Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Wednesday. Pennsbury/Bensalem & CR South/Truman photos courtesy of John Gleeson. CB East/Pennridge photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for galleries of all three games. (CB South/NP photo courtesy of Mike Tait/CB South Soccer)
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 1, Upper Dublin 1 (2 OT)
In a back-and-forth game, Abington jumped ahead in the first half, only to see Upper Dublin tie it up in the second half. In the end, however, they settled for a 1-1 tie after two scoreless overtime periods.
“This was the first day of us waking up and realizing what we have on the line,” said Flying Cardinals coach Noah Johnson. “More than just winning a game, it’s giving our seniors the best season possible that they could imagine. I think today they realized that we can do this.
“I was happy for them to get some kind of result out of it today. It’s always fun playing against Abington. We’re like the little brother, so whenever we get to throw a punch back and not just get beat up by big bro, it’s always a fun opportunity to play them.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half-
Kyle Kretschman (A) assisted by Jazafith Vasquez
Second Half –
Adriano Romano (UD) from Leo Kuznits
OT (2)
No score
Upper Dublin coach Noah Johnson:
–The game: “We had a lot of opportunities to go up in the first half, and we did not seize those opportunities. I think we had four breakaway moments, opportunities on goal where I don’t know what the guys were doing. Maybe nerves got the best of them, but we didn’t put them away, and they did a very good job of capitalizing on their set pieces. They were able to get a throw-in, and after four or five throws, they got one into the back of the net. Hats off to Kyle Kretschman for putting it in the back of the net.
“Other than that, it was pretty much us most of the first half, and in the second half, the roles were reversed. They were beating the crap out of us for a little bit, and then we started fighting back, and even in the second half, we had three more opportunities to score. Adriano put one of those opportunities away, and in the last 50 seconds of the game, we get a breakaway opportunity right in front of the net. It’s 1v1 against the keeper, and we don’t put it in the back of the net. We put it right at the keeper.
“I could tell how deflating that was for everyone, because going into that first overtime we were just non-existent, not playing nowhere near our first or second half. It was just defending for our lives. In the second overtime, we kind of woke up a little bit, enough to close the game out. It was a little stressful because I want them every year to have the best season they can possibly have.”
–Props: “I would give a shoutout to (junior center back) Duncan Boyd for maturing today. Duncan was a little upset after Kyle Kretschman scored the goal. Duncan played lights out all day, and in that one brief moment, he had a little blooper where he didn’t jump high enough and time his jump to clear the ball away, and his head dropped immediately. I said, ‘Dude, you’re fine, you’re human. It’s okay.’
“It could have gone either way. He could have sulked about it for the rest of the game and kept blaming himself for that one moment. Honestly, you clear a ball five times, you’re eventually going to let one up. But he bounced back. Going into halftime, he was a little frustrated with himself. We had a chat, and it was nice to see him come back to just being an animal back there and making sure he did everything he could to keep them from scoring again. He actually saved the game as well because Abington had an opportunity where he cleared it off the line after a ball got by Anthony Ginaldi, and he kept it 0-0 at that moment. Hats off to Duncan.
“Besides Duncan, hats off to all of them. It takes a lot of heart to be able to play for 100 minutes – being able to do that and at the end of the game shake hands and everyone be happy with the result.”
Up next: Abington will be on the road at Wissahickon Friday, and Upper Dublin will travel to Quakertown Friday.
Abington 1 0 0 0 – 1
UD 0 1 0 0 – 1
Hatboro-Horsham 5, Quakertown 2
Two goals in the first 15 minutes set the tone early in this one for Hatboro-Horsham, which scored four times in a high-scoring first half on the way to the win over Quakertown on Wednesday.
