Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls soccer teams in action Friday.
BOYS
SOL National Conference
Council Rock South 1, Harry S Truman 1
The only conference game on the schedule ended in a draw but not for a lack of effort.
“We had many opportunities to finish and CR South’s keeper (Andrew Roberto) played outstanding,” Truman coach Matt Terry said. “South defended our set pieces well and we could not get a clean look. This was our second game this week to go into OT.”
Ayoub Fask scored for the Tigers on a nifty left-footed shot from outside the box that found a home in the opposite corner.
The Golden Hawks equalized on Trey Blazik’s goal assisted by Dylan Bennett.
“We did well to get back into the game after going down a goal, just didn’t do enough on the day,” South coach Alan Nicholl said.
Overtime matches are certainly taxing, but the Tigers have battled through it.
“The players are working extremely hard and handling their offensive and defensive assignments on the field,” Terry said. “All players contributed in today’s match. The back line played well along with the midfielders. It would be nice to have the ball bounce once for us.”
Council Rock South (3-6-1, 2-4-1 SOL) will face West Windsor-Plainsboro in a non-league game Saturday, and Harry S Truman (3-5-2, 0-5-2) will take on Boys Latin School on Monday in a non-league game.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 1 0 0 – 1
HARRY S TRUMAN 0 1 0 0 – 1
Goals: CRS – Trey Blazik; HST – Ayoub Fask
Non-league
Upper Dublin 3, Central Bucks South 1
The Flying Cardinals certainly needed this one.
After a pair of tough, one-goal losses to Springfield Township and Hatboro-Horsham earlier in the week, Upper Dublin found a resolute win to end its week.
“It’s a big win for us,” UD coach Andy Meehan said. “We had two disappointing losses against Springfield and Hatboro-Horsham. We wanted to end on a high note. They came out ready to play.”
Senior Nate Hillman gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead that held until halftime when he converted a penalty kick.
Jordan Kahny doubled the lead midway through the second half.
“He received a through ball about 50 yards out, and he was able to take on a couple people, and he was able to put it away into the side netting,” Meehan said.
The Titans, who had a confidence-building week that included a draw at CB West and a win over Quakertown, found their goal about 10 minutes later to cut the lead in half.
“They started putting pressure on and put people forward. They were able to get in the box. It was kind of a scramble in the box,” Meehan said. “They hit a few shots, and we were able to block them with our defenders. Jordan Skversky, who was in goal, had a save, but we keep giving up rebounds, and they were able to put one away.”
Upper Dublin’s Sean Seabrook netted an insurance goal with about eight minutes to play. Luke Rappaport started the play by dribbling the ball from around midfield, drawing in defenders before he slotted it to Seabrook who beat a defender and finished the play.
“Every home game has been a close game – it’s either been an overtime game or a game decided in the last minutes of the second half. This one we wanted to reverse our fortunes and put basically a full game of soccer together where we were able to play very well,” Meehan said. “This was a game in which we did that. We started well and we were able to maintain that high level of play throughout the game. Even when they put pressure on us, we were able to absorb that, and we were able to attack them. It was a relief.”
The losses earlier in the week were discouraging, but it was the manner in which Upper Dublin lost that hit harder.
“Every single kid on the team was disappointed in the last two games,” Meehan said. “We were in those games, and we were that close. Against Hatboro-Horsham, if you take the five minutes out of each half, we would have won 2-1. Against Springfield, we were up 3-2, they scored a really good goal, and they were able to beat us in overtime. It’s nice to end on a high note going into next week where we can hopefully take this positive note and change our season.
“We didn’t want the last two games to define our season. We wanted to change the fortunes. We talked about it after the game, we talked about it before the game and during the school day, we wanted to come out positive and go back to the way we were playing before the four straight losses and have fun again.”
Upper Dublin (6-6, 5-3 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Wednesday, and Central Bucks South (6-3-2, 3-2-2) will host Central Bucks East on Wednesday.
UPPER DUBLIN 1 2 – 3
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 1 – 1
Goals: UD – Nate Hillman, Jordan Kahny, Sean Seabrook
Bensalem 6, Penn Wood 0
The Owls’ turnaround just continues to roll on.
Bensalem won its seventh straight match on Friday, matching last season’s entire win total with six games still to play.
Friday was also a chance to mix things up, as the Owls switched their starting lineup to feature a majority of players who haven’t seen much time on the pitch this fall.
“I wanted to get some kids some valuable experience and give them some confidence on the field,” coach Rob Brown said. “Some games it’s hard to get a lot of different kids into the game, but everyone played today and our keeper, Chris Rowan, even played striker.
“He had a bunch of chances but wasn’t able to connect on any of his breaks. He had a blast though. Sometimes that’s what it’s all about.”
Jon Larbi had a strong outing to pace an Owls attack that got a lot of players involved.
Brian Gibson opened the account with an easy finish after taking a defender 1-on-1. Larbi was the target for a throw-in from Kyle Maloney, but Bensalem gladly settled for the outcome when it was hit in by a Penn Wood player for an own goal.
