Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Thursday.
SOL Continental
Pennridge 3, Central Bucks East 0
However you look at it, the math continues to add up in a good way for Pennridge.
Another win came Thursday, over Central Bucks East, and that moved the Rams to 3-1-1 in the conference and 6-1-1 overall.
And, when you add in the three goals Pennridge scored against the Patriots, it pushes its season total to 22 (while allowing only five).
"Overall, this is a very good outcome for us," Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. "But you also have to give credit to Central Bucks East and their coaching staff. They have a really young team, but they didn't quit. They made us earn everything we got today."
The Rams took a 1-0 lead to halftime, thanks to a converted penalty kick from senior Jack Taplett.
The penalty kick was awarded after impressive freshman Aiden Castle went in on a breakaway and had his shot knocked down by an East defender.
"Aiden's last touch was wide and his shot ended up being touched by an East defender and that led to a red card and the penalty kick," Valimont said. "They were also down a man for the rest of the game because of that and it really hurt them."
Senior Aidan Link made it 2-0 midway through the second half when he scored off a restart.
"Aidan Link just hit a fantastic ball," Valimont said. "It hit off the goalie and went in and was huge for us.
"Then another of our seniors, Marco Grenda, blasted one from 25 yards out that hit an East defender and went in for the final goal of the day."
Defensively, the Rams are being sparked on the back line by three sophomores.
"Dalton Guthrie, Carlos Erazo and Ryan Cook are all sophomores and they're just doing a great job," Valimont said. "As is senior Jack Gillespie. All of those guys have been really good."
The regular platoon of Ryan Mayhew and Matt Sheldon combined for the shutout in goal.
"Ryan and Matt are getting the job done for sure," Valimont said.
Up next for the Rams is a key conference game at North Penn on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Central Bucks East (1-5-1, 1-4-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North on Friday for a non-league game.
Central Bucks East 0-0 – 0
Pennridge 1-2 – 3
Central Bucks West 3, Quakertown 0
Central Bucks West blanked Quakertown, thanks to a varied attack on offense and its usual superb goaltending.
Bailey Moyer and Jimi Leder (off a feed from David Staxler) gave the Bucks a 2-0 edge by halftime before Dylan Smith, the team's standout goalkeeper, picked up a goal after intermission.
Smith and Ryan Van Pelt combined for the shutout in goal, which was the sixth clean sheet for the Bucks in eight games.
Central Bucks West (6-2, 4-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday, and Quakertown (1-6, 0-5) will be on the road at Saucon Valley for a non-league game Saturday.
Central Bucks West 2-1 – 3
Quakertown 0-0 – 0
North Penn 2, Central Bucks South 0
The Knights have got it going on.
At 4-0 in the conference after blanking the Titans, they're the only remaining unbeaten team of the seven.
A first-half goal from Carter Houlihan (off a feed from Brett Katz) and another tally after the intermission, this one from Luke McMahon (from Jared Huzar) accounted for the final margin.
North Penn (7-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Pennridge on Tuesday, and Central Bucks South (4-2, 3-2) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Tuesday.
North Penn 1-1 – 2
Central Bucks South 0-0 – 0
SOL American
Cheltenham 2, Springfield Township 0
What a difference a year has made for Cheltenham.
In 2017, the Panthers played the scheduled 14 conference games and won three of them.
This season, Cheltenham has played only six conference games thus far and has won three of them against two losses and a tie including Thursday’s win over Springfield Township.
"To match our win total in the conference from last year at this point in the season is great," Cheltenham coach Bill Tonkin said. "We have a lot of work left to do to reach our goals that we set in the beginning of the season."
This one was scoreless until the second half before Findlay Peet was able to get behind the Spartans’ defense and draw a penalty kick that was converted by Max Brown to make it 1-0.
Impressive freshman Nate Quigley would cap the scoring with his first varsity goal.
"It was exciting to see Nate get his first goal," Tonkin said. "He hit the post with his initial shot and followed it up and put the ball in the net. He just played really well today for us."
According to Tonkin, the Panthers are improving by the day.
"We are doing a lot of things well right now and are gaining confidence with each game," he said. "We have a couple of tough games coming up and I'm hoping the momentum we have right now can carry us through those games as well."
Cheltenham (4-2-1, 3-2-1 SOL) will travel to Roman Catholic for a non-league game on Saturday, and Springfield Township (1-4-2, 0-4-2) will travel to Collegium Charter School (Exton) on Saturday for a non-league game.
Cheltenham 0-2 – 2
Springfield Township 0-0 – 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3, Upper Moreland 1
Ever so quietly, Plymouth Whitemarsh is making its way up the conference standings.
With their win over Upper Moreland, the Colonials improved to 3-1-2 in the conference and, like last season, are keeping themselves right in the thick of the race for the top spot.
"We are definitely learning how to play as a unit every match we play," Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Ryan Brazuk said. "And our confidence is building going into the second half of the season."