“It was the first game of the week with the holiday,” said H-H coach Kyle McGrath. “We scored some nice goals, and it’s always to get a win after a long bus ride there and back.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Aaron Ciciarelli (HH) assisted by Finn Reilly 9th minute
Nick Belizzie (HH) assisted by Aaron Ciciarelli 14th minute (on a throw-in)
Quakertown PK 22nd minute
Ethan Kamchatov (HH) assisted by Louis Matullo 31st minute
Own goal 37th minute
Quakertown goal 39th minute
Second Half –
Louis Matullo (HH) Penalty kick in 64th minute
H-H coach Kyle McGrath:
–On the game: “We were not happy defensively in the first half, giving up the goals we gave up. We tweaked some things and made sure we shored things up in the back and didn’t really want to give up any opportunities. We were quite content with a 4-2 win but knew we’d be able to continue to attack. We just really wanted to tighten up a little bit defensively and focus on getting the shutout in the second half, and the guys were able to do that.”
–Props: “Aaron Ciciarelli is a senior, and he got on the scoresheet twice today. Louis Matullo again scored a goal and had an assist on a really nicely worked free kick to Ethan. Nick Belizzie scored a goal today, but he took a beating up top. He got fouled quite a bit, but he kept playing and kept working hard.
“Any time we can score five goals, we should be on the right end of the score. We just have to tighten up some things defensively and hopefully continue to score goals like we have been the last two games.”
Up next: Hatboro-Horsham will host Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday, and Quakertown will host Upper Dublin Friday.
H-H 4 1 – 5
Quakertown 2 0 – 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Wissahickon 1
Ian Kanze and Dom Marcella both had first-half goals as Plymouth Whitemarsh held off visiting Wissahickon for the 2-1 Liberty Division win on Wednesday afternoon.
“Big win for us today,” said Colonials coach Toni Washington. “We battled and got the result we wanted.
“Big props to everyone for staying locked in mentally and physically especially towards the end handling adversity. I’m proud that we kept our composure, it was a true full team effort today. Players are reminded often that when each person on the team does their job we will be successful.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Ian Kanze (PW) from Finn Lafferty, 24th minute
Jonathan Schiffman (W), 30th minute
Dom Marcella (PW) from Finn Lafferty
PW coach Toni Washington:
“Shout out to our defense for winning balls in the air and controlling the midfield. Defense wins games. This was written on our board during our film session with hopes to limit the goals against in the future, which we did today.”
Up next: Wissahickon will host Abington on Friday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham Friday.
Wissahickon 1 0 – 1
PW 2 0 – 2
SOL Freedom Division
Lower Moreland 5, Springfield Twp 0
In the Freedom Division’s top soccer rivalry, Lower Moreland drew first blood for the 2025 season, with a dominant 5-0 win over defending division champ Springfield on Wednesday afternoon.
“Today was a huge win for the program, as Springfield and LM have had some epic matches since I have been at LM,” said Lions coach Bob Barnhart. “Dan (Meder) always has his guys in top form, and they have always played us physical. Today was no exception.
“I will say that in my nine years at LM I have never seen 11 players all playing selfless soccer like we did today. There wasn’t one player on the field playing for themselves or looking to be the guy.
“We had a specific plan and executed it to perfection today. From the goalie to the front line, each guy stepped on the field and won their 1v1 battle, and when you can do that, you are always going to have a good result.
“I was impressed with our senior leadership leading into today’s game … At practice yesterday, we were all very focused and ready to have a strong showing against a team that has had our number over the last few years.
“We are hyper focused on the next game, we will take tonight to enjoy this win but will get back at it tomorrow at practice in preparation for our game on Friday.
–Props: “Standout players today were Nathan Fellah on our back line and the offensive creativeness of Adiv Opinkaro, Jordy Barrera, and Lian Fellah.”
Up next: Lower Moreland will host New Hope-Solebury Friday, and Springfield Twp will host William Tennent Friday.
Springfield 0 0 – 0
LM 3 2 – 5
William Tennent 4, Cheltenham 0
Three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half broke open a close game, as Tennent pulled away from Cheltenham for the shutout win in Freedom Division play on Tuesday.
“The first half of the second half we settled down a little bit,” said Tennent assistant coach Nick D’Andrea.” They were applying a lot of pressure, and in the second half, we responded to the pressure a little differently and just settled down into the game a little more. We were getting chances in the first half, and Cheltenham was getting chances too in the first half.
