Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Friday. (CB South/CBWest photos provided courtesy of Mike Tait/CBS soccer, UM photo courtesy of Danielle Hendrickson/UM soccer, Hatboro-Horsham photo courtesy of Rimas Gaver/HH soccer)
SOL Patriot Division
Neshaminy 2, Pennsbury 1
After settling for scoreless ties in back-to-back games, Neshaminy didn’t score in the first half of this one either, but it came alive in the second half as Damian Castro and David Lopez each had goals in a 2-1 win over rival Pennsbury.
“We were a little flat against Council Rock North (a 0-0 tie),” said Neshaminy coach Tom Foley. “I thought we came out with great effort. We caused turnovers in the first half, and it never really amounted to much. We were probably pressing because we hadn’t scored in a couple of games.
“We relaxed a little bit more and were a little bit more composed in the second half, and it allowed us to create some chances.”
Scoring Summary
First Half
No score
Second Half
Damian Castro (N), PK, 50th minute
David Lopez (N) from Ryan MacMullen, 65th minute
Levin Diccio (P), 75th minute
Neshaminy coach Tom Foley:
“We had a little miscommunication with our backs and our goalkeeper, and it created a little havoc, and Pennsbury tucked it in. It was a little tense in the end, but Pennsbury really didn’t threaten, so we’re happy to come out with a 2-1 win.”
–Props: “David Lopez, our freshman, got the game-winner, so he played very well. Nick Indellicato continues to shine in the back. Jake Fallon, our center back, has done a great job all year.”
Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart:
“I was pleased with our overall effort, but we struggled to match their energy level which didn’t allow us to find any rhythm. Levin Diccio answered their goal right away, but time wasn’t in our favor to find the equalizer.”
Up next: Neshaminy will travel to Harry S Truman Tuesday, and Pennsbury will host Council Rock North Tuesday.
Pennsbury 0 1 – 1
Neshaminy 0 2 – 2
Bensalem 8, Harry S Truman 2
Jordan Posten scored four goals as Bensalem bounced back from a disappointing loss on Wednesday with a lopsided win over Truman on Friday afternoon.
“We had a rough game against Pennsbury on Wednesday,” said Owls’ coach Kevin Bock of his team’s 9-0 loss to the Falcons. “Our effort was nowhere near where it needed to be, and the boys knew it. Our goal was to come out with a strong effort to start today’s game and hope that positive momentum would carry us through.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Dylan Barnhart (B) from Declan Corbett
Jordan Posten (B) from Declan Corbett
Jordan Posten (B) from Frank Bediako
Truman, PK
Second Half –
Chase Esposito (B) from David Robero
Jordan Posten (B)
David Romero (B) from Dylan Barnhart
Jordan Posten (B)
Chris Fielding (B) from Enew Garcia
Truman, PK
Bensalem coach Kevin Bock:
–On the game: “We started off great when Dylan Barnhart scored off a corner on a perfectly delivered ball by Declan Corbett. We almost scored a few minutes later on another corner before getting a second goal on a quick restart by Declan Corbett which Jordan Posten was able to finish. Jordan was able to score his second goal about halfway through the first half on an assist from Frank Bediako to put us up 3-0 but then our energy started to come down. Truman started to put significant pressure on us and was able to get one back before the half on a penalty kick.
“At halftime, we were focused on bringing the energy back up because Truman was playing well and putting a lot of pressure on us. We came out really strong as we scored four goals in the first eight minutes of the half, two unassisted goals for Jordan (bringing him to four goals for the game), one from Chase Esposito, and one from David Romero.
“It was a great way for us to respond after having such a tough day earlier in the week. Our back line, Enew Garcia, Isaac Mathieu, Brian Bock, and Dylan Barnhart, did a great job not allowing them much space. Declan Corbett, Brandon Bock, and Chase Esposito did well controlling the middle of the field.
–Player of the Match: “Jordan Posten had a great game with four goals and worked constantly throughout.”
Up next: Bensalem will host Council Rock South Tuesday, and Harry S Truman will host Neshaminy Tuesday.
Bensalem 3 5 – 8
Truman 1 1 – 2
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 1, Souderton 0
Alden Iurato broke a scoreless tie in the 50th minute, and that was it as far as goals went between these two Colonial Division rivals, CB East emerged with the 1-0 win.
“Not a beautiful soccer game, fairly sloppy all the way around,” said Patriots coach Josh Isaacsohn. “Very small pockets of soccer. I think each of us had some chances on net. We probably left three or four, at least, out on the board.
