Jarrad Saffren recaps Tuesday’s SOL boys’ soccer action. CR North/Pennsbury photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE to go directly to the boys soccer galleries.
By Jarrad Saffren
Eighteen Suburban One League boys’ soccer teams played league games on Tuesday. One—Bensalem—played a nonleague game against Penn Wood.
The results and recaps are below.
SOL National
Council Rock South 3, Pennsbury 1
Council Rock South pulled off an upset win with a stellar team effort.
“It was a real good win. We defended well,” said CR South coach Alan Nicholl. “Pennsbury is a good team. They take care of the ball really well and have some really dangerous players.”
South nearly upset North Penn last week. Nicholl said that effort gave his team confidence.
“I thought North Penn was very, very good. We came in with a similar mindset that we had against North Penn,” Nicholl said. “We had momentum in the final minutes of the North Penn game. It made us believe we could play with the top teams in the district.”
Goalkeeper Drew Bresnan was central to South’s defensive effort on Tuesday.
“They launched a bunch of balls into the box and my keeper saved every one of them,” Nicholl said. “He probably fielded 15 balls off the throws in.”
Pat Zawodniak, Nick Kennerly and Conor Sweeney scored South’s goals. Sweeney, Nick Santos and Dan Maggio assisted on them.
South led 1-0 at halftime and 2-0 after 50 minutes. Obi Onouha scored for Pennsbury in the 53rd minute. Sweeney’s goal put the game away in the closing minutes.
“We played very well and did enough to win. But the CR South keeper owned his box extremely well. We just couldn’t find the target from distance,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. “We will learn from this game and be a better team.”
CR South (3-5, 2-2 SOL) plays Penn Charter on Monday at four. Pennsbury (5-2, 3-1 SOL) hosts Council Rock North next Tuesday at 3:30.
Council Rock South 1-2 3
Pennsbury 0-1 1
Council Rock North 1, Neshaminy 0
CR North’s Sean Finneyfrock beat three defenders and passed the ball across to a streaking Justin Scharf, who kicked it past the keeper. It was five minutes after intermission, and North had the only goal it needed.
“It was a very good, hard-working run,” said North coach Joe Stackhouse.
North won despite playing down a man for 50 minutes.
“It was a character win but we shouldn’t have been in that predicament,” Stackhouse said.
The Indians won because their defenders and keeper stepped up.
“(Defenders) Jeremy Smithline, Zach Saifer and TJ Grube had another excellent game,” Stackhouse said. “They pressured a good bit of the second half and the ‘D’ held it down. They played really well.”
North keeper Ed Mancinelli recorded his third shutout of the season.
“Eddie’s doing real well. I have to give that kid a lot of credit. He sat behind Anthony last year and played limited time on JV two years ago,” Stackhouse said. “He has three shutouts in five league games. He has only allowed three goals in the league and three outside, so six in seven games.”
CR North (5-2, 5-0 SOL) plays CB East on Saturday at three. Neshaminy (2-4-1, 1-3 SOL) plays Spring-Ford on Monday night at seven.
Council Rock North 0-1 1
Neshaminy 0-0 0
Abington 6, Harry S. Truman 1
Danny Heller and Sean Touey both scored in the first half and gave Abington a 2-0 lead at halftime. Reese Gibbs and Michael Burstein assisted on the goals.
Ben Hayes made it 3-0 Abington early in the second half. Then Truman got on the board on Edwin Tean’s goal. But Touey put the game away with two more goals.
Abington’s Andrew Kulynin added a sixth goal for good measure. Dave Miazio, Blair Barber, Vincent Carosella and Liam Friel also had assists for the Ghosts.
Abington improved to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Ghosts play Harriton on Saturday at three.
Truman (3-4, 0-4 SOL) hosts Coatesville on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Abington 2-4 6
Harry S. Truman 0-1 1
SOL Continental
North Penn 3, Souderton 1
This game was a lot closer than the final score. After Sam Beckett’s goal in the 14th minute, Souderton led for most of the first half.
North Penn did not take the lead until there were 20 minutes left in the game. But the Knights added a late goal to ice the game.
“Souderton always plays us tough. They just do,” said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. “They are a good team.”
Goalkeeper Mitchell Race kept Souderton in the game, making seven saves. But North Penn’s Ryan Stewart scored on him with 10 minutes left in the first half. Jack Johnston made it 2-1 Knights late in the second half. Luke McMahon scored North Penn’s third and final goal.
McMahon and Aidan Jerome had scored most of North Penn’s goals before Tuesday. “Now we have some other guys getting involved in scoring, which is great,” Duddy said.
