Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls soccer teams in action Saturday. Pennridge/OJR photos provided courtesy of Althea Tomlinson/Pennridge soccer
Boys
Non-league
NESHAMINY 6, SOUTHERN LEHIGH 1
Scoring goals has not come easily for the Redskins this season.
Take away their 8-0 win over Harry S Truman, and they had managed just four goals in seven games. On Saturday, the Redskins took out any frustrations they may have had on the Spartans, erupting for four first-half goals and adding two more in the second half on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win.
Overall, it was a team effort – we deserved the win,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “We generated a lot of offense today, and it was a good feeling to get some confidence going into next week playing two of the Central Bucks schools.”
Scoring first-half goals for the ‘Skins were Waseem Jawawdeh, Josh Anderson, Jonaton Lopez and Joe Joe Maxwell. Owen Beideman and Chris Valley had assists.
The Redskins had a 3-0 lead 12 minutes into the contest, but Southern Lehigh cut into that with its only goal in the 26th minute, trimming the Redskins’ lead to 3-1. The Redskins got that goal back and went into halftime with a 4-1 advantage.
“Overall, I thought we did a nice job moving the ball,” Foley said. “We’re starting to get rewarded for getting the ball to our wide attackers. We got a couple goals that route.
“I thought we pressured their backs really, really well. Josh (Anderson’s) goal – he stripped him and went into goal. We will need to clean up a few things in the back. We gave them an unnecessary look, which they scored on in the first half.”
In the second half, Anderson and Rezi Tebidze each scored a goal – both with Joe Joe Maxwell assists.
“Overall, it was a good win,” Foley said.
Neshaminy (2-7, 1-7 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Wednesday.
Neshaminy 4-2 6
Southern Lehigh 1-0 0
PALISADES 1, QUAKERTOWN 0
CONWELL EGAN 4, CHELTENHAM 1
Friday, Sept. 23
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1, BISHOP SHANAHAN 0
The Bucks were not short on opportunities but still found themselves in a scoreless deadlock with the time winding down in Friday’s non-league contest against the visiting Eagles. Finally, with four-and-a-half minutes remaining, Eddie Rafolowski capped a textbook scoring sequence with a goal that stood for the game-winner.
“We dominated the whole, and the story of our season has been – we create a lot of chances, but we don’t end up putting the ball into the goal after we create the chances,” CB West coach Cooper Moyer said. “It was a little bit of the same for most of the game.
“We created some really good chances in the first half and through the second half. We had gone to overtime a few times this year. I really didn’t want to go to overtime, and I just had this feeling we were going to score a late one as it got closer and closer to the end of the game.”
That feeling turned out to be correct.
“Kyle Flaherty, who has been really, really good for us lately in our back line, made a run up the side of the field, and Rich Newall was able to slip him off as Kyle overlapped,” Moyer said. “Rich dropped in for Kyle to cover him, and Kyle kept going forward, going forward all the way to the goal line and crossed the ball back into the box that Eddie Rafolowski ran onto and just really confident, really good finish with his left foot to the right-hand side of the goal.
“It was a really, really good goal, and it’s something we’ve been working on to get the ball out into the wide areas and attacking from wide areas, and I was happy to see that. The last four minutes of the game we just hunkered down, and Shanahan didn’t create any chances even when we were sitting back and inviting the pressure.”
Griffin Blocker was credited with the clean sheet in goal.
“He was great,” Moyer said of his senior keeper. “I thought Joey Dowd played a really, really nice game in the middle of the field for us. He was physical, he dominated in the air. He was great for us.
“It was a good win. It got us back on track after a rough stretch last week.”
Central Bucks West (5-5-2, 4-4-2 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Wednesday (7pm).
Bishop Shanahan 0-0 0
Central Bucks West 0-1 1
Girls
Non-league
Girls
Non-league
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 3, PENNCREST 2
Sparked by the standout effort of goalie Grace Dailey and an aggressive offense that put three goals on the board, the visiting Spartans notched a non-league win over the Lions.
“The Spartans played a fantastic game today,” Springfield coach Dan Malora said. “The first half saw some great attacking opportunities by both teams. Penncrest moved the ball very well all game long, but our backfield did an outstanding job of minimizing their clear looks. Junior goalkeeper Grace Dailey played an amazing match, gathering up 11 saves.”