“We almost put one right in front at the end of the first half that went over that really should have been buried. That would have changed things. There were at least another two opportunities for us and at least two or three opportunities for them, but it’s high school soccer and the way it goes.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half
No score
Second Half
Alden Iurato (CBE) from Finley Rennie, Jack Thibeault, 50th minute
CB East coach Josh Isaacsohn:
–Tip of the hat to Souderton: “Souderton is a good squad. Coach Frank (Demas) and his dad do such a great job out there. They just have a disciplined, really hardworking team, and when we talk to our guys, we know that no matter what their work ethic is going to be strong, and they’re going to be organized. I just have massive respect for Frank. He’s just a great guy, and they really work hard. Again, not the prettiest game, but at this point, we’ll take a win.”
Up next: Central Bucks East will host Central Bucks West (7pm), and Souderton will host North Penn on Tuesday (6:30pm).
CB East 0 1 – 1
Souderton 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks West 2, Central Bucks South 0
After three tough losses to start the season, CB West picked up its first win of the season and did it against a rival, blanking CB South 2-0 on Friday night.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our boys today,” said Bucks coach John Adair. “South is such a talented team and to get a result like this required all of our guys. To their credit, they were up for it from start to finish, and every single player that got minutes put in incredible performances.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half
Beck Walton
Second Half
Beck Walton
CB West coach John Adair:
–On the game: “Last year, we really struggled with South’s style of play, but tonight we really applied what we’ve learned from our early season games and the plan we had in place for this game.
“Beck Walton, obviously, gets a lot of credit for putting the finishing touches on both goals, but our back line and midfield put in so much work while remaining organized for 80 minutes.
“Our goalkeeper, Colin Hawes, was terrific for a second straight match. For a sophomore, he’s so composed and had his moments where he made a big save that was required.
“It’s really difficult to single out any players in a game like this one, because the team was truly the star rather than an individual. For how hard they’ve worked tonight, especially at the end of a long three-game week, these guys deserved it.”
CB South coach Ed Brnardic:
–On the game: “In a good rivalry, both teams have their share of wins, and that’s what we had here tonight. Full credit to CB West – they came ready to play and their guys earned a great moment for themselves by taking points away from us in our stadium. We had some really good moments where we were dangerous in attack but just couldn’t finish. We had a few attempts at goal from close in, but it was Friday night so maybe we were a bit confused because we hit several field goals instead of hitting the soccer goal underneath the uprights.
“Leading up to the game, we wanted to play well, and of course we wanted to win. We were focused on winning. We put in hard work, we prepared, and we gave a heck of an effort. But after it’s over, we reflect on how important it is to lose some games early in the season. Losses make you better. They help you focus on the areas where you can improve, and that’s the gift that we are going to take from this match tonight. After the match we were sitting in the locker room and our guys already had a list of things that they wanted to work on in practice tomorrow morning. As a coach, I know that I am blessed to have a group that responds like that. It is a dream scenario.”
–Props: AJ Okoniewski – “It sounds like a broken record, but AJ was incredible for us again today. His close dribbling skills are among the best that I have seen in the entire league, and the guy constantly puts in beautiful passes that create scoring opportunities for us. But the defining moment tonight happened when AJ limped off the field with 11 minutes to go and us down by two. He takes a few minutes to recover and he’s dying to go back into the game. And then with five minutes left, we are on the attack and West steals the ball and counters on us. AJ is about 20 yards behind, but he sprints 65 yards back down the field and he is the one to cut off the pass in our own box. This is a player who LOVES to play. I’m keeping a copy of this play and I’m going to show it every August to all the players at tryouts to let them know what it takes to make it on the Varsity roster.”
Dylan Lynch – “Dylan had a heck of a game today. He’s our utility player because he has great fitness, he can play several positions, and he can use both feet effectively. We started him on the wing, and we moved him to the back when we had some guys banged up. He was everywhere. Dylan pinged some beautiful balls that put us on the attack several times. And then there was the mistake. An unfortunate turnover by Dylan that directly led to the second CB West goal that put the game away. Mistakes are important because they remind us that we are human. On our team, we recognize that everyone will make mistakes, and we don’t shy away from them. You can really see someone’s character after the mistake which is why Dylan is getting the props here. It’s easy to demonstrate positive behavior when things are going well, but when the spotlight is on, and the light is burning bright on you, that is when you see what someone has deep down inside. Dylan took responsibility, and he went out and kept leading his team. His character was on full display. He is always the guy who goes out and consoles the other players if they make a mistake and today the roles were reversed and the entire team responded beautifully. I’m very proud of them for that. And because Dylan was able to keep his spirits up he almost had immediate redemption – a few minutes later, a bouncing ball came to Dylan, and he had the patience to wait for it, he had fantastic technique and put a beautiful hard volley right on goal – unfortunately for us, the CB West keep made a great save and denied us of that moment.”
