’re both very dangerous and needed to be kept in check.
“We had them well scouted. I went to their game the other day. I felt like we were well prepared going in as far as what to expect. I think the kids responded really well. I thought we brought good energy against a good side. We knew they were at the top of their division, and there were points to be had today. I really felt like our kids worked hard and really chased the game.”
CR South (4-2-1, 4-1-1 SOL) has another big crossover game Friday afternoon at CB West. CB East (5-2, 4-2 SOL) looks to bounce back at home against Bensalem.
CB East 0 0 0 – 0
CR South 0 0 1 – 1
Central Bucks South 3, Neshaminy 1
CB South finds itself in a three-way tie atop the SOL Colonial stands after Wednesday’s huge crossover win against Neshaminy.
“We started off really strong, dominating play, but Neshaminy did a great job by getting plenty of players around the ball to stop (us from) breaking through,” said Titans coach Kyle Pettican. “Colin O’Hara opened the scoring from a Brian Schmidt cross to the near post. O’Hara headed it over the goalie.”
Neshaminy tied the game up in the second half.
“I thought we did a pretty job in the first 25 minutes (of the first half),” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “We kept them bottled up in their end. They started winning some physical battles, got some opportunities.
“We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. We had a miscommunication in the box, somebody called for the ball that shouldn’t have, and the other two guys that could have cleared it froze in their tracks. The kid O’Hara just said, ’Thank you very much’ and put it in the goal, and we’re losing 1-0 on a miscommunication play. You just can’t afford to do that when you’re struggling to score goals.”
The second half, according to Foley, was similar to the first.
“We had them bottled up for long periods of time in their end,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We started stringing some passes together, we started getting the ball outside like we talked about at practice. We tied it up 1-1 in the 62nd minute.
“Kaleb Raymond hit an absolute seed diagonal pass 50-60 yards in the air and beat their outside back on the opposite side, and Chris Valley, who was staying outside like we asked, was able to collect it and beat the keeper. He tucked it in for 1-1, and truthfully, it was probably one of the better goals you’re going to see. The kid hit an absolutely beautiful ball diagonal across the field in the air and led the kid in perfect stride. It was a perfect goal.”
South regained the lead, however, as Jeremy Salazar and Brayden Roach came off the bench to hook up for a Roach goal. Then five minutes later, Salazar scored unassisted to make it a 3-1 game.
“Overall, I thought we did pretty well,” Foley said. “We had a couple of injuries, and we had no returning varsity starters from last year on the field to start the game, so we’re dealing with a lot of inexperience. They held their own, but our ball possession, our pass completion is still a bugaboo for us. Hopefully, we can get that ironed out. These kids are getting on-the-job training. You’re going to take your lumps here and there. You just hope you figure it out sooner than later for the seniors.
“We’re a very small team, we’re not a very physical team, and we’re taking some lumps, but we played well in the last two games. We don’t have anything to show for it, but it’s encouraging because we’re doing some better things each game. We kept one of the top two teams on that side bottled up most of the day.
“We lost some physical battles that cost us a little bit, but overall, I was encouraged the way we played against a top team in that league that is traditionally very difficult to play against. We have to walk away with our heads up a little bit because we’re doing some good things.”
CB South (5-2, 4-2 SOL) is back home Friday with a 3:30 game against visiting Council Rock North. Neshaminy (1-4, 1-4 SOL hosts North Penn.
Neshaminy 0 1 – 1
CB South 1 2 – 3
Council Rock North 2, Central Bucks West 0
The Indians needed the three points to stay on pace with division-leading Pennsbury and got just that with a shutout win over a CB West team that came in playing very well of late.
West was playing its second game in 24 hours, after beating Souderton in an overtime night game on Tuesday.
“It was a weird game that we definitely should’ve done better in,” said Bucks coach Cooper Moyer. “My message to the boys was that regardless of the short turnaround, our performance wasn’t good enough today.
“Credit to North for taking advantage of their chances and for being really organized defensively and on set pieces. Coach Joe (Stackhouse) does a really good job down there and always makes it a battle.”
Nick Wise scored off an Ari Pollack assist on an indirect kick to give North the 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. Max Leff scored early in the second half to make it a two-goal game.
“West had a hard time getting on track and getting their legs after their overtime triumph the day before at Souderton,” CR North’s Stackhouse said. “CB West keeper Griffin Blokker made multiple sensational saves to keep the match tight. West forward Chase Naso worked hard with limited support.
“The North backline of seniors Chase McCaffrey, Danny Ugras, Will Potero and Nick Pagliughi helped senior keeper Gavin Roon attain the shut-ut.”
CR North (5-0-2, 4-0-2 SOL) is back in action Friday afternoon against CB South at home. CB West (3-4-1, 3-3-1 SOL) looks to bounce back at CR South on Friday.
CB West 0 0 – 0
CR North 1 1 -2
Pennridge 12, Harry S. Truman 0
The Rams moved back into a first-place tie in the Colonial Division, as they had little trouble against Truman on Wednesday.
“They worked their butts off, they didn’t play dirty, they didn’t play cheap,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said of Truman. “They’re doing everything they can.