The game was deadlocked until the final 10 minutes of the first half when Kaleigh Evans took a pass from Alana Decker and buried a goal to break the scoreless tie.
The Spartans took that 1-0 lead into the second half and, according to Malora, kept the same pressure in their attack. They reaped the dividends.
“In the 52nd minute, we found ourselves with a throw-in deep in the Lions half,” the Spartans’ coach said. “Senior captain Ashley Jenkins launched a throw to the PK marker and right on point for a volley from sophomore midfielder Shannon Silvius.”
The goal by Silvius gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead, but not for long. The Lions answered with a goal three minutes later to pull to within one.
“But the forward combo of Evans and Decker was really driven today,” Malora said. “In the 60th minute, Decker crossed a ball over the top to Evans who put away her second goal of the match.
“Penncrest did not shy away after the third goal. They kept the attack going and threw the kitchen sink at us. The Spartan back line of Maddie McDevitt, Tess Talbot, Sophie Williamson and Paige Robinson took on some heavy offensive pressure by the Lions.”
Both teams battled until the final whistle, and Penncrest was able to net another tally in the closing minutes.
“I’m really proud of the team’s effort today,” Malora said. “The Spartans were locked in from the beginning, and they played a cohesive game for the entire match.”
Springfield Township (4-6, 3-6) will travel to Abington on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
Springfield Township 1-2 3
Penncrest 0-2 2
PENNRIDGE 3, OWEN J ROBERTS 0
Joey Tomlinson scored a pair of goals – the first two of the game, and that was more than enough for the visiting Rams in a non-league battle of teams ranked in the top 10 of the District One 4A rankings. As a result of the loss, OJR fell to 12th while the Rams hold the sixth seed.
Tomlinson’s first goal – which turned out to be the game-winner – broke a scoreless tie midway through the first half. The Rams took that 1-0 lead into halftime, and that score held until 17:10 remained the contact when Tomlinson struck again.
“She had the first goal of the game off a shot that rebounded from Tori Angelo, and Joey was there to poke it in,” Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson said. “In the second half, Liv Grenda played her a through ball, Joey took a couple of touches and a hard shot right past the keeper. It was great. Both of her finishes were really, really good.
“She was on a scoring spree at the beginning of the season. We’ve been talking to our forwards a lot about being composed in front of the goal and finishing our scoring opportunities, so to have two forwards finish today was huge.”
The Rams’ second forward – Tori Angelo – put an exclamation point on the win, scoring with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation for the 3-0 final.
“They were very, very good – they hit the crossbar three or four times in the first half,” Anderson said of the Wildcats. “I was happy with our ability to stay composed and just keep playing our style of soccer throughout the game.
“We try and play super fast and maybe wear some teams down. I felt at the end of the first half we were definitely a bit more dangerous, and in the second half after we scored that second goal, we were pretty composed on the ball. Our midfield was doing a nice job in the second half of finding space to play the ball in to each other, just sticking with our game plan and not panicking and having to play kick and run type soccer.”
Anderson credited the efforts of several players whose name don’t show up in the scoring line.
“Anna (Croyle) did a fantastic job in the back of keeping their #11 – who was so good – in check,” the Rams’ coach said. “Casey Malone is on that side – if Anna got beat, Casey was right there.
“On the flip side of that offensively, Riley Williams played up top for us today. She kept it simple, and she was able to hold onto the ball, play dangerous balls into the 18. I thought she had an outstanding game.”
The Rams’ coach recounted a key play that may have gone unnoticed but was a difference-maker.
“In the first half, Riley Williams went back to keep a player from taking a shot about 18-20 yards out, and if she didn’t do that, who knows what would have happened,” Anderson said. “Just the fact that she came back that far to help us defensively was huge. She is playing a new position for us – she didn’t complain about it, she just went out there and did it and was very, very dangerous for us.
“Gabby Hermann is another one who had an outstanding game. I know they don’t have goals or assists to show for it, but it was their work defensively and being able to hold the ball up top that created some of these goal-scoring opportunities for us. I was very happy with the two of them.”
Pennridge (9-1, 8-1 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Pennridge 1-2 3
Owen J Roberts 0-0 0
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