Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday. CB East/Council Rock South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Crossover games
Abington 0, Lower Moreland 0
Unbeaten, first-place squads in the SOL Liberty and Freedom divisions squared off in this one, and when it was all said and done, they played to a scoreless tie.
“Lower Moreland is a very technical and tactical team,” said Abington coach Randy Garber. “They did a nice job. They are very used to playing on their wide field and they knocked the ball around and possessed the ball quite well, a lot more than we did. They got 35 yards in and didn’t have a whole bunch of chances.”
Defensively, both teams held up strong.
“Kevin Kretschman played a nice game, did a nice job,” Garber said of his goalkeeper. “He did everything he had to do. We had some good opportunities counterattacking but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
“They’re a very good team and they’re very comfortable at their place. There aren’t that many fields that have the dimensions they have (80×120). It’s a gorgeous facility.”
Lower Moreland had chances to cash in too.
“We really played well as a unit,” said LM coach Bob Barnhart. “Abington is a well-coached team who definitely challenged us for the full 100 minutes. Their goalie had two goal-line saves that I’m still not sure how he kept out.
“They were well-organized and played their style of soccer regardless of who they were playing.”
Playing against a much bigger and a Class 6A school, the Lions more than held their own.
“This was an enormous challenge for us,” Barnhart said. “To run with a school like Abington, who has been relevant in the soccer community not just in our region but at the state level for many years says a lot about the grit of our kids.
“One of the things I said to them was to take in the moment. Like most other schools, I’m sure, it’s easy to draw fans at a night game – especially if it’s a rivalry – but tonight we probably had 100-plus fans, which we don’t get at a 3:30 game. There were not many (open) spots on the fence.
“I keep crediting our upperclassmen, who have been stepping up for us all season so far. We are playing a brand of soccer that has been hard to come by in Lower Moreland for a long time, and being back in the SOL for the first time since the mid-80s is something that has definitely forced us to up our game. I have been so proud and impressed with this group of young men and can’t wait to see where the rest of our season takes us.”
Abington (6-0-1) is back in action Tuesday at home against Cheltenham. Lower Moreland (4-0-2) plays at Hatboro-Horsham.
Abington 0 0 0 0 – 0
Lower Moreland 0 0 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks South 2, Bensalem 1
Sean Rieber scored a goal in each half, including the game-winner, and CB South rallied from an early deficit to edge Bensalem on Friday.
The Owls jumped up early in the first half as Collin Meo scored.
Rieber, off of a Thijs Popma assist, tied it five minutes later.
“We started slow, they capitalized and we gave up a goal,” said CB South coach Joe Coscia. “Their kid hit a great free kick. Total props to him. He slid it right under the wall, there’s nothing our goalkeeper could do, but it woke us up.
“We responded not too long after that. Thijs Popma slipped it to Sean Rieber. Sean hit a great left foot shot to beat the goalkeeper. We continued to pressure them for the rest of the first half. Hit the post a few times, hit the crossbar a few. I think in total we hit a post or crossbar at least seven times.”
Bensalem was a little short-handed, but played well.
“We played the first half well and we were missing three starters from the lineup and two players missed our bus to the game, so we played extremely short-handed and played some guys more than we usually do,” said Owls’ coach Rob Brown. “Our defense played well for missing two starters and Nate Rosas played well and so did Collin Meo in a defensive midfield role.”
Bensalem came out strong in the second half, but CB South was able to answer.
“The second half started, they came out pretty hot,” Coscia said. “They kept trying to beat us with their decent wing player, but we figured their game out. They’d punt the ball back and serve him in. We continued to stay organized in the back and caught them offsides quite a few times and continued to frustrate their offense.
“That translated into better offense on our half – again hitting the post a few times, putting a few right into the keeper’s bread basket. Finally, Aidan Davis served a nice ball that Sean Rieber controlled and put a beautiful shot up and over the keeper’s reach for his brace.”
Rieber later drew a foul in the box, but Bensalem keeper Kyle Rubin made the save on an AJ Peev shot.
“We had a lot of calls go against us which has been very frustrating to me because we are not a dirty team,” Brown said. “We had an offsides that was literally in front of me called and we were on by 3-5 yards. That would have been a breakaway, and right before that, CB South got a PK, which Kyle Rubin saved, we had a break in the box and one of our guys got taken down. The ref put the whistle in his mouth and then didn’t call anything.”