North Penn (5-1, 3-1 SOL) hosts Archbishop Wood on Saturday at 10 a.m. Souderton (2-3-1, 2-2 SOL) plays Southern Lehigh on Friday night at seven.
North Penn 1-2 3
Souderton 1-0 1
Central Bucks East 1, William Tennent 0
CB East started its first winning streak of the season. The Patriots beat CB West on Monday, also 1-0.
Brenden Leasoff scored East’s goal on Tuesday. Will Eisold assisted.
CB East (3-3, 3-2 SOL) hosts CR North on Saturday at three. William Tennent (2-3, 1-3 SOL) plays Pennridge on Tuesday at 3:30.
SOL American
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Hatboro-Horsham earned a big league win and took over first-place in the SOL American Conference. The Hatters are now alone in first at 4-1. Plymouth Whitemarsh is in second at 3-2.
“They are much improved from last year. Going to their place made it an even bigger win. And with four teams tied, it was even bigger. It was a huge boost for my boys,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath. “Before we got into the league it was always Upper Dublin, Wissahickon and PW. Our goal was to nestle ourselves in there with those teams.”
Colin Bateman and Andrew Hurrell scored for Hatboro-Horsham, Bateman on a penalty kick, Hurrell off a crossing pass from Marty Harmon.
“Hurrell has been doing really well,” McGrath said. “It was great to see guys who have been playing well who weren’t getting on the sheet get on the sheet.”
Gavin Hendrick scored PW’s goal. Tommy Lefkowitz assisted.
Hatboro-Horsham (6-1-1, 4-1 SOL) plays Central Bucks West on Saturday at noon. PW (4-2, 3-2 SOL) hosts Cheltenham on Tuesday at 3:30.
Upper Dublin 5, Springfield Township 2
Upper Dublin broke a 2-2 halftime tie with three second-half goals. It was another strong offensive showing by the Flying Cardinals.
Quinn Middleton, Max Adams and Sam Joseph all scored. Jerry Bardol scored twice. Adams and Bardol also had one assist each.
“We have a lot of offensive power between Max and Jerry and some of the others. I was very pleased with the offensive effort we had today,” said UD coach Andy Meehan. “Jerry and Max have a very good chemistry up top. They can read each other very well. They know what the other is going to be doing at certain moments in the game, and they react off of that.”
UD keeper Alex Goldenberg made four saves. “Alex played well. Springfield sat back and defended well and are a very well-organized defensive team,” Meehan said. “They counterattacked well off of that and Alex had a couple really good saves. It was a solid performance by him.”
Upper Dublin (4-2, 4-1 SOL) plays Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday at 3:45. Springfield (5-2, 3-2 SOL) plays Norristown on Monday at 3:45.
Upper Dublin 2-3 5
Springfield 2-0 2
Quakertown 4, Upper Moreland 3
Quakertown earned its first win of 2017.
“We’re very young. It was a big win. Each one of these (American Conference) teams is a handful,” said Quakertown coach Kevin Woulfe. “We just came off a big tie against Saucon Valley. So I hope this momentum carries through. The boys have the potential and hopefully this gets their minds in a good place.”
Quakertown led 2-1 at halftime. But Upper Moreland took a 3-2 lead in the second half. Quakertown won with two late goals.
“It was a great game. The last 15 minutes were chaotic. The guys got amped up with the potential for winning this game,” Woulfe said. “But we calmed down and played the rest of the game.”
Andy Munsell, Brandon Strecker, Brendan Kishbaugh and Nate Besch scored for Quakertown. Strecker also had two assists. Munsell had one.
Quakertown keeper Zach Mahler made 10 saves.
The Panthers (1-5-2, 1-4 SOL) host Pennridge on Friday night at seven.
“Pennridge is always strong. (Coach) Pete Valimont does a good job with his guys,” Woulfe said. “It’s nonleague but we are nearby schools so it’s always a big game.”
Upper Moreland (0-8, 0-5 SOL) hosts Wissahickon on Tuesday at 3:30.
Quakertown 2-2 4
Upper Moreland 1-2 3
Wissahickon 1, Cheltenham 0
Wissahickon climbed above .500 with this league win, overall (4-3) and in league play (3-2). The Trojans are now tied in second with PW.
Cheltenham dropped below .500 with this league loss, overall (3-4) and in league play (2-3). The Panthers are still in third-place behind five teams.
Wissahickon plays Roman Catholic on Saturday night at seven. Cheltenham battles PW next Tuesday at 3:30.
Nonleague
Penn Wood 4, Bensalem 3
Bensalem fell to 3-4 with this nonleague loss.
The Owls at least had a strong offensive showing. Robbie Montero scored twice. Dylan Molina scored once.
Bensalem (3-4, 1-3 SOL) hosts CR South on Tuesday at 3:30
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