Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ soccer teams in action Wednesday. Wissahickon/Quakertown photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. Lower Moreland/New Hope-Solebury photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ SOCCER can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 0, Upper Dublin 0 (2 OT)
Both teams had chances, but in the end, two halves and two overtimes weren’t enough as the SOL Liberty Division frontrunners settled for a scoreless time on Wednesday.
For the Flying Cardinals, who twice fell to the defending champion Ghosts last season (3-0 & 3-1), Wednesday’s tie had to feel like something close to a win.
“I have 100 percent respect for Abington and coach Randy (Garber) and so do my boys,” said UD coach Noah Johnson. “Any positive result, whether it’s a win or a tie against Abington, that’s huge. For them, losing their star players (to graduation) and still performing the way they’re performing, hats off to them.
“At the end of the day, we know there are still things we need to get better at and improve on, and one of them being finishing our opportunities, especially when you play against better teams like Abington. You’re not going to get many, so when they do mess up and they give them to you, we’ve got to make them pay for it. Overall, probably for me and our boys, game of the year. It definitely was a fun game today.”
Finishing was definitely an issue, and both teams also had strong efforts defensively.
“Both teams had chances to score goals in the beginning and in the second half and even a couple in overtime, but no one could finish,” said Abington’s Garber. “Both goalkeepers did a nice job of keeping the ball out of the net. I don’t know how some of the balls didn’t go into the net. That’s how close they were to the line.
“Several times the ball was in between the six and the goal line for both teams, and it never got to the goal.”
Abington’s Kevin Kretschman and Upper Dublin’s Gabe Copley each posted shutouts.
“They had a different goalkeeper than they had last year, and this kid had to be 6-7 and did a real good job,” Garber said. “It’s surprising he’s not playing basketball or is a wideout for football.”
Copley had a lot of help for the Flying Cardinals, namely center backs Miles Bondi and Elias Abebe as well as center defensive mid Daniel Gorman.
“Dan Gorman is starting to find himself again,” Johnson said. “We were kind of concerned with him because for so long Dan was injured last season, and we didn’t really have him, and when he did come back, he hadn’t played in so long. Having Dan back down – definitely we see the difference from last year when we didn’t have him. We were missing that presence to help us out. Definitely today Dan did a fantastic job.
“Miles Bondi – hats off to him. He did an excellent job getting forward and also defensively. For me, Elias Abebe had an amazing game, halfway through the second half cramping up and refusing to come off and playing through it through double overtime. That shows how much heart he has and how much he wants to win.”
Field conditions were a factor, as well.
“It was a little bit slippery,” Garber said. “Obviously, they’re a very good turf team. They’re used to the turf, they play on the turf all the time. We’re back and forth from turf to grass. The turf gave us probably a little more difficulty than a grass field but next time we get them at home.
“They have a very good team, but everybody plays Abington tough.”
The game was another one in which the Cardinals – who were 8-8 in SOL play last year – showed that they’re going to be a factor in 2022.
“Credit to (Abington) striker Liam Hartman,” Johnson said. “He had a fantastic game. He couldn’t really get too much going, but when he touched the ball, he did really well.
“For us, I feel like the biggest positive was – we pretty much have a returning team, and last year we played Abington, and both time they beat us up pretty bad, so to come out and play that hard for 100 minutes, hats off to my boys for showing, ‘Hey, we can play. We’re not the same team we were last year.’
“A new saying for us is – it’s a new season, and we’re a better UD. I felt like today we lived up to that saying. We’re a better UD. We can play with teams like Abington, and no matter who it is we’re always going to come in with 100 percent effort and play really well.”
Abington (3-1-1, 2-0-1 SOL) hosts Wissahickon on Friday afternoon. Upper Dublin (3-0-1, 2-0-1 SOL) has an afternoon game at home against Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday.
Abington 0 0 0 0 – 0
Upper Dublin 0 0 0 0 – 0
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
It took a while, but two late goals in regulation led the Hatters to the come-from-behind SOL Liberty Division win on Wednesday.
