Check out the results for SOL boys/girls teams in action on Monday. To view photos of the Upper Merion/Norristown gallery, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Boys
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 20, ABINGTON 10
(Submitted article)
Doylestown, PA: Central Bucks South’s Chris Tanner had a monster game, scoring eight goals, and teammate Brendan McGrath scored five in a season opening 20-10 win over the Abington Galloping Ghosts on Monday night at War Memorial Field.
It was a see-saw battle in the early going as the Ghosts raced out to a 1-0 lead off the opening faceoff, but the Titans came right back to tie it at one each on the first of Tanner’s goals. Abington then went up by a score of 3-1 on consecutive goals by Cam Leech (5 goals, 1 assist) before the Titans reeled off four consecutive goals on two scores by Tanner and one each by Evan Falkowski (2 goals, 1 assist) and Dillon Kelly (2 goals, 1 assist).
Again, the Ghosts fought back to tie it at 5-5 on goals by Hunter Jones (4 goals, 2 assists) and Leech. The Titans then reeled off seven consecutive goals to take a commanding 12-5 lead and never looked back.
The Titans’ defense was led by team captains Kevin Witchey and Monmouth University-bound, two-way midfielder Jake Henze (2 goals, 1 assist). Other standout defenders included Steve Nowelski, Jake Lautt, Mickey Pendleton, Dan Shields, Connor Grant and Andrew Baer. Witchey also executed a nifty move at the top of the box to score the team’s 10th goal. Tanner added three assists to lead all scorers, while McGrath added an assist to his five goals. John Wink added a goal for Abington. Robbie Richick got the win in the net, stopping 7 shots, while Luke Werner recorded nine stops and Connor Reed saved five for the Ghosts. CB South will take on Suburban One Continental Division rival North Penn Tuesday night at War Memorial Field.
Abington 3-2-3-2 = 10
CB South 5-6-5-4 = 20
CB South
Chris Tanner 8g, 3a
Brendan McGrath 5g, 1a
Dillon Kelly 2g, 1a, 6gb
Jake Henze 2g, 1a
Evan Falkowski 2g, 1a
Kevin Witchey 1g
Robbie Richick 7 saves
Abington
Cameron Leech 5g, 1a
Hunter Jones 4g, 2a
John Wink 1g
Luke Werner 9 saves
Connor Reed 5 saves
UPPER DUBLIN 17, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 2
Michael Sowers scored just one goal but had a hand in 10 in the Cardinals’ season opener Monday. The junior standout assisted on nine goals, many to teammate Michael Mullen, who scored eight goals and assisted on another.
Connor Wall and Evan Scott both added a pair of goals while Jerry Bardol had a goal and an assist. Max Winebrake, Michael Gillin and Nash Potts each chipped in one goal, and Nicholas Vernacchio and Zach Hanson both had an assist.
In goal, Bobby McPeak was credited with one save while Sean Bauers had three saves and Dillon Lojeski had one.
The Flying Cardinals (1-0) led 6-1 after one quarter and took an 11-1 lead into halftime on their way to the win.
Springfield goalie Colin O’Hara was credited with 10 saves.
Springfield 1-0-0-1 2
Upper Dublin 6-5-3-3 17
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 13, NESHAMINY 3
Senior midfielder Sam Presley had a big day for the Golden Hawks, contributing three goals and three assists. 
Sam Murray had a team-high four goals while Joe Lauch added two goals and two assists. Tommy Vanderslice was part of three goals, contributing one goal and two assists. .
Coach John Hiron acknowledged the strong play of Patterson, Presley Murray and Karl Martin in the win.
HARRY S TRUMAN 4, FRANKFORD 1
Kyle Morris scored a pair of goals, and the Tigers received single goals from Josh Eckert and Ryan Parish in Monday’s season opener. The Tigers, who led 3-1 at halftime, received an 11-save effort from goalie Ross Koenig III.
