Check out the results for SOL boys' soccer teams in action Tuesday.
By Jarrad Saffren
We have reached the halfway point in the 2015 Suburban One League boys soccer season. All 24 teams played league games Tuesday. The results and recaps are below.
SOL National
Bensalem 5, Council Rock North 3
Bensalem scored two early goals and held off North the rest of the afternoon, handing the Indians their first loss of the season.
“It’s a huge win for us,” said Bensalem coach Joe Leone. “They kept getting opportunities and getting back in it and then we would turn it around. The momentum shifted a lot.”
Alfardy Ali and Ryan Molz put Bensalem up 2-0 before North’s Brett Miller cut the lead in half. After the break, the Owls and Indians traded goals. Bensalem’s Ed Farnsworth made it 3-1 and then Eric Levine answered for North. Then Ali struck again for Bensalem. But, for the third time, North cut the lead to one, this time on a goal by Nick Guarna.
Finally, late in the second half, Farnsworth put North away for good, scoring his second goal to make it 5-3.
“Eddie started off slow this season but I stuck with him, I knew it was a matter of time, and things just worked out today,” Leone said.
The Owls’ coach acknowledged this his team’s offense benefitted from its early lead.
“We had a lot of one on ones,” Leone said. “We jumped out, and they had to push defenders up to get back in the game, which gave us space to operate for our forwards.”
With the win, Bensalem stayed ahead of North in second-place behind Pennsbury. The Falcons lost Tuesday, meaning the Owls are just one win out of first.
Bensalem (6-2, 5-2 SOL) hosts Neshaminy Thursday at 3:30 p.m. North (4-1-2, 3-1-2 SOL) welcomes William Tennent on the same day and time.
Bensalem 2-3 5
Council Rock North 1-2 3
William Tennent 2, Pennsbury 0
Tennent broke a two-game league losing streak and pulled off the biggest upset of the season in the SOL National.
“This is the bright spot in our season so far,” said Tennent coach Ryan Todt. “We had our backs against the wall and really came through today.”
The Panthers’ losing streak dropped them from one point behind first-place Pennsbury to seven points back going into Tuesday. Now they are back in front of Council Rock North and just four points behind Pennsbury.
“We knew we could play with anybody,” Todt said. “We got to keep the momentum going against North (on Thursday).”
JR McCabe netted two goals late in the second half to break a scoreless tie.
In the 60th minute, Michael Albers toed the ball to McCabe, who ran into the box and one-timed it into the bottom left corner of the net.
Then, in the final minute, Pennsbury pushed up its goalie in a frantic effort to force overtime. Tennent’s Tony Ciarlante stole the ball and dribbled behind the goalie. McCabe dashed up the field to make it a two on none. Ciarlante booted the ball up the field to McCabe, who lofted it toward the net from 35 yards out. The ball rolled in and Tennent clinched the victory.
After the game, Todt credited his defenders.
“(Center Back) Conner Weiss controlled the tempo for the D. They played a phenomenal game,” Todt said. “Steve Testa played great next to Conner. And Steve Orliw and Eric Melio played a very physical match versus a high quality striker for Pennsbury.”
“Our defense and goalkeeping has been our strength all year,” Todt added.
As Todt alluded to, Tennent (5-4, 4-3 SOL) goes to North on Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. start. Pennsbury (6-1-1, 5-1-1 SOL) travels to Abington for a 7 p.m. primetime clash.
William Tennent 0-2 2
Pennsbury 0-0 0
Council Rock South 2, Neshaminy 1
South earned its third win and jumped ahead of Neshaminy into sixth-place in the SOL National standings.
South’s Pat Wilczynski broke the ice in the first half, but Neshaminy tied it early in the second. In the 60th minute, Justin Weinberg rocketed home the game winner from 18 yards out.
Nate Zadjowicz and Nolan Gaudet combined to stop six shots and earn the shutout.
The Golden Hawks (3-6, 2-5 SOL) play Harry S. Truman Friday afternoon.
Neshaminy (1-6-1, 1-4-1 SOL) buses to Bensalem for a 3:30 p.m. start.
Abington 4, Harry S Truman 0
SOL Continental
Central Bucks South 2, Central Bucks West 0
South won its fourth straight game while West lost for the third time in four games.
“Our whole team played well,” said South coach Don Brady. “We possessed the ball and didn’t give it away, which was a big goal for us.”
West coach Stefan Szygiel seconded that.
“South was the better team for 99-percent of the game,” the Bucks’ coach said. “They were linking passes in the offensive third and creating good chances.”
Giani Goss scored first for South on an assist from Colin Fagan. That was in the seventh minute. In the 46th, Fagan netted his own goal to put the game out of reach.
South keeper Matt Gorman stoned three shots and was aided by a stout defense.
“West has really good team speed,” said Brady. “They serve that long ball to speedy forwards and put you under pressure. Not allowing them to have many opportunities like that was big for us.”
West has spent most of the season ahead of South in the standings, and the two were tied in third going into Tuesday. But now the Titans are alone. All three of the Bucks’ conference losses came to the teams ahead of them, CB East, North Penn, and CB South.
Szygiel is not worried.
“The conference standings matter less than before,” he said. “You could finish fourth in the conference and higher in the district power rankings. It’s more about overall record now.”