“We were down 1-0, and we weren’t particularly playing well on their turf field, which is their baseball field,” said H-H coach Kyle McGrath. “So, it was a bit tricky because it’s a smaller field, but the second half we were down 1-0, and my goalkeeper Noah Schlosser made two big-time saves on 1v1s to keep it 1-0. Obviously, that propelled us to go on and get the goals we needed to win.
“Collectively, as a group, we played better in the second half, started to connect passes more. Tony Kuhner came off the bench and did a great job for us. Enrico Romano played a really good second half, and after giving up an early goal, we kind of clamped down defensively for the most part and were able to get out of there with a big league result on the road.”
Mason Clatterback scored in the 14th minute to put PW up 1-0 and the Colonials held that advantage for most of the game.
Then, in the 71st minute, H-H tied it up on a goal by senior Tony Khuner.
“Anthony Pumilia did a good job getting to the end line,” McGrath said. “We had been stressing for them to play the ball across the box on the ground, and he listened – played a ball across on the ground, kind of took a deflection, and Tony was at the top of the 18-yard box and just hit a great left-footed shot back into the corner where the ball came from. Obviously, that lifted our spirits after not playing particularly well.”
The game looked to be headed to OT, but the Hatters cashed in on the game-winner with just 1:15 left in regulation.
“Enrico Romano played a diagonal ball,” McGrath said. “Isaac Kakiko made a great run and was able to get a touch on their ball as their goalkeeper was coming out to touch it by him, and he was able to finish it into an open net. It was only 75 seconds left, and we just cleared everything out and got out of there with a win.”
H-H (3-1, 2-1 SOL) next hosts Quakertown on Friday. PW (1-2-1, 1-2 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 2 – 2
PW 1 0 – 1
Wissahickon 3, Quakertown 1
Logan Schorn and Jack O’Donnell scored first-half goals as Wissahickon took control of this one in the opening 40 minutes and never looked back to capture its first Liberty Division win of the season.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a few people out, so we’re still trying to find our way around, throwing players into different positions,” said Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm. “Quakertown played well. They had a few opportunities.
“We were disappointed to concede (a goal) in the end since we were six minutes from the end and we still are yet to have a shutout. It’s one off the things we talked about before we started the season that we’ve conceded too many goals over the last few years and we’re going to need to try to get better at it.
“We changed things up a little bit today. Although it looked good at times and not so good at others, it was a good opportunity in a game to see what worked and what didn’t work.”
Michael Orn assisted on both the Trojans’ first-half goals. Jeevan Jouhal scored off a Chris Rossetti assist in the second half for a 3-0 lead 
before the Panthers scored a late goal.
“Logan Schorn got on the board with the first goal,” Malcolm said. “He played a big role in trying to organize the back. He had a solid performance. Michael Orn was busy – he had great deliveries for the goals and was unfortunate with a couple of opportunities. Quakertown made a great save on a free kick towards the end. We had a couple of other opportunities that were saved.
“Our right midfield player, Charlie Stehlik, just played a great game, causing them a lot of problems on the right hand side.”
Wissahickon (2-2, 1-2 SOL) has a tough one Friday at Abington. Quakertown (0-3, 0-2 SOL) is still looking for its first win at Hatboro-Horsham.
Quakertown 0 1 – 1
Wissahickon 2 1 – 3
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 3, Pennridge 0
Pennridge went to CB East unbeaten and ranked in the latest state rankings. The host Patriots were coming off a tough 1-0 nonleague loss to Hatboro-Horsham on Saturday. Wednesday, East stepped up its game for a huge Colonial Division win.
“I just have massive, massive respect for Pete (Valimont) and the whole Pennridge organization,” said East coach Josh Isaacsohn. “He’s a good buddy of mine. They’re always very organized and do a really good job.
“We had some making up to do. We did not feel we put out the effort, energy or enthusiasm that we needed to against Hatboro on Saturday, and we tweeked some things in the lineup, and we worked on a lot of specifics, but the biggest thing is the boys saw it through for all 80 minutes.