Richard Veon paced the Colonials offense with a pair of goals while Chad McNally had the other.
"We played great, but we just couldn't finish all of our chances," Brazuk said.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2-3, 3-1-2 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (3-3-2, 2-3-1) will host Pottsgrove in a non-league game Friday.
Upper Moreland 1-0 – 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-1 – 3
Upper Dublin 2, Wissahickon 0
Upper Dublin sent out notice that it plans to be a part of the conference race with its win over Wissahickon.
"We had to have this one," Upper Dublin coach Andy Meehan said. "It was kind of do or die at this point, and the group we put out there today really gave it their all.”
The Trojans were coming off a 6-0 thumping of previously unbeaten Abington on Tuesday.
"We were going up against our big rival in Wissahickon and they were coming off a very good result against Abington," Meehan said. "We needed to right the ship today and the boys really did well.
"The effort was phenomenal from everyone and it was just a total team win. We were hoping to use this game as a jumping off point moving forward and hopefully we'll be able to do that. I have the utmost respect for (Wissahickon coach) Stuart (Malcolm) and his program. We were hoping to prove something today and were able to get a good result."
The win moved the Cardinals to 2-3-1 in the conference while the Trojans are at 3-1-2.
Both goals came in the second half with the first coming from junior Jordan Kahne.
"He pulled off a little bit of magic," Meehan said. "He took some players on and was able to get open around the 18 and just smashed it home."
The second goal came on a penalty kick that was converted by senior Corey Schonberg.
"Chris Kenney, a junior, drew the goal and Corey stepped up and made it to seal the victory," Meehan said.
Meehan also praised the play of his defense and goalkeeper.
"Alex Goldenberg played very well in goal," he said. "They had a lot of shots on goal, crosses and headers, and he was really good. And our defensive line of Colin Asper, James Wydan, Oliver Berman and Matt Moses really held their own and challenged everything."
Upper Dublin will travel to Souderton for a non-league game Friday, and Wissahickon will be on the road for a non-league game at Southern Lehigh on Friday.
Upper Dublin 0-2 – 2
Wissahickon 0-0 – 0
Abington 2, Hatboro-Horsham 1
Abington got back on the winning track with a win over Hatboro-Horsham.
The Ghosts, who suffered their first conference loss to Wissahickon on Monday (by a 6-0 count), improved to 5-1 with the victory (7-1 overall). With the loss, the Hatters dipped to 1-4-1 in conference action (3-5-1 overall).
Abington will travel to Central Bucks East on Monday for a non-league game, and Hatboro-Horsham will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
SOL National
Council Rock 3, William Tennent 0
Council Rock South rode a first-half offensive outburst on its way to the win that moved the Golden Hawks to 3-1 in conference play.
"William Tennent really takes care of the ball very well, so I was pleased that we were able to jump out to an early lead," CR South head coach Alan Nicholl said. "It forced Tennent to play catch-up in the second half and that pace favored us."
All three of the Golden Hawks' goals came in the first half with a pair of them provided by Andrew Rosenfeld with assists from Raphael Gelshteyn on the first one and Pat Zawodniak on the second.
Sean Armstrong, with an unassisted tally, accounted for the other goal in the victory.
"We missed a penalty (kick) in the second half, but overall I was very pleased with the result," Nicholl said.
Goalkeepers Drew Bresnan and Andrew Roberto combined to earn the shutout for the Golden Hawks.
Council Rock South (3-4, 3-1 SOL) will host Bensalem on Friday, and William Tennent (1-4) will travel to Great Valley on Saturday for a non-league game.
William Tennent 0-0 – 0
Council Rock South 3-0 – 3
Non-League
Saucon Valley 2, Souderton 1
Souderton battled all the way before dropping a decision to the Panthers of District 11.
The Indians took the lead near the midway point of the first half when Conor Kellough scored off a feed from Sean Luciani before Saucon Valley knotted the score about four minutes later.
Things stayed tied at 1-1 until midway through the second half when the Panthers picked up the game-winner.
Mitchell Race turned away five shots in goal for the Indians.
Souderton (0-5-1, 0-2-1 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday for its Community Night game at 7 p.m.
Souderton 1-0 – 1
Saucon Valley 1-1 – 2
Neshaminy 1, Moorestown (N.J.) 0 (OT)
Neshaminy kept working and working and it finally paid off with a goal deep into overtime that gave the Redskins the victory.
"We controlled the game most of the way," Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. "We had most of the possession, but couldn't find the net. Gavin Rowan hit the crossbar twice and we pressured most of the game, but didn't score until the second OT."
In that second overtime, Mike Albarran took a pass from Mike Thomas and beat the goalkeeper from 22 yards out in the 95th minute to seal the victory.
"It's nice to get in the win column after a couple of tough losses," Foley said.
"Kais Jawawdeh played great anchoring the defense for us."
Neshaminy (4-3, 3-2 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 0-0-0-1 – 1
Moorestown 0-0-0-0 – 0
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