“We played well. We took our starters out at halftime. Our reserves and subs scored five goals in the second half. To Truman’s credit, about six or seven of our goals came from a combination of either a corner kick header or just a cross and a header. There were only three or four that were actually run of play on the ground.
“Nothing to take away from Truman. They battled. A lot of credit to their goalie. That kid was standing on his head a couple of times. He did a really nice job.”
Shane Velez led Pennridge with three goals, while Ryan McMahon, Chase Rabinowitz and Fernando Columna had two goals each. Addeding single goals were Nate Connor, Logan LaMaina and Zac Curran.
Pennridge (5-2, 4-2 SOL) has a key game Friday at Patriot Division-leading Pennsbury.
“We played everybody a lot of minutes today,” Valimont said. “We know our next game Friday at Pennsbury is going to be a really tough game. We have to play at their place on the road, and we’ve obviously struggled on the road, but this was a good win for the team as a whole. We’ll have all our focus towards Pennsbury and try to do our best on Friday.”
Truman (0-7, 0-6 SOL) is off until Saturday when it plays at home against Souderton.
Truman 0 0 – 0
Pennridge 7 5 – 12
SOL Liberty-Freedom Division Crossovers
Springfield Twp 2, Upper Dublin 0
Against a red-hot Upper Dublin team that hadn’t allowed a goal in any of its five Liberty Division games, Springfield was the better team Wednesday as the Spartans recorded the impressive shutout win in this crossover game.
“Our defense was outstanding,” said Spartans coach Dan Meder. “Chase Rubincam and Dan Fitzpatrick led the way. The entire team played great defense and great offense. It’s something we’ve been working on, and these guys really worked hard today.
“Both teams had opportunities. It was a pretty evenly matched game. We were back and forth. Both goalies made big plays for their teams. We just ended up getting a few better chances at the end and put them away. It was a great win.”
The game was scoreless most of the way, with Springfield scoring with just 15 minutes remaining, as Vincent Kerper scored off a Riley Martin assist. Martin later assisted on Bates’ insurance goal to make it 2-0.
Both teams were awarded a penalty kick – Springfield Township in the first half and Upper Dublin in the second half. Both goalies came up huge.
“It was a great game for our defense, but we did make one bad mistake in the first half, and they ended up with a penalty kick,” Meder said. “Julian Casabo kept us in it by making a big save on it.
“Their goalie (Gabe Copley) also saved a penalty kick during the game in the second half. Riley Martin got fouled in the box, and their goalie saved the PK. Both teams could have taken the lead, and both goalies kept them in it.”
The Spartans coach credited the efforts of several players.
“Other than the goal scorers, my midfield played great,” Meder said. “We’re missing four players due to injury, we moved some guys around. Nick Marino played outstanding, and Jack Sharpe was outstanding in the middle. Ben Hubley, a young player, played really well for us. Harry Bates, who scored a goal, is a freshman, also played well. It was a great team win.”
Springfield (6-1, 5-1 SOL) remained in a first-place tie with the win. It plays at Quakertown on Friday. Upper Dublin (5-1-1, 4-1-1 SOL) fell out of first in the Liberty Division with the loss. The Cardinals look to bounce back Friday at home against William Tennent.
Upper Dublin 0 0 – 0
Springfield 0 2 – 2
Lower Moreland 2, Quakertown 1
Less than two days removed from its first loss of the season at William Tennent, Lower Moreland needed to rebound quickly and did so with a close win over Quakertown.
“It was a good bounce-back win after a disappointing showing on Monday against Tennent,” said Lions coach Bob Barnhart. “We had good training yesterday, it was high intensity, and I could tell that the guys were disappointed with how we showed out on Monday. We had a good warmup today, where guys were zipping around and I could tell they were ready to get into the game.”
Gabe Krutsinger opened the scoring for LM, beating his defender 1v1 and beating the keeper for the early 1-0 lead.
LM led 2-0 at the half. Quakertown would get one back in the second half but got no closer as the Lions closed out the win.
LM (5-1, 5-1 SOL) is back in action Friday at Hatboro-Horsham. Quakertown (0-6, 0-6 SOL) has another tough one at Springfield.
Lower Moreland 2 0 – 2
Quakertown 0 1 – 1
Hatboro-Horsham 3, New Hope-Solebury 1
The Hatters scored two unanswered goals in the second half to break open a 1-1 halftime tie and bounce back from a tough loss to Upper Dublin two days earlier.
“The game started pretty slow for both teams,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath. “I’m not sure if was the first crossover game, Wednesday afternoon, but both teams came out a little flat and non-energetic.”
The Hatters got on the board in the 21st minute, thanks to a Tony Kuhner goal.
“My forward, Tony Kuhner, was halfheartedly chasing the defender down and then started to actually put some pressure on him, and when the center back headed the ball back, Tony was able to beat the goalkeeper to the ball and poke it past him to give us a 1-0 lead,” McGrath said.
New Hope tied it just before halftime, setting the stage for a second half where the Hatters added a pair of goals.