UPPER MERION 15, NORRISTOWN 2
The Vikings received big offensive performances from Steve Ferguson (three goals, two assists), Tyler Thornton (three goals, one assist), Will Borkowski (three goals, one assist) and Evan Wickersham (two goals) in Monday's season opener. Nick Freda and Nick Monastero both added an assist. Troy Minnich turned away six shots in goal for the Vikings.
BAYARD RUSTIN 12, PENNSBURY 2
Girls
NORTH PENN 9, SPRING-FORD 8
The Maidens showed a flare for the dramatic in Monday’s opener, using a late goal by Sydnee Lear to eke out the win. Lear finished with three goals and two assists while teammate Emily Schulze had a team-high five goals. Chloe Novak added a goal and an assist.
“It was a good game,” coach Heather Mellow said. “They really pulled together.
“It was a team effort, which I was proud of them for. It was nice to see everybody take the opportunity to shoot and go to goal and score.”
The Maidens, who led 4-2 at the intermission, appeared to be in command when they opened up a 6-3 lead, but the Rams came roaring back to go on top 7-6. Schulze (Lear assist) connected to knot the score 7-7, but the Rams answered with a goal to go on top 8-7. Again, Schulz answered with a goal to knot the score, this time with five minutes remaining. Lear’s goal with 1:31 left in regulation proved to be the game winner.
“I think we sat back a little bit,” Mellow said. “We did the same thing when we scrimmaged Wissahickon.
“We had a lead, and they were just satisfied with the lead and go out thinking, ‘All right, we’ve got this,’ but you don’t because lacrosse changes so quickly. They just needed to get fired back up again, and they did. They put some nice plays together and won this game.”
Michelle Dyck was credited with nine saves in goal in a winning effort for the Maidens.
Spring-Ford 2-6 8
North Penn 4-5 9
PENNRIDGE 17, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 11
The Lady Rams opened their season with an impressive non-league win over the Spartans. They received big contributions from a veteran – Jess Csaszar (five goals, two draw controls) – and a freshman newcomer – Grace Loughery (five goals, one assist, five draw controls).
“It was a great win for us, it was a home win,” coach Karen Schnurr said. “We can only keep going up the rest of the season. I was very excited with this win.”
Sophomore Jennifer Rodzewich also had a big day, contributing one goal, three assists and three draw controls. Sophomore Kate Ziegler finished with the hat trick while sophomore Maddie Dachowski added one goal and two assists. Freshman Casey Hefner had two goals.
A key to the win, according Schnurr, was the play of the team’s midfielders – Loughery, Rodzewich and junior Devan Rimmer.
“Our midfield transition was beautiful today,” the Rams’ first-year coach said. “It started from a stop on defense and all the way up to goal.
“It was textbook. It was absolutely beautiful. That’s something we’ve been working on. We have a very young attack, but the girls are connecting and working with each other.”
Marley Berger had a big day for the Spartans, finishing with five goals. Caroline Pape was part of four goals, scoring two and assisting on two others. Meg Chandler added two goals, and Lindsey Smith had one goal and one assist. Meredith Giorano added one goal.
Pennridge goalie Carly Wingate was credited with seven saves while her counterpart – Springfield’s Margarethe Leis – had eight saves.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 18, UPPER DUBLIN 7
The Flying Cardinals took an early 3-2 lead only to watch the Bucks reel off six unanswered goals to seize control of the game. West led 11-4 at halftime and never looked back.
“Today, we were a little sluggish in the first couple of minutes, but once we started getting the draw controls back – Jacq Fitzgerald, Bryn Boylan, (Elle Ueland) and Meghan Tillger did a great job of getting the draw controls back – everything started to fall into place,” West coach Tara Schmucker said. “I think they started to feel more comfortable, the nerves started to settle.
“I definitely think we’re going to be better than people expect. We have a lot of youth, so we’ll see some ups and downs. Our motto is ‘make it happen,’ and they wanted to set the tone for the rest of the season, and I think they did a really good job of that.”
Fitzgerald, Boylan, Ueland and Tillger combined for 16 draw controls with Boylan accounting for six of them and Fitzgerald, four.
