Check out the recaps for SOL soccer teams in action Friday. CB South/CB East photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery.
Boys
SOL Colonial
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
It was another defensive battle between the sister schools, and it looked as though overtime might be inevitable. But with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Ethan Cunningham turned a pass from teammate Logan Campbell into a goal that was the game-winner.
“They kind of cleared their lines right into my center back, Logan Campbell,” CB South coach Joe Coscia said. “Logan kind of picked his head up and sent this beautifully flighted ball in to Ethan Cunningham. The keeper came out, Ethan beat the keeper to the ball and headed it past him. It took a fortuitous bounce and found its way into the back of the net. The whole play started at the top close to the 18.
“From that point on – I don’t want to say we parked the bus because we didn’t, but we really started playing possession, almost like playing the last 10 minutes of keep-away against them, keeping the ball in their half of the field and making them chase us ,and we saw out the victory.”
For the better part of 80 minutes, the flow of the game didn’t favor either team.
“The first half was pretty evenly contested,” Coscia said. “They had seven off-sides in the first half. Our back line was holding really strong, and they were trying to play directly over us, and that is not going to work against my team.
“But we really didn’t create any offense in the first half, so when we talked at halftime, we made a few adjustments. In the second half, we really started to press them, and their back line started to break down when Bing (Zaremba) started moving further up the field. He started at center back and started to try to get more into the attack, and that started to leave them more and more exposed.”
The Titans’ coach lauded his team’s stellar defensive effort.
“It was the same back line – Ryan Gross in goal, Shane Landue, Cory Bethel and Logan Campbell as the center backs, and Eric Green as the left back,” Coscia said. “My challenge is definitely to find more goals. (North Penn’s) Josh Jones scored on us last night, and the other two goals we’ve given up we’ve basically scored on ourselves. We know we’re not going to give up goals, but we’ve got to find offense to go ahead and win games.”
Coscia also praised the efforts of several other players.
“Ethan Cunningham came off the bench to give Anastasios Malitas a rest and just made things happen,” the Titans’ coach said. “He’s not the most skilled player – he’s kind of raw, honestly, but he just works his butt off. He’s kind of like Jamie Vardy from the Premier League. He’s not the most technical person out there, but he works harder than everybody else, and he creates chances for himself because of it.
“Definitely a shoutout to Sean Reiber and Nolan Helsel, who are my two holding midfielders who did a fabulous job of making sure they couldn’t get any meaningful distribution over through our lines. Their effort helped create some of our other offensive opportunities that unfortunately didn’t turn into goals, but it was their hard work that made it happen.”
Central Bucks South (2-2) will travel to Pennridge on Tuesday, and Central Bucks East (2-1-1) will be on the road at North Penn on Tuesday.
Central Bucks South 0-1 1
Central Bucks East 0-0 0
Girls
ABINGTON 2, UPPER DUBLIN 1 (OT)
Casey Touey and Maura Day were a winning combination in Friday’s contest. Touey – despite being the focal point of every opposing defense – scored both of her team’s goals, and Day assisted on both, including the game-winner early in overtime.
“The girls know that Touey’s a pretty good bet, so they look for her,” “Abington coach Rick Tompkins said. “Every team double teams her and PW triple teamed her, but okay, that opens it up for other people.”
Friday’s game was the third in four days – all three were wins.
“We were fortunate today because we were really banged up,” Tompkins said. “The back-to-back games started to catch up with us. Today they were dropping like flies. The most important person on the field was the trainer from Upper Dublin, and she was busy.
“Both teams were banged up, and that doesn’t help the flow of the game. You hear the pro sports talk about next player up. That’s what we had to do today, and we got a decent result. I was proud of them. I ended up playing with only two of the regular backs, and the substitute that went in got hurt. We ended up with a midfielder and a forward playing in the back for the latter part of the game. It was a good team win for us.”
Touey and Day combined for a goal midway through the first half that spotted the visiting Ghosts a 1-0 lead. They took that lead into halftime. The Cardinals knotted the score when Alex Devers headed home a goal that was set up by a corner kick, and the stage was set for overtime.
“In the first half, I think we had the better of play, and they came on strong in the second half,” Tompkins said.
The Ghosts’ coach lauded the showing of Day.
“We track passes and completions, and she had had 27 passes completed and seven giveaways, but she’s in high pressure because she’s the center midfielder,” Tompkins said. “She lost the ball some, but she also had three shots, so she was very productive. She does a good job on the defensive end as well.”
Senior center back Allison Holden also turned in a solid performance.
“She has grown into the spot,” Tompkins said. “She was a defensive center mid last year coming off the bench, and she has stepped into this center back spot, and she’s done a really good job. She only had one turnover the whole game, and she played every minute. She’s been very good.”
Abington (3-0) will travel to Quakertown Tuesday, and Upper Dublin (0-3) will host Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday.
Abington 1-0-1 2
Upper Dublin 0-1-0 1
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