“In the second half, we tried to control the ball a little bit more, and the boys settled down, and that was the key. When they settled down, they found each other, and we started to generate better, cleaner opportunities. We had some really nice goals today.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Travis Donovan (WT) from Ryder Holt
Second Half –
Peter Comans (WT) from Ryder Holt
Josh Laskowski (WT) from Julian Krapivnitskiy
Josh Laskowski (WT) from Leon Lembersky
WT assistant coach Nick D’Andrea:
–Props: “Our goalies and back line played really well. Both of our goalies played today. Jason Brandt was our starter and played most of the game but then Collin McVey played the last 20 minutes.
“We give a lot of credit today to Josh Laskowski. We thought he had a great game. He came off the bench for us today and scored some great goals. He’s been playing really well the last couple of games. He played with a lot of composure, and that seemed to be contagious.”
Up next: William Tennent will be on the road at Springfield Twp Friday, and Cheltenham will travel to Upper Moreland Friday.
Cheltenham 0 0 – 0
William Tennent 1 3 – 4
New Hope-Solebury 3, Upper Moreland 0
Jayson Cajeira helped New Hope get off to a fast start, and the Lions had a solid performance from start to finish in blanking visiting Upper Moreland on Wednesday.
“Great overall team performance from the starters and every guy that came off the bench,” said NH-S coach Chris Van Pelt. “It was important for us to get on the right side of results after a tough end to last week. I thought we moved the ball really well at times and did well to fight for every ball. It was definitely our best and most complete performance so far this year.”
Scoring Summary:
Jayson Cajeira (NH) from Rocco Massimino
Rocco Massimino (NH)
Evan Kearney (NH)
New Hope coach Chris Van Pelt:
–Props: “Jayson did well to get his second goal of the year off a great run and cross from Rocco. I was so happy for Rocco to get his first of the season with our second goal, he’s been so close every game to scoring and we joked that he was cursed, so it was nice to see the curse broken today.
“Evan had a great overall game and got our third goal, despite being a freshman he looks like he’s been playing at this level for years and has been a big asset for us this year starting at three different positions so far this year.
“Couldn’t be more proud of the boys today, hopefully we can continue off this result on Friday.
Up next: New Hope-Solebury will travel to Lower Moreland Friday, and Upper Moreland will host Cheltenham Friday.
New Hope 3
UM 0
SOL Patriot Division
Pennsbury 9, Bensalem 0
It was a big offensive day for Pennsbury, and the Falcons shared the wealth as nine different players scored goals in its 9-0 win over Bensalem on Wednesday.
“We’ve been plagued the last couple seasons with an inability to score, so it’s promising to see this many players finding the
back of the net early on in the season,” said Falcons coach Tom Stoddart.
James Purdam and Cooper Stubbs shared time in goal and combined for the shutout.
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Aiden O’Donnell (P)
Liam Bobbings (P)
Duncan Reed (P)
Levin Dicicco (P)
Second Half –
Ryan Mathis (P)
Anjur Curevac (P)
Nick Hryniszak (P)
David DeFinis (P)
Ethan Ramas (P)
Up next: Pennsbury will be on the road at Neshaminy Friday, and Bensalem will travel to Harry S Truman Friday.
Pennsbury 4 5 – 9
Bensalem 0 0 – 0
Council Rock North 0, Neshaminy 0
Neshaminy picked up its second scoreless tie in as many league games, as the Redskins and Council Rock North were unable to declare a winner after 100 minutes and had to settle for the 0-0 draw on Wednesday.
“The good news is we haven’t given up a goal in 200 minutes, the bad news is we haven’t scored in 200 minutes,” said coach Tom Foley.
CR North coach Joe Stackhouse:
“Both squads had outstanding goalie performances. North’s Elias Berman made three point- blank saves. North had a goal called back late in second half, as the ref claimed the ball was out of bounds prior to crossing a pass along the end line.
“Very entertaining contest.”
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley:
–The game: “The first half – the first 20 minutes, I thought Rock was going to steamroll us because we weren’t ready to play. They won every ball. We didn’t compete for any 50-50 balls – we just let them win. Fortunately, their attack broke down around the 18 where we were able to defend well enough to prevent them from getting any really good looks.