Up next: Central Bucks South will travel to Pennridge Wednesday, and Central Bucks West will travel to Central Bucks East (7pm).
CB South 0 0 – 0
CB West 1 1 – 2
North Penn 3, Pennridge 0
Carson Schell scored a first-half goal and North Penn then pulled away from Pennridge for the 3-0 SOL Colonial Division win on Friday.
North Penn coach Chris Depeppe:
“Coach Raspinski and his boys executed a gameplan very well and had us frustrated. We know from experience that Pennridge can be especially dangerous coming off a loss, so I wasn’t surprised that it was a one-goal game for a long stretch today.
“Our first goal by senior Carson Schell was a well-struck one-time finish of a cross that started with another winding run by junior Matthew Bakir on the left. but after that nothing was going right for us until midway through the second half when a few players took control of matters and regained their composure.
“Junior Kyle Barros was one of them and it was great to see him get a great goal against a good Pennridge keeper. Senior captain Matt Haines was very good today for about an hour. Then he made one bad pass and had to bust it to chase down and take down their striker just outside the box. Matt popped his shoulder momentarily, but if I know him, he’ll be ready to play on Monday. He is pound-for-pound one of the toughest kids I have coached.
“And with the score 1-0 at that time and after a long injury delay, Pennridge’s Jace Soto stepped up and hit a near-perfect curling free kick from 19 yards that missed by about two inches. It would have been a very different last 15 minutes, but after Kyle’s goal we slowed the tempo and put in the hard yards to earn our first shutout.”
–Credit to the backs: “Senior Cole Taylor, junior Rylan Weed, junior Caleb Kalitsi – and our two other senior keepers Manuel Torres and Andrew Evans, who combined for the clean sheet.
“And Fionn Regan was his usual dominant field general and he earned and buried the PK to seal the win.
“But my ‘man of the match’ was a freshman making his first start in impressive fashion. Leo Biase didn’t just play well, he was our primary ball winner and looked like a seasoned veteran. His positioning and his decision-making were outstanding, and it was a memorable debut.
“I’m sure our lads are glad for a weekend of rest, and I know Pennridge has a bunch of injured players so I hope they are okay.”
Pennridge coach Aaron Rapsinski:
–On the game: “It was another tough day for us. Our effort has been through the roof, but we are just not finishing the chances we are getting and the teams we are playing are. Credit to North Penn for putting away their chances. I know they were missing one of their captains and best players, but they played tough and got out on us early. We had chances to claw back into the game before they went up 2-0, and we eventually gave up a penalty late to make it three.
“It’s tough to come off a week where we are down 8-1 aggregate between two games, but my boys are fighting every game. I have multiple guys that are playing until their body just won’t let them. We had another two guys go down with tough injuries after losing our captain Parker Annan for the season in our first game. Guys are stepping up and putting in a great fight. Something is going to break our way soon.”
Up next: North Penn will travel to Souderton Tuesday (6:30pm), and Pennridge will host Central Bucks South Tuesday.
Pennridge 0 0 – 0
North Penn 1 2 – 3
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 7, Wissahickon 1
In a contest where the wind was a factor, Kyle Kretschman scored three straight goals late to help Abington blow the game open late in the first half, and he had plenty of help in the 7-1 win over Wissahickon. Four other players had goals for the Galloping Ghosts.
Scoring Summary:
First Half –
Sam Arruda (A) from Jazafith Vasquez
Owen Gesing (A)
Kyle Kretschman (A)
Kyle Kretschman (A)
Kyle Kretschman (A) from Everett Mumma
Second Half –
Wissahickon goal
Aitan Bogatin (A)
Stanley Waite (A)
Abington coach Randy Garber:
–Playing with the wind: “We went with the wind in the first half – the wind was strong, it was like a wind tunnel. Two out of the five first-half goals were scored on corner kicks, and they just couldn’t get the ball out of the end because of the wind situation.
“In the second half, they were going with the wind, and they scored on the tap in the first minute. If you look at the second half, it was a 2-1 game. Our reserves scored those two goals.
“It looks like it was one-sided, but they did a nice job. It’s just they got stuck defending against the wind, and we took advantage of it. We were just a little bit bigger and stronger, that’s all. Everyone will look at the score – Stuart Malcolm always has a good team. He’s a good guy, he’s been around a long time.”
–-Props: “George Hooven played extremely well in the net again. Everyone contributed. The best part of the game, from our standpoint, is everyone got to play today.”
Up next: Abington will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday, and Wissahickon will host Quakertown Tuesday.
