Check out the results for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action.
National Conference
PENNSBURY 1, TRUMAN 0
There can be positives taken from defeat.
For Truman, that was the case Friday afternoon when Pennsbury came to town. Despite suffering a 1-0 loss, the Tigers battled and did so throughout the second half as they tried to claw their way back into the game.
“It was a very physical game,” Falcons’ coach Tom Stoddart said. “Truman is a very good team and stayed organized. Despite being a man down, they gave us fits in the second half.”
The Tigers, in fact, were a man down for about an hour of game action. An incident took place between Pennsbury goalie Eric Gagliardi and Truman’s Tim Hild 20 minutes into the first half, resulting in the latter being issued a red card and the former a yellow. Gagliardi exited for five minutes, but when he returned, he picked up right where he left off in earning a shutout win.
“We were batting against all the elements today,” Truman coach Bill O’Neil said.
With five minutes to go before halftime, the Falcons finally struck when Matt Chapuis sent a hard shot at Eric Gutierez, who made a great save but left the rebound up for grabs. That loose ball was recovered by Kevin Hart, who finished off the play with a goal that proved to be the deciding factor.
Gutierez made six saves in the loss, but the Truman offense couldn’t quite find the equalizer. The Tigers fell to 2-4-1 and next head to Bensalem Monday.
“Our guys played really hard and I felt like we dominated them in the second half,” O’Neil said.
Pennsbury is now 4-1-1 on the year and 3-1-1 in the SOL National. Stoddart, however, believes improvements must still be made for his team to reach its full potential. The Falcons next host Abington Tuesday.
“We just need to finish more,” he said. “If we can finish with more efficiency, we’ll be okay, but every day is going to be a grind.”
Pennsbury 1 0 1
Truman 0 0 0
ABINGTON 2, WILLIAM TENNENT 1
Johnny Ciarlante scored for the Panthers in the second half, but his tally was not enough to overcome a disappointing 2-1 setback to Abington. Tennent has now lost two of its last three contests for the first time this season and sits at 2-4-1 overall (1-3-1 in SOL National play).
“Sloppy. It was a sloppy game,” said Panthers coach Luke Gibson.
Ben Zeitz made one save for the Panthers in net, but the defending District I champion Ghosts finally got the best of him to improve to 4-4 on the year.
“Every league game is difficult and winnable at the same time,” Gibson said. “We just thought we didn’t put forth a good effort.”
Abington 0 2 2
William Tennent 0 1 1
BENSALEM 2, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1 (OT)
Chris Jurgeson had another goal to add to an already solid season as the Owls survived a 2-1 decision.
The first 80 minutes weren’t enough to break a 1-1 tie, but in the opening overtime period, the game winner came on a goal by Eric Corry. His shot improved the Owls to 5-2 on the year and 3-2 in the SOL National. They have also won three league matches in a row, while CR North dropped to 2-4 with the setback.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0, NESHAMINY 0
The Golden Hawks and Redskins battled to a scoreless draw Friday afternoon in Holland.
The tie moved CR South to 2-3-2 overall and 1-2-2 in the league, while Neshaminy has settled for draws in two straight games and is 5-0-2. Both squads are in action Tuesday, with the Redskins traveling to CR North and the Golden Hawks to Tennent.
Council Rock South 0 0 0 (OT 1) 0 (OT 2) 0
Neshaminy 0 0 0 (OT 1) 0 (OT 2) 0
Continental Conference
CHELTENHAM 3, UPPER MORELAND 0
There was a big sigh of relief coming from the Panthers on Friday afternoon.
After six games of disappointing results, Cheltenham finally claimed its first victory of the season. The Panthers did so in impressive fashion as they dominated the Golden Bears to the tune of a 3-0 triumph.
“It was a great effort,” said Panthers coach Chuck Gesing.
Had it not been for UM keeper Bobby Dell, who made 15 saves in a losing effort, the final result could have been even more lopsided. Nonetheless, Cheltenham was able to break the Bears’ scheme of playing up on them and ultimately got several scoring opportunities as a result.
“We wanted to play them in,” Gesing said.
Cheltenham struck first when Justin McNab set up Tim Taliaferro for an easy finish and 1-0 advantage it took to the break. In the final 40 minutes, McNab had the favor returned when a corner kick by Josiah Harmer got to him for a scoring shot. Any doubts about the final result were put to rest by a late tally from Christos Yiantsos, who got past five defenders to connect on a shot that made it 3-0.
“Eventually, we got in and scored a couple goals,” said Gesing. “I was so impressed with their goalie in the second half.”
Jon Winneg got the shutout win for Cheltenham, which is now 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the SOL American. Upper Moreland fell to 1-7 and is still seeking its first league win.
Cheltenham 1 2 3
Upper Moreland 0 0 0
PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH 5, NORRISTOWN 0
Plymouth-Whitemarsh continued its outstanding start to the year with a 5-0 win over Norristown on the road Friday afternoon. The Colonials are now winners of five in a row and have outscored their opponents by a combined 14-1 in that stretch. They stand at 6-0-1 to this point, while the Eagles are 1-5 (1-4 in league play).
UPPER DUBLIN 3, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 0
The Cardinals saw two players find the back of the net and got a little help in downing host Springfield (Montco) by a 3-0 score.