“We had to make a few adjustments in the midfield that seemed to stabilize things a little bit. We still weren’t playing great, but as bad as we played, we had a breakaway on the goalie, and that got stuffed out. We got a real good look from a head ball that just went over the crossbar, so we had two really good chances to score in the first half, and we just didn’t take advantage.
“In the second half, I thought we kind of had the better of play for a lot of the half. We had another two good looks. The keeper made the save. We had another head ball that went over the crossbar on a corner. We had another cross that we got a foot on, and it just dribbled wide of the post.
“Overall, I’m glad the boys responded in the second half. We kind of got into them at halftime, and they responded really well. They picked up the play. All in all, I wasn’t happy with the first half, but I was happy with the way we responded in the second half. We just have to finish our chances. When you have five really good looks at goal, you have to put at least one of them in.”
–Props: “I thought our defense played really well again today, particularly our outside backs of Chris Reed and Nick Indellicato.”
Up next: Council Rock North will travel to Pennsbury Tuesday, and Neshaminy will host Pennsbury Friday.
Neshaminy 0 0 0 0 – 0
CR North 0 0 0 0 – 0
Council Rock South 5, Harry S Truman 1
Four second-half goals blew this one wide open for CR South, as Sean Davis and Reid Vandemark scored two goals each for the Golden Hawks.
“Truman did a nice job keeping the ball, knocking it around and keeping us off balance, as we were locked at 1 at halftime,” said CR South coach Alan Nicholl. “To be fair, we missed a few chances and had to wait until the second half to finally break the game open.”
Davis and Vandemark also had one assist each.
Scoring Summary:
CR South goals – Sean Davis (2), Reid Vandemark (2), Josh Coelho
CR South coach Alan Nicholl:
–Props: “Reid and Sean were particularly dangerous today and partnered really well together to spearhead our attack. Their ability to find one another really showed their senior leadership and experience. They could have scored a few more goals with a cleaner final touch, but a good result all-around after a tough outing only 24 hours ago.
“Darius Digregorio had a very strong showing today and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, as he did everything right but hit the back of the net.”
Up next: Council Rock South will travel to Bensalem Tuesday, and Harry S Truman will host Bensalem Friday.
CR South 1 4 – 5
Truman 1 0 – 1
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 5, Pennridge 1
Flavio Grimaldi had two goals and two assists, as CB East took care of business against visiting Pennridge on Wednesday night.
Ethan Cruz, Alden Iurato and Chase Oefinger also scored goals for the Patriots.
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Flavio Grimaldi (CBE) from Jack Thibeault
Ethan Cruz (CBE) from Flavio Grimaldi
Second Half –
Alden Iurato (CBE) from Aidan Pasternak
Damian Perkowski (P) from Sam Turco
Chase Oefinger (CBE) from Flavio Grimaldi
Flavio Grimaldi (CBE)
CB East coach Josh Isaacsohn:
–Props to Pennridge: “Massive respect to Coach Rappy from Pennridge and his crew. They really fought for the whole game. It’s always a battle, no matter what the end score is, and I just have massive respect for those guys. They’re improving their program every year. It was a tough loss for them, but they really hung in and played pretty gritty soccer.”
–Props: “This was a massive whole team effort. We have been playing pockets of good soccer here and there, took a couple tough losses to start the season. Everyone, from our bench to our coaching staff to everybody, this was just a full team effort tonight, and we really needed this to get back on track. Props to
everybody.”
Pennridge coach Aaron Rapsinski:
“I thought we played them tough throughout the first half, but we switched off for a few moments and gave up two pretty easy goals and went into half down 2-0.
“Credit to coach Josh and his team. I know they haven’t had the start of the season they were looking for, and we knew they would come in here with their best game. We tried to match their energy, and my boys worked hard, we just couldn’t put away the few chances we had, and they were able to pounce on theirs.”
–Props: “Damian Perkowski scored off a Sam Turco assist with 18 mins left in the 2nd half to make it 3-1 but we ran out of steam throwing so many guys forward. They capitalized on a few late.