“We were able to get a couple of guys in off the bench. It was just a full team effort. This is what I know this team is capable of. We’ve had a couple blips with (Central Bucks) West and Hatboro, but this should be the kind of consistent soccer CB East can play this year.”
Brandon Epstein scored the game’s first goal in the 12th minute off a penalty kick. The Patriots took that 1-0 lead into halftime and then scored twice in the second half to clinch the win.
Michael Frye scored off a Lou Christmas assist to make it 2-0, and Jake Hunter scored from Wesley Meyers later for the final 3-0 score.
“It was a beautiful volley goal,” Isaacsohn said about the Frye goal. “Michael was hurting a little bit, so it was really big of him to come up and score that, which was awesome.”
Defensively, East was able to keep Pennridge all-state forward Shane Velez in check.
“Andrew Walloff was charged with marking Shane Velez the whole game, and Andrew’s job was to just take Shane out of the game as we knew he’s a great goal scorer, and Andrew did a tremendous job of that, really good,” Isaacsohn said. “Also Brandon Epstein. Brandon is a good player that has a lot of potential. He has a broken wrist, and he just came out and quarterbacked our team the entire game, which is something we’ve been challenging him to do.”
Isaacsohn also credited the back line of Christmas, Cole Biruk, Trevor Jopling and Dylan Walker.
“The entire back defensive line did a tremendous job,” the Patriots’ coach said. “We changed some things around, and right before game time, one of our captains wasn’t able to play, and we made a quick switch.”
Pennridge coach Pete Valimont tipped his hat to Isaacsohn and the Patriots.
“East played fantastic,” the Rams’ coach said. “In my opinion, the major difference here tonight was – the chances we had and missed and put wide of the goal – CB East had a couple of chances and they buried them. They played really, really well. Coach Josh and his staff did a fantastic job.
“A bit of humble pie for us as players and coaches. We were obviously feeling really good off our 3-0 start. I don’t think we’ll play this way again, but I’m glad we had this game now, so it doesn’t repeat itself.”
CB East (3-2, 2-1 SOL) hosts Souderton on Friday afternoon. Pennridge (3-1, 2-1 SOL) looks to bounce back at CB West.
Pennridge 0 0 – 0
CB East 1 2 – 3
Central Bucks South 2, Central Bucks West 1
CB South battled back from a halftime deficit and picked up the game-winner in the final 30 seconds to edge rival CB West at home Wednesday night.
West scored midway through the first half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
South coach Kyle Pettican said his team “remained calm and patient,” and each team had chances in the second half.
South’s Colin O’Hara scored on a breakaway to tie it up.
Then, with 30 seconds remaining, the Titans had a last scoring chance in regulation, and Andre Medl hit a 20-yard half volley into the side of the goal to give his team the win.
Pettican credited O’Hara, Medl, Pat Chrzanowski, Thijs Popma and Nate MacLeod as standouts on Wednesday.
South (3-1, 2-1 SOL) has another key divisional game Friday at North Penn. West (1-3-1, 1-2-1 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Friday.
CB West 1 0 – 1
CB South 0 2 – 2
North Penn 1, Souderton 0
Ryan Miller scored 15 minutes into the second half for the game’s only goal, as North Penn blanked rival Souderton Wednesday night.
Miller’s goal came on a rebound of an Alou Gamby free kick.
“Alou hit a great ball,” said Knights coach Chris DePeppe. “Curling and dipping and bouncing on the wet turf, (Souderton’s) keeper couldn’t hold it and Ryan was the first man to tuck it in.”
After that, Souderton pressed, but North Penn was able to hold the Indians off.
“Souderton gave us a heck of a fight for the last 20 minutes,” DePeppe said. “Each of our keepers – Troy Nine in first half and James King in second- had to make outstanding saves to secure the three points.
“We finally took control of a game early and had the better of play in the first half, but they countered us effectively and our center backs did a nice job of organizing us in the second half. Those two – Nate Kim and Brian Scott (senior captains) – really solidified the defense today and our two sophomores in center midfield – Dmitri Illovsky and Caden Myers – were very strong on the ball and played intelligently tonight.