Larbi then got on the sheet with a breakaway finish to make it 3-0. He added a second tally after working along the endline, beating a few defenders to draw the keeper out of position before passing the ball into the right corner.
“Jose Rivera was sent on a breakaway on a great through ball by Brendan Callahan. Jose beat the keeper with a shot right outside the 18,” Brown said. “The final goal was by Elliott Cifuentes who also went on a breakaway and slotted the ball into the side of the net off an assist from Chris Russo.”
With two tough SOL games looming next week, the Owls were happy to end the week on a high note.
“All in all it was a good game and a good way to end our week, with a couple of days off now to recover and get ready for two tough SOL games next week,” Brown said. “We had a lot of off-sides calls against us and that was a bit concerning but they were all eager to go to goal, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Bensalem (7-5, 4-3 SOL) hosts William Tennent and visits Pennsbury next week.
“It’s going to be a hard couple of games but we are excited for the games and we will be ready,” Brown said.
BENSALEM – 6
PENN WOOD – 0
Abington 3, Neshaminy 2
The Galloping Ghosts found a pair of goals in the second half, breaking a 1-1 halftime tie and picking up a road win.
Nevin Baer, assisted by Shawn McConnell, netted a goal in the first half as the sides went to the break deadlocked.
Baer then assisted Gavin O’Neill’s goal in the second half before senior Reese Gibbs converted a penalty kick for the eventual game-winning goal.
Abington (9-1-1, 7-0-1 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Wednesday, and Neshaminy (7-4, 4-3) will be on the road at Council Rock South Wednesday.
ABINGTON 1 2 – 3
NESHAMINY 1 1 – 2
Goals: A – Nevin Baer, Gavin O’Neill, Reese Gibbs
Southern Lehigh 2, Quakertown 0
GIRLS SOCCER
Non-league
Pennridge 3, Wissahickon 1
Usually, the Rams have a pretty good idea of what they’re getting into.
That wasn’t the case on Friday at Wissahickon, and a game Trojans side certainly made the Rams work for their win. Wissahickon gave Pennridge a few different looks and a couple more valuable lessons.
“They played us really well,” Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson said. “They had four in the back and four in the midfield, so that didn’t allow our outside backs to get forward and it took us a little while to figure out how we were going to get forward.”
The Rams usually build with smaller passes that work to the outside but Friday, they opted to go with a big pass early to switch the point of attack and create from there.
Lindsey DeHaven staked Pennridge to a 1-0 lead about midway through the first half, but the Rams gave up a foul in a dangerous area that Wissahickon capitalized on.
“They hit a great ball, it was almost like the North Penn goal earlier this week,” Anderson said. “She hit it far post, it hit the post and went in.”
Abby Brown restored Pennridge’s lead off a scramble in the box about five minutes later and Pennridge didn’t trail again. The Rams tacked on a third goal in the second half from Grace Myers.
“These are all little lessons we’re learning with a new group of girls,” Anderson said. “We’re up, then it’s tied and we have to battle back.”
Anderson credited the play of Wissahickon senior Carly Amato, who gave the Rams defense plenty to think about with her pace and ability to dribble the ball right at defenders.
“She was really, really good at dribbling with speed, she could pretty much dribble at will,” Anderson said. “We hadn’t seen them play this year, so after she started dribbling we knew she was somebody we had to take away from the goal and Lauren (McIntyre), Maddie Angelo and Ashley Gordon did a good job keeping the ball away from her.”
The midfield was again a strength for the Rams, and overall, the players stepped up and did what they needed to do to record the win.
Things get busy for Pennridge starting next week with nine matches in a 15 school day span.
“There’s a lot of soccer there, so it comes down to being smart about what we’re doing on the field, being together and getting ourselves in a rhythm where we have three games in a week,” Anderson said. “Our goal is going to be can we control the tempo of the game for three games in a row. “
Pennridge (9-0-0, 6-0-0 SOL) will travel to Nazareth Academy Tuesday for a non-league game. Wissahickon (6-5, 5-3) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday.
PENNRIDGE 2 1 – 3
WISSAHICKON 1 0 – 1
Goals: P – Lindsey DeHaven, Abby Brown, Grace Myers
Neshaminy 6, Abington 2
The talk of the week for Neshaminy was finishing chances in the final third.
Finally, the Redskins got the kind of offensive breakout performance they’ve been waiting for with six different players scoring in a road win over the Galloping Ghosts. Neshaminy led 2-0 just 11 minutes in, then opened up a 4-1 lead that never got threatened.
“We wanted to get as many points as we could this week,” Neshaminy coach Renny Papendick said. “We played Pennsbury and Bensalem, two tough in-league rivals then have to come here and play a well-coached Abington team. I think we figured out some of our final third confusion.”
Mel Prinos had a nice day, scoring on a second half penalty kick after chalking up a first half assist and creating a goal thanks to another well-hit corner kick.
Carly Gross opened the scoring just three minutes in after a poor clearance by Abington fell to her on the left wing. Prinos’ corner in the 11th minute got cleared out, but only to Kristin Curley, who belted a shot from outside the box for the 2-0 lead.
