Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls soccer teams in action Friday.
Boys
Non-league
LOWER MORELAND 3, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 0
The Lions gave some of their reserves additional playing time in Friday’s non-league game, notching a bounce-back win after a pair of tough losses.
“Today was a good team win after a rough stretch of crossover games,” coach Bob Bachart said. “The 1-0 loss to Hatboro and the 2-0 loss to Abington were games where we played tough soccer for very large stretches, and not getting the result we wanted was tough for our guys. My coaching staff and I decided that we wanted to get some of the guys on our bench into the game today to gain some varsity experience and give the starters some rest.”
The move paid dividends.
“We were able to get Temur Temirov back on the scoring sheet today just about two minutes into the game,” Bachart said. “He was able to get in dangerous spots on the field all day today and his hard work was rewarded.
One of our freshmen also got his first goal today. Alex Pickering has been trying to break into a starting rotation in the back that is held down by two strong senior leaders in Ian Alicia and Sam Morris. He was able to get on the end of a ball in the 22nd minute and head it home for
his first ever varsity goal.
“I love when I am able to see a player is able to get their first varsity tally. The pure exhilaration that a player shows in that moment reminds me of why I put in such long hours with our program. We are happy to have the long weekend to rest and recover as we look to make a strong push to finish out the cross overs and get back into conference play.”
Lower Moreland(6-4, 5-4 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Wednesday.
UPPER MORELAND 11, INTERBORO 0
Jackson Costello had a hand in six goals, scoring twice and assisting on four others in a standout performance for the Golden Bears. The back line kept the shutout, and keeper Anthony Carson recorded the clean sheet.
Upper Moreland (5-6, 3-6) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday.
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
Neshaminy 2, West Chester Rustin 0
Angelina Daino always had the make-up to be a terrific high school soccer player, she just didn’t have the chance to show it.
A series of injuries in middle school and as a freshman limited the now-junior forward’s impact early in her time at Neshaminy. Now healthy, Daino is showing everyone else what Redskins coach Josh Van Reed has known for a few years.
She’s an impact player.
“I was able to see her play as her coach on her middle school soccer team at Maple Point and I could see her vision and instinct for knowing where the ball was going to be are things that can’t always be taught,” Van Reed said. “She is also a very physically strong player and very difficult to move off the ball. She had strength and the ability to hold the ball and also score and I’m really happy to see her finally getting the opportunity to show what she can do. She’s made a huge impact on our team this year.”
Daino has entrenched herself as Neshaminy’s center forward, adding strength to the speed of wingers Carly Fox and Kylie Maxwell and providing a lesson in perseverance.
“She has seen a lot of setbacks with injuries the last couple years. In 8th grade she tore her left ACL and meniscus, 9th grade year she broke her right femur after four games, then at the end of her 9th grade year she tore her right ACL and meniscus,” Van Reed said. “She has put in a ton of work with rehab and strength and conditioning.”
After two big wins this week, Neshaminy was on the road for its third match in four days against a Rustin program that had a 5-2-2 record going in.
In a first half that saw Neshaminy on the defensive for a large part of its 40 minutes, Daino’s knack for being in the right spot paid off with a game-changing goal. Swirling winds had an impact on almost every ball kicked in the air and a mis-hit clear by Rustin’s keeper set the stage.
“Angelina Daino was playing up and collected it with her first touch and put it on frame with her second. The keeper was out of the center of goal and scrambled to make the save but it was well-struck,” Van Reed said. “That’s why you play someone up there because sometimes those things happen and with the heavy wind today it just affected every ball played.”
From there, it was all Neshaminy could do just to get to the break without giving up an equalizer.
“We took some time to settle the first half and Rustin was throwing a lot of numbers forward. We were doing a lot of defending. They had a couple dangerous corners and crosses we were able to clear out,” Van Reed said. “Taylor Maxwell definitely made some key clears and stepped up to win some balls in transition before they caused problems.”
Settling down and adjusting at the break, Neshaminy came out and played much better in the second half. The Redskins were able to start connecting passes at a more consistent clip and also switched the field much better, which started generating more runs at goal.
“Halfway through the second half Mercedez Paino collected a ball and quickly advanced through the midfield and at the defense, it was a really smart play because she could see the right back had to close her down and with Kylie Maxwell playing out to her right, she played a nicely timed ball through and behind the defense,” Van Reed said. “Kylie is so quick and when she gets into those positions with space and time she is going to finish.