Fitzgerald led a balanced West attack with four goals to go along with six ground balls while Boylan added three goals, two assists and five ground balls.
“Bryn Boylan had a great game,” Schmucker said. “She just had an all-around good game.
“Jacq Fitzgerald also had a great game, and she really helped turn things around with the draw.”
Ueland had three goals, one assist, four ground balls and one caused turnover. Tillger had two goals, three assists, one ground ball and one caused turnover, and Meghan Darcy added two goals.
“It was great coming out strong like this,” Tillger said. “I know Upper Dublin is a very good team – they have Julie Cross, who is an outstanding player, but a couple of us seniors have been together a long time.
“We knew we had to come out strong because it’s our last season together and we want to make it count. I’m very proud of everyone and the way they played together.”
The key to Monday’s strong showing, according to Tillger, was teamwork.
“Our passes were out of sight,” she said. “On defense, our help was there every single time, and that’s all you can ask for in a team.”
Adding single goals for the Bucks were Finley Ueland, Taylor Mason, Olivia Fitzgerald and Paige Savard. Nine different players contributed goals in the win.
“This is one of those years where we don’t have two or three players to constantly look to go to or even one, which is great, because you can mix things up,” Schmucker said. “It’s difficult for other teams to defend that when they know all seven of the girls on offense can challenge and make the plays.
“That’s one thing we have in our arsenal.”
The Bucks’ coach went on to laud the performances of several young players.
“Lucy Varner is a freshman defender, and I thought she had some great slides, some great 1v1s. She just really stepped up nicely for us. She didn’t have a ton of stats, but I thought she played a solid defensive game, which is nice to see from a freshman.
“Freshman Maddie Maio had tremendous hustle in the midfield defensively and had great positioning in the eight meter.”
For the Flying Cardinals, Cross led the way with four goals and an assist. Maddie Templeton, Paige Lawton and Jess Grodsky each added single goals.
Molly Naylor was credited with fives saves in goal for the Bucks.
Upper Dublin 4-3 7
Central Bucks West 11-7 18
HATBORO-HORSHAM 16, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
Syd Rausa turned in an impressive offensive performance for the Hatters, scoring six goals and assisting on two others. Kaitlyn Wallace added three goals and two assists, and Casey Swezey had two goals and two assists. Carley Daley contributed two goals and one assist, and twins Gabby Acker (two goals) and Gwyn Acker (one goal) also got in the scoring column.
For the Patriots, Kaitlyn Mikalic led the way with the hat trick, and Maggie Vetter added a pair of goals. Katelyn Stout, Betty Wesney and Riley Donnelly each added a goal while Whitney Dietz and Bella Ridolfi both had an assist.
“Our defense played great,” East coach Kelly White said. “Especially Sara Donnelly and Taylor Seguine. Alana (Rivas) also played very well in goal.”
Rivas had seven saves in goal for the Patriots while Hatboro’s Maria Simms was credited with five saves.
WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 12, UPPER MERION 8
The Vikings displayed their resiliency in the second half of Monday’s opener, battling back from a 7-0 halftime deficit to make it a four-goal game with an 8-5 tear to close out the game.
Julia Reinert led the Vikings with four goals while Haley O’Malley finished with the hat trick. Allison Shuster added a single goal.
Jordan Cabahug-Almonte was credited with nine saves in goal for the Vikings.
Upper Merion 0-8 8
West Chester Rustin 7-5 12
QUAKERTOWN 19, NORRISTOWN 7
The Panthers – who are competing as an independent this season after playing as a club team last year – were impressive in their varsity debut, rolling to a 15-7 win over the Eagles.
Taylor Kishbaugh led the way with seven goals while Kayla Donnelly added the hat trick. Brooklyn Law and Sarah Townsend both had two goals. Cayla Metzger had three assists and Kellyn Nevill had two assists.
Quakertown goalie Morgan Craighead was credited with 17 saves. Also coming up big defensively were Kayla Donnelly with four interceptions and Alisa Robinson with a pair of interceptions.
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