“Even though he was on the receiving end of their goals, Mike Smit made some really good saves or it could have been even worse of a score line
Up next: Central Bucks East will travel to Souderton Friday, and Pennridge will be on the road at North Penn Friday.
Pennridge 0 1 – 1
CB East 2 3 – 5
Souderton 3, Central Bucks West 1
Liam Manners scored three second-half goals as Souderton erased a first-half deficit and pulled away to get past CB West on Wednesday night.
Scoring Summary:
First Half
CB West goal
Second Half –
Liam Manners (S) from Fin Williams
Liam Manners (S) from AJ Pisoni
Liam Manners (S) from Liam Shaw
Souderton coach Frank Demas:
“I thought we started the game really well and created some good chances early. Just couldn’t seem to connect in the final third.
“With about 10 minutes left in the first half, West scored on a corner kick. But we responded well and finished the half strong.
“Second half, we came out with a strong mentality and kept grinding. Halfway through the second half, Fin put a great cross in the box that Manners got on the end of to tie the game.
“Manners then scored two more goals late to take the lead off of great assists from Pisoni and Shaw to complete his hat trick
“West is a good team and we know John (Adair) will put out a great brand of soccer and have those guys playing well. So, it’s a good win early in the season.”
Up next: Souderton will host Central Bucks East Friday, and Central Bucks West will travel to Central Bucks South Friday (5:30pm).
Souderton 0 3 – 3
CB West 1 0 – 1
Central Bucks South 2, North Penn 1
North Penn hosted CB South in a Colonial division battle on Wednesday night. CB South jumped out to a 1-0 lead and took that lead into halftime, but North Penn replied early in the second half on a corner kick to tie the game. It didn’t take CB South long to regain the lead on a corner kick of their own and that’s how the game ended.
By the Numbers:
First Half
Jackson Tait (CBS) from Evan Nguyen
Second Half
Ryan Smith (NP)
Rowan McDonald (CBS) from Tyler Jaskelewicz
COACH ED BRNARDIC:
–The game: “No games are easy in the Colonial division. Anyone can win on any night and tonight was just another example. We know that Coach DePeppe and his North Penn Knights are always prepared and always
ready to give you a tough match. Late in the first half, the score was 0-0 when we turned over the ball and gave North Penn a great opportunity. Our goalie Ryan Wiener came up with an incredible diving save and we countered on them and scored the first goal to take the lead. I felt that this was the biggest moment of the game – had North Penn scored on the play the game would have been very different.
“Instead, we were able to get down the field quickly and go into attack mode. Andriy Popelnytskiy pressured their defender and deflected the clearance. Evan Nguyen picked up a loose ball and he quickly passed to Jackson Tait who beat his man 1v1 and fired a beauty into the side netting. North Penn was able to tie the game on a scramble early in the second half when Ryan Smith found a loose ball.
“Ryan is a great player and knowing him as long as I have I’m so happy for him that he is in such good form to start the season.
“Thankfully it didn’t take us long to respond and reclaim the lead when TJ Jaskelewicz put in a beautiful cross that Rowan McDonald was able to re-direct into the back of the net. We didn’t want to sit on the lead, instead we tried to go for the third goal to put it away, but North Penn keeper Brady Schwengles was able to deny several opportunities.
PROPS:
Rowan McDonald/AJ OkoiewskiL “These were our players of the game for their work on both ends of the field. Rowan had a heck of a game today. He was solid in the back winning several tackles and clearing several dangerous balls. He then contributed to the attack by punching in the winning goal. AJ was also incredible. He was our dynamo in the midfield with a tireless effort winning balls and immediately converting them to scoring chances.”
North Penn coach Chris DePeppe:
–On the game: “South beat us 2-1, and that score is probably spot on. It was a hotly contested battle throughout and well played for an early sesson match. Coach Ed is very smart, and his teams do not hurt themselves and do not allow easy chances. For the first 30 minutes, the play was even, and both teams were attacking boldly – but every attack was being snuffed out by great defending at both ends.