“It was the insurance goal we needed to settle down and control the game flow a little more. “
A hard-earned result on the road capped a 3-0 week that saw Neshaminy hand Pennridge its first loss, celebrate its 10 seniors with a win over Souderton on Thursday and navigate a quick turnaround on Friday.
Neshaminy (8-0-1, 7-0-1 SOL) returns to action on Sept. 28 at CB East in a 3:30 start.
NESHAMINY 1 1 – 2
WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 0 0 – 0
Goals: N – Angelina Daino, Kylie Maxwell
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6, MaST Charter 0
The Colonials have found a winning formula and it’s all about how they start.
“I’m starting to sound like a broken record on this but we continue to emphasize starting fast,” PW coach TJ DeLucia said. “Today, we scored less than two minutes into the game.”
At the center of much of the Colonials’ production on Friday was senior Angelina Balcer. A relentless worker, Balcer carried a lot of the scoring responsibility early in the season but has gotten some relief during PW’s current five-match win streak.
Sometimes, scoring goals is just a matter of effort and DeLucia knows the senior’s effort will always be there no matter her fortunes in front of goal.
“Senior forward Angelina Balcer was dangerous all day which has been the theme for the season. There are stretches where she can’t find the back of the net whether she doesn’t take the strike exactly how she wanted or the goalkeeper makes an outstanding save. But her work rate doesn’t drop,” DeLucia said. “She shakes it off, puts her head down, and continues to work hard. When you do that and you’re an athlete who has the skill level and speed that she does, the goals will continue to come.”
To that point, Balcer helped establish the fast start the Colonials wanted by scalding a defender on the left flank, getting into space and ripping a shot on goal that hit the post. Her shot didn’t go in but Meghan Wendler, who followed it up in the box, got hers to go and netted her first soccer goal at PW.
“Wendler is one of our most improved players from last year. She is an elite lacrosse player who – in soccer – has played primarily defense at the Varsity level,” DeLucia said. “We are starting to use her all over the field so it was exciting to see her get on the scoresheet.”
Balcer picked up another assist, this one a little more traditional, as PW ran the lead to 2-0 after 15 minutes of play.
“Balcer, who is beginning to show her versatility as an attacker, received a ball at her feet about 30 yards out. She turned and flicked it over the defense and freshman Keira Whelan ran on to it,” DeLucia said. “The ball takes one bounce and from the top of the 18, Whelan volleys it out of the air past the keeper.”
Whelan bagged a second goal a few minutes later, this another rebound off the post following some good work between Caelin Kosvitch and Maddie McGuckien.
“At halftime, we discussed not being satisfied with 3 – 0. We’ve played too many close games through the first half of the season,” DeLucia said.
Katie Lukens had a long throw into the box three minutes into the second half that helped PW get off to a quick start again and yielded another first-time varsity scorer.
“The ball is being pinged around and finds freshman midfielder Maite Jayo’s feet. She turns and takes a shot that hits the top of the crossbar and bounces into the net,” DeLucia said. “It was Maite’s first goal of the year and she has been really itching to get a goal. So, the team was thrilled for her.”
Finally, it was Balcer’s turn to actually put a ball in the back of the net.
“Senior Abby Edwards wins a ball in our own half and plays junior Devyn Cohen out wide,” DeLucia said. “Devyn Cohen hits the ball first time over the top to Angelina Balcer who runs it down, takes a touch past the keeper and scores her fifth goal of the season.”
Cohen showed a lot of hustle on the day, helping set up the final goal by first winning a header, then chasing down the ball and winning possession of it. From there, she threaded a ball to senior Abby Manning down the left for a cross that Kate Yocum was able to take out of the air and hammer past the keeper.
It was an all-around effort for the Colonials, who played a total of 24 different athletes including their freshman keeper Olivia Bragg, which followed some team-building activities.
“Our school had an 11 am dismissal today so we had a team lunch and then we brought in Danielle Fagan from Colonial Soccer Club to run some team-building activities with our JV & Varsity teams. When you have a Varsity team that varies this much in grade level, I think it’s important to continue to do things that build team chemistry and cohesion,” DeLucia said. “This is not a team of 10 seniors who have been playing together their whole lives. It’s a mix of players from all four grades with some lacrosse players, basketball players, and soccer players who play for various area clubs. So, we’ll continue to work on that in hopes that it pays off in the second half of the season.”