Coscia said defensively, his team played well.
“I have to give credit to Logan Campbell,” he said. “The way that he organizes the back and encourages the team, it keeps us in games. He’s positive. He’s hard on guys when he knows he needs to be, and he’s soft on guys when he knows he needs to pick them up. He’s just an incredible leader.
“Nolan Helsel had a great game as well. He’s really grown into the role that we’re coaching him to do without having too much experience playing it.”
CB South improved to 4-2-1 with the win and plays at Council Rock North on Tuesday. Bensalem slipped to 2-5-1. It hosts CB East on Tuesday.
Bensalem 1 0 – 1
CB South 1 1 – 2
Central Bucks East 1, Council Rock South 0 (2 OT)
Two minutes into the second overtime, CB East’s Trevor Jobling scored the game-winner as the Patriots emerged with a close win in a back-and-forth battle.
“It was a really, really good game,” said CB East coach Josh Isaacsohn. “They’re a very, very big, physical team that has a nice touch on the ball too. Quite honestly, they had much better of the play in the first half and had a couple of chances they didn’t convert.
“We changed our formation in the second half, and our defenders really held them at bay, although they had a few chances as did we. It just seemed no one could hit the back of the net. A couple minutes into the overtime, off of a Nick Knepp corner kick, Owen Willis had the assist to Trevor Jobling.”
Isaacsohn had high praise for his defenders – Michael Frye, Nick Ginaldi, Ethan Green and Pranav Kuppuswamy.
“Slowly, we held them and made it into overtime,” the Patriots’ coach said. “The boys were exhausted and feeling it, but they saw it through. It just proved how important set pieces are.”
With the win, CB East is now 4-2-2 overall and plays at Bensalem Tuesday. CR South slipped to 4-3 and is back in action Saturday morning (9:30 a.m.) with a home game against West Windsor-Plainsboro (N.J.).
CR South 0 0 0 0 – 0
CB East 0 0 0 1 – 1
Pennridge 5, Harry S Truman 1
The Rams were able to open the game up in the second half, after Truman hung tough for the first 40 minutes.
“Truman played great and in the first half they took us out of our game,” said Pennridge coach Pete Valimont. “We tried some new things, and none of it worked. We were very fortunate to be where we were at halftime.
“The second half, it opened up a little bit, but still, we were very sloppy and left a lot out there to be desired.”
Shane Velez put the Rams up 1-0 four minutes into the game on a laser from 25-30 yards out.
“It was a really, really solid goal from him, but unfortunately, we turned around and let Truman score about a minute later,” Valimont said.
The Tigers goal came from Juan Ramirez.
Joe Curran scored on an Aiden Castle assist to put Pennridge back in front 2-1 at halftime.
Jake Saville scored off a Jared Aller assist to make it 3-1 with 17 minutes left. Brian Thomson scored using a pass from Pat Fannon four minutes later, and with eight minutes remaining, Saville picked up his second goal with an assist from Peter Derro.
“It was a sloppy game, not one of our best, but we were fortunate enough to come out on top,” Valimont said. “We have two big ones next week, starting with Tuesday at home against Pennsbury.”
As for Truman, which is still searching for its first win, the defense was led by Umut Akins and Kevin Sands who thwarted numerous scoring attempts. The offense was led by Ayoub Fast who stabilized the middle and forward Juan Ramirez.
First-place Pennridge is now 6-1-1 overall. Truman (0-8) hosts Souderton on Monday.
Harry S. Truman 1 0 – 1
Pennridge 2 3 – 5
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7, Cheltenham 0
Center back Henry Couchara scored two goals, and Plymouth Whitemarsh jumped up early and never looked back in this one.
Mason Clatterbuck had one goal and two assists, while Jake Clatterbuck also scored. Sophomores Jared Rutman and Jeff Schneider scored their first varsity goals, while Corey Metzger also picked up a goal.
PW (3-4) plays at New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday. Cheltenham (1-5) takes on Abington.
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Upper Moreland 0
After a scoreless first half, Nick Katherine broke the tie in the 43rd minute, sending Hatboro-Horsham on its way to a shutout win over rival Upper Moreland.