“It was a very solid team victory, and we are certainly glad to be home after a tough opening stretch of four straight away games.”
With the win, North Penn (2-2-1, 1-1-1 SOL) is just off the top of the division log jam, and hosts CB South on Friday afternoon. Souderton (1-3, 1-3 SOL) looks to snap a three-game losing streak at CB East.
Souderton 0 0 – 0
North Penn 0 1 – 1
SOL Freedom Division
William Tennent 3, Cheltenham 1
It’s been a tough start to the season for both teams, and Wednesday, Tennent took advantage of its opportunities to post its first win under coach Angelo Albanese.
“It definitely feels good to see the kids get rewarded with a win after working so hard,” Albanese said. “Connor Hanratty scored two superb goals, both with great individual efforts. (Patrick) Gillespie has been a consistent performer at midfield providing quality services to our forwards.
“Our defensive unit has been steadily improving and they’re anchored by our two seniors, Gabe Yacavone and John Ellis, both of whom have shown tremendous growth so far in their first year as varsity players.
“Bryce DeFonteney who plays in the front of them as a holding midfielder, has been an indefatigable worker as our holding midfielder, plugging passing lanes and contesting balls.
“Lastly Zach Dinnis, in only his third year playing goalkeeper, has been terrific. He has made good saves in every game and has shown much growth leading the defense in the front of him.
Tennent (1-3, 1-2 SOL) looks to make it two straight Friday at New Hope-Solebury. Cheltenham (0-3, 0-3 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland.
Tennent 1 2 – 3
Cheltenham 1 0 – 1
Lower Moreland 3, New Hope-Solebury 0
It was the first home night game for unbeaten Lower Moreland, and the host Lions notched a big win to remain in a tie atop the Freedom Division standings with rival Springfield.
“Our fans showed out in a big way, so I wanted to thank them for that,” said LM coach Bob Barnhart. “(NH-S coach Dave Bachert) has some good, big, physical players and they definitely took it to us in the first half.
“Solid performance from senior captains Ian Alicia, Sam Morris and Gabe Krutsinger and goalie Keegan Courduff with a shutout.
“Temur Temirov had the best game of his LM career for us tonight up top. Aiden Moffit was all over the field distributing the ball and looking very dangerous. We were able to get some of our younger guys into the game tonight which will help us later in the season especially given the environment and intensity of the game.”
Lower Moreland (3-0, 3-0 SOL) plays at Springfield on Friday. New Hope (1-3, 1-2 SOL) hosts William Tennent
New Hope 0 – 0
LM 3 – 3
Springfield Twp 2, Upper Moreland 1
Riley Martin scored in the first half and Nick Hanushchak finished it off in the second half, as Springfield remained unbeaten and in a first-place tie in the SOL Freedom standings with the 2-1 victory.
Martin’s goal came off a penalty kick in the 25th minute. Hanushchak made it 2-0 midway through the second half.
Shawn Townsend scored for Upper Moreland with four minutes remaining.
Springfield (4-0, 3-0 SOL) hosts rival and first-place co-leader Lower Moreland in a key divisional game on Friday. UM (2-2, 1-2 SOL) looks to bounce back against Cheltenham on Friday.
UM 0 1 – 1
Springfield 1 1 -2
SOL Patriot Division
Pennsbury 2, Bensalem 0
The Falcons jumped up early in this one and were in control throughout on the way to their third straight shutout victory.
“We’ve done a really good job in these last three games keeping clean sheets, and it’s because we’re constantly playing and covering up, so if a mistake happens, the next guy is going to be there,” said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. “So our shape and our focus of staying involved in the game has been great on the defensive end.”
Six minutes into the game, Chris Vergantino scored unassisted to give the Falcons the early 1-0 lead.
“The first goal we scored was against them on a play – I thought Bensalem came out and was very dangerous,” Stoddart said. “We were struggling to find a rhythm and connect passes, and Chris actually just out-hustled and made the most of an opportunity, which allowed us some breathing room. I thought we settled in after that, and I thought we were pretty dangerous.”
