Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls soccer teams in action. CB West/CB South photos courtesy of Tracy Valko.
Boys
SOL Colonial Division
PENNRIDGE 1, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
Ben Scary banged home a penalty kick with 1:45 remaining in regulation, breaking a scoreless tie and propelling the visiting Rams to the hard-earned win.
“We were fortunate to get out of there with a win,” Pennridge coach Pete Valimont said. “Sophomore Shane Velez was able to draw a foul in the box, and we were able to finish it.
“Coach Stef (Stefan Szygiel) once again has a great team. His kids are really working hard, and we were just glad to get the W.”
Szygiel tipped his hat to Scary.
“Credit to Ben Scary – he stepped up,” the West coach said. “Moments like that, it’s easy to let the pressure get to you, and he just slotted it home pretty coolly.
“At that point in the second half, I think Pete would agree – on the front foot, we were a little more assertive. They had a free kick, a kid played it into the box. There was a little bit of a collision between my goalkeeper, one of the Pennridge players, and one of my defenders. You just never know in those situations, and it ended up being a PK.”
Valimont praised the efforts of several players in Saturday’s win.
“Colin Monahan had another fantastic game in the back along with Shane Velez and Dalton Guthrie,” the Rams’ coach said. “Both goalkeepers – Owen Gunn and CJ Dimmick – are now with back-to-back shutouts against great competition.”
The game was another classic battle between the neighboring rivals.
“Today’s game I definitely thought Pennridge was better than us in the first half,” Szygiel said “In the second half, we started to assert ourselves a little better especially in the offensive third. We kind of opened ourselves up a little bit to the counter. We knew what we were doing with that, I think they made a couple of tactical moves, moved a couple players around, and that forces us to counter move.
“To me, it was a pretty standard West/Pennridge game over the years. Today was another tight one. We’re just snake bitten in the offensive third as evidenced from the results.”
For the Bucks, who are four games into the season, each game has been pretty much a rerun of the game before with four straight 1-0 losses.
“It’s just such a great league, and in a year like this where these are the only games we’re playing, it puts every game under a microscope, and right now us under a microscope is four very tight losses with the same exact score line,” Szygiel said.
Despite coming up short, the Bucks are doing some good things.
“Defensively, we’re still sound – we’re organized, we’re hard to break down,” Szygiel said. “Every team in high school, no matter who you are, you’re going to let up some scoring chances. They’re teenage kids.
“The guys that have come back from last year and that run we were on – I do think they’re doing their jobs. James Lutz, Jayden Morris, Vincent Cavanaugh, Cole Young, Ryan Horst, Conor O’Brien and Luke Shank . This is Luke’s first year between the pipes, but it’s no secret that Ryan Van Pelt was the playoff hero last year, and it was four years of Dylan Smith before that.
“Luke knew senior year was his time to shine. I do see him getting better every game. Today I think he had a very good game. We had a tight call at the end with two minutes left, and those calls happen. All we can do is look at the film and try and learn from it, which we will do.
Szygiel’s message to his players is simple.
“It’s not easy because it’s one of those things – it’s almost like a little bit of a broken record mentality where you feel like you’re saying the same things to them and eventually it will work,” the Bucks’ coach said. “This case is no different. They believe in what we’re doing, they believe in what we’re teaching, they believe in our culture.
“It’s just always hard when you’re a teenager and you care so much and then you don’t get a result. All they need is one result and they’ll be fine. Whether that springboards us in a short season, I can’t tell you because the season is 40 percent done already. I have confidence that when they do have that result, that should give them a little wind behind their back. They’re good young men, and they’re fine.”
Pennridge (2-2) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday, and Central Bucks West (0-4) will be on the road at Souderton on Tuesday.
Pennridge 0-1 1
Central Bucks West 0-0 0
Girls
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
It took a while for the Bucks to find the cage, but with 2:05 remaining in regulation, Keely McGlone connected on a beauty.