“The first goal was a real nice diagonal ball from Jake Freedman,” said H-H coach Kyle McGrath. “He was probably about 45 yards out right in front of our bench. At halftime, we had talked about playing diagonal balls for our forwards to get on the end of. He played a perfect ball right to the top of the box. Nick took a great first touch and then just finished it far post past their goalkeeper.
“Obviously, we had some momentum after that. We weren’t really happy with how we played in the first half. Not that we played poorly, we just didn’t play well offensively.”
Ryan Toporowski made it 2-0 two minutes later.
“Tommy Harmon picked the ball up in the center midfield, had a nice combination play with Jack Elwell, who then served the ball across the box, and Ryan Toporowski, one of my other midfielders, made a great run forward and was able to finish it from about eight yards out,” McGrath said.
Both teams had scoring chances.
“We probably won the possession battle,” McGrath said. “But they definitely had some chances that we gave them from misplays in the back, but also, any time you play at their field – it’s a bit smaller, so long throws and restarts are dangerous – but we held the possession pretty well.”
The Hatters’ coach credited the efforts of several players.
“Nick (Katherine) scored, but his hold-up play today was very good. He held the ball for us as a target forward, and he was able to have guys joining him in the attack.
“Jake Freedman and Ryan Toporowski, our two center midfielders, again, were really good. We got big minutes from Aiden Scattergood today at outside back. He hasn’t been playing too much, but we had an injury, and he stepped up and played and did well in the second half. That was good to see as well.”
The Hatters (5-1) are back in action Monday at Upper Dublin. Upper Moreland (4-2-3) plays at Wissahickon Tuesday.
H-H 0 2 – 2
UM 0 0 – 0
North Penn 3, Pennsbury 0
Hunter Stites had a hand in all three North Penn goals, as the Knights jumped up in the first half and ended up blanking the SOL Patriot-leading Falcons 3-0 on Friday.
Stites assisted on a Christian Trueman goal to make it 1-0 seven minutes into the contest.
“Hunter got through on the left side and put a ball wide of the post and Christian knocked it in,” said Knights’ coach Chris DePeppe. “We started a little bit different. We fired them up a little bit and pressed up high for the first eight or 10 minutes and took over the game.
“We got an early goal. We haven’t had an early lead all year, so that was nice.”
Stites scored unassisted nine minutes later to make it 2-0 at halftime, and then he added a goal off of a Jovani Gonzalez assist in the second half.
“Hunter’s been snake-bitten a little bit in front of goal,” DePeppe said. “He’s a guy that’s played a lot of different positions. He plays in the back for his club team, but for us, we really needed him to add something to the attack, so he and Jovani have been going forward. He’s just been unlucky. He’s been working hard, and it’s good to see him get that today. I left him on late in the midfield hoping he’d get the hat trick. He’s a senior captain, he’s been with us for three years and he’s scored some big goals for us, so it was good for him to get off the schneid. We’ll need him.”
Gabe Kemp recorded the shutout for the Knights. DePeppe had a lot of praise to go around.
“Alex Stewart continues to be excellent in the center mid,” the Knights’ coach said. “Brian Scott is a sophomore center back who’s playing with Ryan Mindick, a senior captain, and the two of them are really starting to get it together. Brian Scott was probably the man of the match defensively.”
North Penn (4-2) hosts Neshaminy in another crossover game on Tuesday. Pennsbury (4-2-1) looks to bounce back Tuesday at Pennridge.
North Penn 2 1 – 3
Pennsbury 0 0 – 0
Wissahickon 3, William Tennent 2
After a 0-3-1 start to the season, the Trojans remained hot on Friday, edging Tennent and winning for the third time in four games.
Tennent built a 2-0 lead with goals by Ryan Kerr and Jimmy Manning in the first half, only to see Wissahickon come charging back in the second half. Phil Dias scored in the 60th minute and then again in the 75th minute to tie the game.
Four minutes later, Andrew Slackman scored to give the Trojans the win.
Slackman, Ethan Pigeon and Julian Memis all had assists.
With the win, Wissahickon is now 3-4-1 on the season and plays Upper Moreland at home on Tuesday. Tennent (2-4-2) hosts Upper Dublin.
William Tennent 2 0 – 2
Wissahickon 0 3 – 3
Springfield Twp 3, Upper Dublin 2
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