Zach Arnold and Cole D’Andre each had goals for Upper Dublin, which moved to 5-2 on the year with the victory. Like Plymouth-Whitemarsh, the Cardinals have won five straight matches and are undefeated in the SOL American. The two teams face each other for the first time Tuesday at Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
The Spartans, meanwhile, dropped to 2-3 in American play and conceded an own goal in the process. They will seek to get back on track Tuesday at Upper Moreland.
WISSAHICKON 6, UPPER MERION 0
The Trojans offense was buzzing Friday thanks in large part to Cole Kropnick and Alex Chiodo-Ortiz. The duo combined for five of Wissahickon’s six tallies in a 6-0 home drubbing of Upper Merion.
Kropnick notched a rare natural hat trick and did so in a span of under 20 minutes. He broke a scoreless tie with nine minutes remaining before halftime, then added another two minutes later to give Wissahickon a 2-0 edge at intermission.
In the 50th minute, he was back at it with his final goal of the night. After Zach Scannapieco made it 4-0, it was Chiodo-Ortiz’s turn to contribute to the scoring punch. He popped in two goals within four minutes of each other to complete the day for the Trojans.
Adding assists in the win were Neal Guaglianone, Matt Knittel, Tom McHale and goalie John Carozza. The Trojans’ keeper needed to make just one save while the Trojans outshot the Vikings, 24-2.
Kevin O’Sullivan stopped eight shots for Upper Merion, which has now lost two in a row following a 4-0 start. Wissahickon improved to 5-2 overall.
Wissahickon 2 4 6
Upper Merion 0 0 0
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 3, PENNRIDGE 1
Four-game losing skids can be demoralizing, but don’t tell that to Souderton. Despite a rough start to their SOL Continental slate, the Indians have hung tough and extended surging North Penn and CB West to the limit before suffering one-goal losses to both squads. Their endurance paid off Friday as Tyler Strozeski came through with a pair of second half goals that proved to be the difference in a 3-1 victory over visiting Pennridge.
“I thought the boys worked extremely hard today,” said Indians coach Matt Benner. “Even after falling behind, they responded very quickly in the first half.”
After Pennridge struck on a connection between Ryan Biresch and scorer Dylan Henry, Souderton evened things up, thanks to Nate Verso, who set up D.J. Rostron for a goal in the 23rd minute. It remained that way until second half, when Strozeski scored the go-ahead goal seven minutes in. He put another one home to all but seal the Rams’ fate with 20 minutes remaining.
“He had a great second half,” Benner said of Strozeski. “(He had) two quality goals.”
Nick Marculo added an assist on the first Strozeski goal. Adam Strogis earned the win in net for the Indians. Souderton is now 2-4-1 overall and 1-4 in SOL Continental play, while Pennridge fell to 5-4 and 2-3 in the league.
Souderton 1 2 3
Pennridge 1 0 1
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1 (2 OT)
The game of the day in the SOL Continental took place in Warrington where the Titans finally broke through with a goal five minutes into a second overtime to earn a 2-1 victory over the visiting and rival Bucks.
Dan Busichio got the play started, as he set up Colin Fagan for a shot that found the back of the net. Their connection broke a 78-minute scoring drought in the match since both prior goals came in the opening half.
It didn’t take the Bucks long to pull ahead. Just four minutes in, Kyle Schecter found Joel Klapper for a shot and goal to make it 1-0. But the Titans quickly answered thanks to Dean Helwig, who scored an unassisted tally to even things up for the duration of regulation.
CB South has won two in a row and is back to .500 on the year at 4-4. The Titans will face Souderton Tuesday while CB West (5-2 overall) will try to rebound when North Penn visits Monday after suffering its first league loss of the season.
Central Bucks South 1 0 0 (OT 1) 1 (OT 2) 2
Central Bucks West 1 0 0 (OT 1) 0 (OT 2) 1
NORTH PENN 2, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
The Knights scored a pair of first half goals within three minutes of each other and never looked back in a 2-0 win at Hatboro-Horsham.
In the 27th minute, North Penn was awarded a penalty kick, which Drew McMenamin took and drove home for the eventual game winner. In the 29th minute, Dylan McMahon added to the advantage with a scoring shot of his own that set the final margin.
The Knights remain undefeated at 7-0 and are 5-0 in the league. Defensively, they have not allowed a goal in their last three matches and have yielded only five all season. The Hatters dropped to 3-4 with the loss and will trek to Quakertown Tuesday.
North Penn 2 0 2
Hatboro-Horsham 0 0
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3, SOUDERTON 0 (Thursday, Sept. 19)
The Patriots rebounded from back-to-back 1-0 losses to defeat the Indians on Thursday. Evan Vare put the Patriots on the scoreboard in the 14th minute, using an Ian Lutz assist. The Patriots took that 1-0 lead into halftime. A goal off a set piece by Brook Weiss (Ryan Gleason assist) put the Patriots on top 2-0, and with 17 minutes remaining on the clock, a pass from James Sutcliffe set up a Gleason goal for the 3-0 final.
"We got an early goal and stayed with it," coach Mike Gorni said. "It was a very even first half. In the second half when we got our second goal - it helps, and we were able to get into a little bit more of a comfort zone.
"Souderton is a very good team, so we're glad to get out of there with a win.
Central Bucks East 1 2 3
Souderton 0 0 0
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