“We got a corner kick, and Taylor (Moyer) hits a great ball, and Keely McGlone was there composed and headed the
ball in to give us a 1-0 lead,” West coach Mike Moyer said. “Keely played unbelievable. It was a really good team win by everybody. I’m just really pleased with the way we played today.”
The game, according to the Bucks’ coach was evenly matched.
“They did a good job keeping our forwards in check,” Moyer said. “We just couldn’t find that one ball.
“I thought we had more of the chances than them in the first half. My back line – Keely McGlone, Courtney Boylan, Bella Cent (Centenera) and Kaitlyn Dougherty – played really, really, really well today. They didn’t really have anything threatening in the first half, but it did end 0-0.”
Moyer made several adjustments in his midfield after halftime.
“I sent another attacker forward, and we just seemed to start generating a lot of chances – a lot of corner kicks, a lot of free kicks in their half,” he said. “We just couldn’t put one away.
“They were playing hard and physical and doing great, but they weren’t threatening us with too much of anything.”
Central Bucks West (3-0) will host Souderton on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Central Bucks South (0-3-1) will host Pennridge on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Central Bucks South 0-0 0
Central Bucks West 0-1 1
Friday, Oct. 2
NESHAMINY 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Redskins responded with three unanswered goals, knocking the Indians from the ranks of the undefeated.
“It was a total team effort,” Neshaminy coach Renny Papendick said. “We’re trying to figure out who we are. It’s been a weird preseason – no scrimmages. It’s crazy.
“(On Friday) they came out with a lot more energy than us. They’re very well coached. I’ve known coach Flannigan and coach Rodriguez for a long time. They have a lot of firepower up top.”
The Indians scored to take an early 1-0 lead.
“They operated in some space right in front of our defense, and we had to adjust,” Papendick said. “A couple through balls, a couple of good opportunities early. They ended up hitting the post, and it caromed across the box, and they ended up with a tap-in.”
With 10 minutes remaining in the opening half, Carly Fox scored the equalizer.
“To our girls’ credit, we hunkered in and we responded,” Papendick said. “Carly Fox with a shot from about 18 yards out, and she finished side panel. It was a good shot.
“Both teams were moving the ball well. It was a very high level game as expected.”
The two teams went into halftime deadlocked.
“We went into halftime – North was outworking us,” Papendick said. “They were a little more physical than us. They communicated really well, their movement off the ball was great.
“Our spacing was a little suspect the first half, so we kind of lit our girls up at halftime and said, ‘Hey, we have to do some things better. It starts with not only winning that first ball but the second ball was key,’” Papendick said. “We really pressured them. We made them nervous under pressure.
“They were knocking the ball around the back. We pressured, pressured, pressured, and they gave up one up.”
Promising freshman Angelina Daino scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second half.
“They tried to play back to the keeper with pressure from our striker, and there was a mis-touch, and our freshman striker, Angelina Daino, scored the first goal of her high school career,” Papendick said. “There will be many more to come with her. She’s just a dynamic player. She’s pretty special.”
Trailing 2-1, the Indians mounted some offensive pressure.
“Council Rock North is super talented – they have a couple really dangerous strikers, they’re strong in the midfield,” Papendick said. “We held them off. They gave us a wave of pressure.
“It was a back and forth game. We kind of got up on them late and ended up finishing with a really nice ball across the box, and our sophomore Gyziel Rowan, finished a really nice goal in front of the net. “
The Redskins’ coach lauded the play of his center backs.
“We made some changes from last year, and we have a dynamic duo in the back with Jordan Fregia and Kiera Bradley, a girl we converted from a striker who’s big, strong, physical. We said to her, ‘Hey can you come play center back for us? We need a physical presence.’ She was absolutely outstanding. The two of them in the middle really did well.”
Council Rock North (3-1, 2-1 SOL) will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday, and Neshaminy (1-0-1) will host Pennsbury on Monday in a battle of neighboring rivals.
Neshaminy 1-2 3
Council Rock North 1-0 1
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