“We got into the guys a little bit at halftime about energy level and coming out strong in the second half,” McGrath said. “We were able to do that. We missed a 1v1 breakaway, but then JR Fulginiti scored off a rebound from Jake Freedman so that gave us a little bit of a boost.
“We were able to get a third goal. Raphael Laiss played a ball into Enrico Romano, and he was able to turn the outside back and had a nice finish to the far post with his left foot.”
The Hatters’ coach lauded the play of several players in the win.
“We have some guys that are banged up just like everybody else, so we rotated a little bit more than usual,” McGrath said. “We got some minutes from Tony Kuhner, who played a good role.
“We brought a kid up from the junior varsity team, Christian Patelmo, and he got some minutes for us and gave us some energy.
“Just overall, we’re obviously happy to get the victory. New Hope is a smaller school, but they’re very organized. They have some good players, and all their games have been tight this year. We knew it was going to be a tight match. We’re just happy to get a win and move on to the next game.”
H-H (5-2, 4-2 SOL) has a tough one Friday at home against Lower Moreland. New Hope (1-5, 1-4 SOL) plays at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
New Hope 1 0 – 1
H-H 1 2 – 3
Wissahickon 6, William Tennent 2
Two days after Tennent knocked off previously unbeaten Lower Moreland, it ran into a brick wall against Wissahickon, as the Trojans broke a 1-1 tie in the second half and ran away with the four-goal win.
“I guess we just got the ball to go in this time because we’ve created a reasonable amount of chances in games that we’ve played, but we’ve also allowed other teams to create a lot of chances too, so our games are quite entertaining, I guess,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm. “The difference is we got a few chances and we managed to put the ball in the net.”
Justin Rosenerro scored the Trojans’ first-half goal, and they seized control of the game with a pair of goals in a two-minute span early in the second half. Chris Rossetti and Michal Om each scored a goal to ignite the Trojans.
Charlie Stehlik connected on back-to-back goals, and Jeevan Jouhal closed out the scoring with a goal in the 57th minute.
Om, Jouhal, Rossetti, Logan Schorn, and Charlie Fortescue all had assists.
“We had a couple players who have stepped up,” Malcolm said. “One of our midfield players, Charlie Stehlik, had two goals. Chris Rossetti came off the bench and had a goal and an assist. It was nice to see Justin Rosenerro – he was the one that got our first goal, which is always important.”
Wissahickon (3-4, 2-4 SOL) looks to make it two in a row Friday at home against Upper Moreland. Tennent (2-4, 2-3 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin.
Tennent 1 1 – 2
Wissahickon 1 5 – 6
Abington 7, Upper Moreland 1
Talk about the story of two halves. This was it.
The Ghosts and visiting Golden Bears were deadlocked 1-1 at halftime of Wednesday’s crossover game. In the second half, the Ghosts outscored their visitors 6-0, erupting for three goals in the first two minutes of the second half after receiving some halftime motivation from coach Randy Garber.
“It was a three o’clock game – they weren’t mentally prepared for the game,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “They had a little bit of a halftime pick-me-up.
“They scored three goals in two minutes – boom, boom, boom. I said to them, ‘If we lose this game or tie this game, you’re not going to be happy at practice tomorrow.’ They played so well at Quakertown (in a 5-0 win Monday), and I said, ’This isn’t the same team.’ You have to prepare yourself the same way every game, no matter who you play because you don’t know who’s watching you.”.
Luke O’Donnell scored the Ghosts’ first-half goal with an assist from Liam Hartman. The Golden Bears scored just before halftime on a breakaway to knot the score.
In the second half, Hartman scored unassisted to make it a 2-0 game, and that opened the floodgates. Goals by Daniel Oliveira (Drew Paxson assist) and Hartman (O’Donnell assist) capped the three-goal explosion to open the half, putting the Ghosts on top 4-1. The Ghosts closed out the scoring with goals from O’Donnell (Braden Delgado assist), Fletcher Vollner and Josh Malka.
O’Donnell and Hartman both contributed two goals and an assist to lead the attack. Garber credited also a defensive standout in the win.
“Drew Paxson in the defense was outstanding,” the Ghosts’ coach said
Combined with Upper Dublin’s loss to Springfield Wednesday, the win puts the Ghosts back in sole possession of first place in the SOL Liberty standings.Abington (6-1-1, 5-0-1 SOL) returns to action Friday when it plays at Cheltenham. The Golden Bears (4-3, 3-3 SOL) look to bounce back at Wissahickon.
Abington 1 6 – 7
Upper Moreland 1 0 – 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4, Cheltenham 0
Mason Clatterbuck had a hand in three goals, scoring twice and assisting on a third, to lead the Colonials to Wednesday’s crossover win over the visiting Panthers. Corey Metzger scored his second goal of the season, and Jordan Kanze scored his first.
The Colonials led 3-0 at halftime.
“It was a good game – lots of attacking,” PW coach Richard Kessler said. “Cheltenham deserves some credit for defending while still attacking throughout the game. They battled well.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-3-1, 3-3 SOL) will travel to New Hope-Solebury on Friday, and Cheltenham (0-6) will host Abington on Friday.
Cheltenham 0 0 – 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3 1 – 4
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