“They have 4-5 very strong attacking players who are strong in the challenges and all are very technically sound – each is a handful, and Cb South somehow always seems to have a 6’3” stud at center back. Going back a decade plus, I remember when ‘Stick’ was that player for South. And this season they have two of them. Both are so athletic and they make good decisions.
“We just had a few transitional moments when we let our guard down. Their first goal came a minute after their keeper stopped our best chance of the first half when Johnny Morales back-heeled a pass to Carson Schell 15 yards out. Carson hit a low shot to the far post, and the keeper was at full extension to touch it around the post. They scored from no buildup or combination. Just a long hopeful ball from their right back toward a forward who was covered by two defenders, and well, the next bit was just a mess – I may add circus music to the video for our film session. Watching it now, I see we had two defenders on each of the three South players who were involved in that goal, but really I shouldn’t complain because i am very pleased with how we played, especially to start the second half.
“Matt Bakir was very dangerous up the left wing and Fionn Regan was fighting two defenders all night but he is relentless. With senior captains like Fionn, Ryan Smith, and Brady Schwengels playing at that level, i think everyone should be motivated to raise their game from here on out. And I should mention our other senior captain Matt Haines who is a uniquely talented player with incredible ball control and ability to work out of the tightest spots. He is coming back from an injury, and he’s not 100 percent, but he can be a game changer and a playmaker.
“Our response to adversity once again was excellent, and we tied the game on a corner kick that Ryan Smith got his right foot to tie it. But they scored on a corner not long after. I think we had a few bad matchups, and we need to work on defensive heading for sure.
“I want us to get back to our bread and butter – simple, uptempo passing and moving, playing with patience but quicker and without too much dribbling by too many players.”
–Props: “Ryan Smith was tremendous again for us and I could make a highlight reel of his tackles and his field coverage from just this game. We may need to add his pace and quality to our attack more, but I told him this week that as long as he is our leading scorer while he’s playing center back I see no reason to change. And our keeper Brady Schwengels absolutely stood on his head tonight. He had his best-ever game at NP and it’s a shame we didn’t post a shutout because in terms of goalkeeping alone he dederved one. But we made critical mistskes.”
Up next: North Penn will host Pennridge Friday, and Central Bucks South will host Central Bucks West Friday (5:30pm).
Central Bucks South 1 1 – 2
North Penn 0 1 – 1
Tuesday, Sept 1
Non-league
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1
The Golden Hawks notched their first win of the young season, opening up a 2-0 halftime lead and going on to win 3-1.
Scoring goals for the Hawks were Reid Vandermark (on a penalty kick), Carson Wade and Joey Arroyo.
Scoring summary
First half
Reid Vandermark (CRS) PK
Carson Wade (CRS)
Second half:
Central Bucks West
Joey Arroyo (CRS) assisted by Jake Sadhkin
Council Rock South coach Alan Nicholl:
–On the game: “We jumped out of the gates early and created some very good scoring chances. A handball resulted in a Reid Vandemark PK early in the game and Carson Wade gave us a 2-0 lead right before half time on a very composed and well executed finish.
“West (scored) midway thru the second half on a set piece which was just reward for a dominant spell for them as the second half progressed. Thankfully, we restored our two-goal lead three minutes later when a heads-up play by Jake Sadhkin played in Joey Arroyo to find the back of the net on a set piece. I was very pleased with that goal, not only for the timing 
(shortly after West scored) but also Jake’s quick thinking to put the ball back in play before West could reset. It showed great anticipation and I’m very pleased to see things we work on in practice pay off at game time.
“It was nice to get a win against a quality opponent like West. They’re a very well coached side and John Adair has them playing a very good brand of football. I’ve always enjoyed our matches and appreciate the product they put out. It was a good test for us and I’m glad we stepped up to that challenge.”
Up next: Council Rock South (1-1-2, 0-1-1 SOL) will host Harry S Truman Wednesday, and Central Bucks West (0-2, 0-1) will host Souderton on Wednesday (7pm).
Central Bucks West 0-1 1
Council Rock South 2-1 3
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