Wissahickon 0 1 – 1
Abington 5 2 – 7
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
Hatboro-Horsham scored goals in each half and was stingy defensively in a 2-0 blanking of PW on Friday.
Nick Belizze scored in the first half, while Kevin Long had a goal for the Hatters in the second half.
Scoring Summary:
First Half
Nick Belizze (HH) from Will Fisher, 37th minute
Second Half
Kevin Long (HH) from Finn Reilly, 42nd minute
H-H coach Kyle McGrath:
–The game-winner: “The first goal we scored was off a corner kick. Louis Matullo played a good ball into a dangerous area, and Will was able to win the first ball and play it across the box for Nick to head in.
–The second goal: “PW just had an opportunity to score that they didn’t capitalize on, and we were able to counterattack, and Finn Reilly played a really good through ball to Kevin Long, who got to the ball before the goalkeeper, and was able to volley it into the goal to give us a little bit of insurance.”
–Props: “Will Fisher is one of my senior defenders at center back. He was outstanding today. We’re pretty hard on him, and he leads our back line. He did an excellent job today with keeping the shutout, which is always our focus. He was really good, along with Finn Marsden who was his center back partner.
“Ethan Kamchatov and Louis Matullo in the center midfield controlled play for the majority of the game until things got hectic at the end, and we were able to hold onto the shutout and get the win.”
Up next: Hatboro-Horsham will travel to Upper Dublin Tuesday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh will be on the road at Abington on Tuesday..
PW 0 0 – 0
H-H 1 1 – 2
Upper Dublin 1, Quakertown 1 (2 OT)
Alex Hernandez scored with five minutes to play in regulation, as Quakertown came from behind and forced a 1-1 tie with visiting Upper Dublin on Friday.
Adriano Roman scored for the Flying Cardinals.
Quakertown coach Steve Hippauf:
“Our energy and commitment to defense was the main goal today. We’ve been conceding too many goals this season, and we knew if our defense improved, we would have a chance to win any game. James Burger, Zach Rider, Brecken LaBonge, and Gavin Weinschenk were all great at the back.
“After going down late in the second half, we didn’t drop our heads and eventually got an equalizer through Alex Hernandez, who fired a shot into the corner with about five minutes to go in the game.
“Hopefully, this performance gives us confidence to achieve better results the rest of the season.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will host Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday, and Quakertown will travel to Wissahickon Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 0 1 0 0 – 1
Quakertown 0 1 0 0 – 1
SOL Freedom Division
Upper Moreland 4, Cheltenham 2
After a scoreless first half, Upper Moreland and Cheltenham combined for six goals in the second half, as the Golden Bears emerged with a pair of goals to break a 2-2 tie to post the win on Friday.
“This hard-fought win was a true test of character for the team,” said UM coach David Darnesto. “The Golden Bears proved they have the heart to overcome adversity, showing incredible guts from whistle to whistle.
“We will look to carry this momentum into our next home game on Tuesday against Springfield.”
Scoring Summary:
First Half
No score
Second Half
Gabe Hendrickson (UM)
Ean Justice (C)
Gabe Hendrickson (UM)
Billy Fishman (C)
Jackson Townsend (UM)
Max Hubbard (UM)
Up next: Upper Moreland will host Springfield Twp Tuesday, and Cheltenham will host New Hope-Solebury Tuesday.
UM 0 4 – 4
Cheltenham 0 2 – 2
Springfield Twp 3, William Tennent 0
Harry Bates had a good afternoon, scoring a goal in the first half and then assisting on two in the second half that broke Friday’s game against William Tennent wide open, as the Spartans bounced back from a tough loss to Lower Moreland two days earlier.
Scoring Summary:
First Half
Harry Bates (S) from Patrick Schugsta
Second Half
Roman Corcoran (S) from Harry Bates
Adam DiBattista (S) from Harry Bates
Up next: Springfield Twp will travel to Upper Moreland on Tuesday, and William Tennent will host Lower Moreland Tuesday.
Springfield 1 2 -3
Tennent 0 0 – 0
Lower Moreland 1, New Hope-Solebury 0
Lower Moreland edged New Hope in a battle of the Lions.
New Hope coach Chris VanPelt:
–On the game: “Definitely, our best overall performance. I told the guys after the game to forget about the scoreline because the performance was certainly something to be proud of. Lower Moreland is always a very tough opponent. They’re a strong and very well coached team. Always a game that you have to make sure your team is set up right for or it could be a long evening.
“This is a game for us to build off of and use as a standard for performances going forward. The season is still young and there’s a lot still that could happen but it’s nice to see we are moving in the right direction.
Up next: Lower Moreland will be on the road at William Tennent, and New Hope-Solebury will travel to Cheltenham Tuesday.
About the Author