Josh Rodriguez helped set up the second goal, an own goal 10 minutes into the second half.
“In the second half, I thought we were very good and finally pressured one into a goal,” Stoddart said. “We had an opportunity to get a couple other ones and still remained dangerous.
“Junior captain Andrew Prebola, junior captain Cooper Gray, and junior Connor Labiak have been holding down the center of the defense, and both senior keepers – Henrik Boekemp and Justin Brown – have been splitting time, and they’ve just been fantastic.”
Pennsbury (3-1, 3-0 SOL) looks to remain unbeaten in league play Friday night against Council Rock South in a game to be played at Truman. Bensalem (0-4, 0-3 SOL) has another tough one Friday night at Pennridge.
Bensalem 0 0 – 0
Pennsbury 1 1 – 2
Council Rock North 2, Council Rock South 2 (2 OT)
These neighborhood rivals scored twice each in regulation and then couldn’t decide it in overtime either as they settled for the 2-2 tie.
“I was very disappointed,” said Golden Hawks coach Alan Nicholl of finishing in a tie. “Council Rock North’s goalkeeper was the best player, and that was terribly unfortunate. I said to the guys, ‘I’m tired of seeing how good the other goalkeepers are.’”
CR North jumped up 1-0 in the first half on a goal by Mike Brusca.
“It came completely against the run of play,” Nicholl said “We were kind of all over them to start the game, and 20 minutes in, they took the lead on their first shot.”
CR South tied it up with 10 minutes left in the half when fullback Garrett Cohen scored on a header off an assist from Reed VanderMark.
The Hawks went up 2-1, 16 minutes into the second half on a goal by Frank Rafferty.
“We came out and played very, very well in the second half and took the lead,” Nicholl said. “Alex Lose headed the ball behind the defense and Franky Rafferty scored on a breakaway.”
CR North’s Tanmay Ondkar tied it up, unassisted with 10 minutes left.
“They tied it on the shot of the season from outside the 18 but way out by the sideline, and he just hooked it into the side netting,” Nicholl said. “It was a fabulous goal.
“We missed a lot of chances, particularly once North tied it up. They deserved the goal – they were on the front foot when they tied it 2-2. I kind of felt like my players sat back a little bit and were trying to hold on to a 2-1 lead. I didn’t feel like we needed to, but it changed the game a little bit.
“For about a 10-15 minute spell, North was probably the better team in the second half, and once they tied it, we came out and said, ‘Let’s go win the game.’ We hit everything – we hit the crossbar, we hit the goalie, we had a ball headed off the line. I couldn’t believe it, but if I’m being fair, the North goalkeeper played excellent. He made some terrific saves.”
CR South (2-1-1, 2-0-1 SOL) looks to bounce back on the road Friday at Pennsbury. CR North (3-0-1, 2-0-1 SOL) hosts Neshaminy.
CR North 1 1 0 0 – 2
CR South 1 1 0 0 -2
Neshaminy 8, Harry S. Truman 0
After losing its two previous division games, Neshaminy needed a win Wednesday and did so convincingly, scoring five first-half goals on the way to the rout of Truman.
“Overall, it was a good win for us,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “Hopefully, we got some confidence and then we have to get to work at practice tomorrow because we have Council Rock North on Friday, and that will be a much different test.”
Joe Joe Maxwell scored two goals to lead Neshaminy. Also scoring were Waseem Jawawdeh, Josh Anderson, Victor Corsino, and Aiden Perry. Both sophomore Mariziz Melikov and freshman Damien Castro scored their first varsity goals.
“The boys moved the ball around pretty well,” Foley said. “There were some nice combinations to get goals.
“In the second half, we had two freshmen and five sophomores on the field at the same time. They did a nice job. They’re learning, and that group managed to get three goals, so that was good.”
Neshaminy (1-2, 1-2 SOL) looks to make it two straight Friday at CR North, while Truman (0-4, 0-3 SOL) plays at Bensalem.
Neshaminy 5 3 – 8
Truman 0 0 – 0
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