South (7-2, 5-2 SOL) battles second-place North Penn Thursday night. West (7-3, 4-3 SOL) hosts Quakertown.
Central Bucks South 1-1 2
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Pennridge 4, Quakertown 0
Before a raucous, Pink-clad crowd, Pennridge dominated Quakertown behind electric performances by its seniors.
Senior Cameron Sheva booted two goals in the first half and senior Cayce Giblin headed the ball past the keeper early in the second. Late in the game, non-senior Matt Stevenson ripped a shot that bounced off a defender and into the net.
Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said the offensive explosion was overdue.
“We’ve had our frustrations the past couple games,” said Valimont. “Our last loss to North Penn was ugly, so was our 1-0 loss to Hatboro-Horsham.”
Senior Brody Giblin made six saves in net.
Valimont said his seniors woke up after seeing the first district power rankings this week. Pennridge was ranked 40th out of 56 teams.
At 3-5, the Rams will have to get hot to make the playoffs.
“We don’t have to win every one but almost,” said Valimont. “We also have non-league games against Cheltenham, Saucon Valley, and Upper Moreland on the back end. So we could make up three wins there.”
It gets harder before it gets easier for Pennridge. The Rams (3-5, 2-5 SOL) play at CB East Thursday. Quakertown (0-9, 0-7 SOL) travels to CB West.
Pennridge 2-2 4
Quakertown 0-0 0
CB East 7, Souderton 1
East kept on rolling against Souderton, scoring seven goals in the first half and calling off the dogs in the second.
Three players—Evan Vare, Alex Parasky, and Edgar Mauge—registered two goals for the Patriots. Justin Chomik added the other. Six players recorded assists. JR Eisold had two.
“We’ve been pressing more lately and our attack has been good,” said CB East coach Mike Gorni. “Some shots have been off the post lately, but today they went in.”
Souderton scored its only goal in the eighth minute when Luis Orellana found the back of the net, assisted by John O’Keefe.
East (10-0, 7-0 SOL) takes on Pennridge Thursday. Souderton (1-8-1, 1-5-1 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham.
Central Bucks East 7-0 7
Souderton 1-0 1
North Penn 2, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Liam Parker scored two goals to lift North Penn to another win. One came in the first half, the other in the second. Nick Terchek assisted on the second goal.
The Knights have only one loss this season but still trail CB East by five points.
North Penn (7-1-1, 5-1-1 SOL) plays a tough road game at third-place CB South Thursday. Hatboro-Horsham (5-5, 3-4 SOL) goes to Souderton for a 3:30 p.m. start.
North Penn 1-1 2
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0 0
SOL American
Wissahickon 2, Cheltenham 1 (OT)
Wissahickon stayed in first-place by beating second-place Cheltenham in overtime.
Aidan Conway struck first in the fifth minute for the Trojans, but Cheltenham’s Jake Rucket tied it up in the 26th.
The two teams held each other off the scoreboard until Wissahickon’s Blake Geisler netted the overtime game winner in the 92nd minute on a play that Panthers’ coach Chuck Gesing called, “Fluky.”
Cheltenham’s keeper rushed out toward the ball and it rebounded off a defender and rolled in.
“They got lucky,” said Gesing. “They outplayed us the first 15 minutes, but we were better the rest of the way.”
Cheltenham could have taken sole possession of first place in the SOL American with a win. Instead, Wissahickon remains in first while the Panthers dropped to fourth.
Wissahickon (6-2, 6-1 SOL) clashes with Springfield Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Cheltenham (4-3-1, 4-2-1 SOL) plays Upper Merion on the same day and time.
Wissahickon 1-0-1 2
Cheltenham 1-0-0 1
Upper Merion 3, Upper Moreland 2 (2 OT)
For the first time in four tries, Upper Merion won a double overtime game, improving to 1-1-2 in the extra extra session.
Without three senior starters in the lineup when the game began, the Vikings fell behind 2-0 in the first 20 minutes. The seniors were sick Monday and missed school. Coach Tom Dodds has a policy that players who miss practice don’t start the next game.
“They all had notes, so they were excused absences,” the Vikings’ coach said. “But that’s my policy.”
Dodds inserted his seniors around the 20-minute mark, and Upper Merion turned things around, scoring twice before halftime to tie the game at two. Tim Biegalski and Alan Castillo netted the goals.
Thanks to an early red card, the Vikings played down a man for most of the second half and overtimes. But in the second overtime, Abdu Bakillah settled the ball off a corner kick and blasted home the game winner from 18 yards out.
Upper Merion jumped above .500 in league play with the win.
The Vikings (3-3-2, 3-2-2 SOL) play at Cheltenham Thursday afternoon. Upper Moreland (3-6, 2-5 SOL) travels to Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Upper Merion 2-0-1 3
Upper Moreland 2-0-0 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3, Norristown 0
PW used a balanced attack to handle Norristown.
Three different Colonials scored goals and three others recorded assists. Mark Melvin, Skyler Goldstein, and Tyler Goldman beat the keeper while Tom Hoy, Austin Betterly, and Kyle Blumenthal helped them do it.
Since Cheltenham lost, PW took over sole possession of second-place behind Wissahickon. The Colonials trail the Trojans by two points.
PW (7-1-1, 5-1-1 SOL) takes on Upper Moreland at home Thursday afternoon. Norristown (1-8, 0-7) goes for its first league win against Upper Dublin.
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