“We got better ball movement up top, the runs were better,” Papendick said. “We just finished better. I think when we get some early balls in the net, we’re a different team.”
Abington cut the lead in half on a well-struck free kick from freshman Maura Day midway through the half, but Neshaminy quickly responded. Gina Sexton made a terrific run down the left flank, then crossed to the middle where freshman Carly Fox ripped a volley into the net.
Prinos added her assist on a through ball to Emily Tantala for the 4-1 lead at the half.
Shortly after forcing Abington keeper Olivia Oliphant into a save, Prinos stepped up and stuck home a PK to extend the Redskins lead early in the second half.
“We lit them up a little bit that we have to finish these games,” Papendick said. “We feel like we gave one up against Pennsbury and almost gave one up against Bensalem so I said we just have to put the ball in the back of the net and if we finish early, we’ll be fine.”
Neshaminy’s back line played well, but the Ghosts used a nice build up capped with a goal from Casey Touey to get within 5-2 early in the latter half.
The Redskins finished the day with a nice moment for Chloe Winchester. The reserve midfielder, who has missed a good deal of time dealing with and recovering from surgery to alleviate Compartment Syndrome in her legs, punched home a rebound for the sixth goal of the afternoon.
Neshaminy (7-3-1, 4-2-1 SOL) will host Council Rock South Wednesday in a key conference battle. Abington (6-5, 6-2) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Wednesday.
NESHAMINY 4 2 – 6
ABINGTON 1 1 – 2
Goals: N – Carly Gross, Kristin Curley, Carly Fox, Emily Tantala, Mel Prinos, Chloe Winchester; A – Maura Day, Casey Touey
Pennsbury 1, Central Bucks South 0
Luckily for the Falcons, they didn’t need another late goal to pick up their third win of the week.
That said, Friday was still a taxing match for Pennsbury, which got a nice lift from some of its reserve players.
“This week challenged us in so many different ways and we’re grateful to end it with three wins,” Falcons co-head coach Kaitlyn Battise said. “This week demanded a lot from the girls physically, mentally, emotionally, academically, socially… am I missing any other adverbs? Traveling all week, playing on various surfaces against strong opponents, we needed something from everyone.”
It had been the team’s well-versed senior class carrying the load in the Falcon’s two SOL National wins earlier in the week. Playing against the Titans, it was a pair of juniors who stepped to the forefront.
“Today, we saw two juniors step up on the stat sheet with Sarah Lohrey able to find Erin Butler in behind South’s defense for a well-timed run and perfectly executed shot by Butler,” Battiste said. “We also got to see a strong half from sophomore Sarah Tuohy working up top with Erin. Although Erin and Sarah haven’t seen consistent minutes on varsity, they both played at a very high level today.”
Butler’s 15th minute goal was all the scoring the Falcons needed thanks to a sound defensive effort spurred on by keeper Erika Hansen.
“Defensively, Erika continues to lead from the goal. Her defense did a nice job of keeping a majority of the play away from her, but when called upon, Erika has had her teammates’ back,” Battiste said. “This was a team win – we needed everyone today.”
Pennsbury knows what players will likely be on the field in a big moment or a must-win game, but the key to succeeding through a long season is having confident and capable back ups who can also get the job done.
The Falcons showed Friday they’re on the way to building that up.
“I’m not sure if I can pinpoint or recognize all the factors that have contributed to it, but winning definitely adds to their collective confidence and trust in their teammates and coaches,” Battiste said. “We try to find the opportunities in practices and games for different players to be successful, so if a player gets hurt or isn’t having her best game, we have to trust that her teammates will get the job done.”
Pennsbury (10-1-1, 7-0 SOL) will host Council Rock North on Wednesday, and Central Bucks South (3-7, 2-5) will be on the road at Central Bucks East on Wednesday.
PENNSBURY 1 0 – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 0 – 0
Goals: P – Erin Butler
Central Bucks West 5, William Tennent 2
Five different players contributed goals for the Bucks in Friday’s non-league win.
“We had a really tough week, and my girls are beat up and exhausted,” coach Mike Moyer said. “Girls were playing hurt tonight, but they found a way to win.
“Every single player played tonight. It was a total team effort.”
Ryan Fitzsimmons opened the scoring with a shot from 20 yards that found the back of the net.
“Shea Lubin got our second goal on a great shot inside the box,” Moyer said. “Maeve Shiffler got our third goal when she poked in a loose ball on a scramble after a corner kick.”
The Bucks took that 3-0 lead into halftime.
“Tori Albrecht has been amazing in the air in recent games, and she got our fourth goal when she headed a missile into the net off a great corner kick piece,” Moyer said. “Mariella Neri rounded out the scoring with a shot from 15 yards out that found the back of the net.
“We have a couple of days to rest before we play Souderton on Wednesday. I’m hoping it’s enough time to get everyone healthy.”
WILLIAM TENNENT 0 2 – 2
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3 2 – 5
Saint Basil Academy 3, Springfield Twp 0
Conestoga 6, Upper Dublin 1
About the Author