PW (6-4, 5-4 SOL) travels to William Tennent at 3:30 on Sept. 28.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3 3 – 6
MaST CHARTER 0 0 – 0
Goals: PW – Angelina Balcer, Kate Yocum, Maite Jayo, Meghan Wendler, Keira Whelan 2
Upper Moreland 2, Interboro 1 (2 OTs)
A long week for the Golden Bears ended with some more extra soccer against Interboro, but it turned out to be worth it in the end.
UM rallied again and picked up its second overtime victory in a four-day span to wrap up a resilient 3-0 week.
“It has been a grind for us this week. Three games against great opponents, back to back games, with two of the three going into overtime. To say that we pushed ourselves is an understatement,” Bears coach Lisa Benvenuto said. “Today was a difficult one for us, we had a hard time connecting and getting into our rhythm. We had some really great opportunities that we just weren’t able to net. Kudos to Interboro and their efforts today. It was a hard, strong game played by both teams.”
The Bears couldn’t get anything going in a scoreless first half and found themselves behind after Interboro’s Molly Hughes plugged in a goal 13 minutes into the second half.
“Interboro’s goal snapped us out of the funk we were in, and it could be seen on the field,” Benvenuto said. “Not only did we tie it up in the 69th minute, but we had quite a few more dangerous opportunities prior to the end of regulation to finish it off.”
Brooke Lobban has been in good form offensively for Upper Moreland, scoring a goal in Tuesday’s overtime win against Upper Dublin and she kept it up on Friday, netting a brace to lead the Bears back.
“Brooke Lobban was able to find a cross from Kyra Favors to put in the equalizer, and in overtime she followed a shot from Kylie Wiest and put in the rebound,” Benvenuto said. “Brooke is a gritty player, she is so quick with her first step, and is able to beat her opponents to the spot. She was clutch for us.”
Lobban and Favors combined in the 69th minute to level the game, where the game stayed until she struck again a bit less than two minutes into the second overtime.
“The girls knew nothing would be given to us this week, including today and it was going to take all of us, and all we had in our tanks to get this win,” Benvenuto said. “They showed tremendous heart and grit.”
The Golden Bears (5-5-1, 4-5-1 SOL) host Hatboro-Horsham at 3:30 on Sept. 28.
UPPER MORELAND 0 1 0 1 – 2
INTERBORO 0 1 0 0 – 1
Goals; UM – Brooke Lobban 2
Central Bucks West 2, Villa Joseph Marie 0
Having a program with the caliber of success at both the District 1 and PIAA 3A level like Villa Joseph Marie in the middle of SOL territory is a pretty nice luxury.
The Jems, who play in the AACA, aren’t afraid to schedule opponents from the larger classification and SOL teams that play VJM usually benefit from it. On Friday, the Bucks made the trip over to Holland and came out with a well-earned win.
“It was the first time I’ve been to Villa. Their field is big, it was very windy, and they played very aggressive and tough, and it was a really good first half,” West coach Mike Moyer said. “Their keeper made a lot of good saves to keep them in it.”
West’s attack has started to find some rhythm after hitting a rough patch as crossover play was starting. The Bucks needed to figure out how to handle a tough foe and some difficult weather conditions, but they found a way after halftime.
“We had the wind in the second half, which helped, and finally, halfway through the second half, Kate Weyer played a good ball to Ashley Lott,” Moyer said. “Ashley just made a great move and hit a great shot from the corner of the 18 that hit the far post and went in to give us a 1-0 lead.”
Weyer, a junior, started the season at fullback but has moved into a midfield role alongside Alexis Castro and Eva Wierzbowski and the trio has turned in a couple outstanding performances in a row.
“Emery Sterling and Allie Pisch just gave us great minutes up top, and AC (Alexis Castro), Eva Wierzbowski and Kate are continuing to be very dominant in our midfield,” Moyer said.
A couple seniors linked up to give West a helpful insurance goal.
“We kept putting pressure on. The pressure kept going, and we finally got a corner kick with about 12 minutes to go,” Moyer said. “Taylor Madden hit a perfect corner that Courtney Moylan put in to give us the 2-0 lead and win.”
The Bucks’ revamped back line of Moylan, Ava Longo, Kira Winn and Reegan Moran and senior keeper Jules Broskey wrapped a 3-0 week where they posted a 19-0 advantage in scoring with three straight shutouts.
The Bucks (7-4, 6-4 SOL) travel to Pennsbury at 3:30 on Sept. 28.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 2 – 2
VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 0 0 – 0
Goals: CBW – Ashley Lott, Courtney Moylan
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