Check out the soccer results in Thursday’s SOL openers. To view photos of the Central Bucks South/Pennridge boys’ game and the Council Rock North/William Tennent games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
GIRLS SOCCER
Continental Conference
Pennridge 2, Central Bucks South 2 (2 OT)
The Rams and Titans battled for 100 minutes but ended gridlocked in a tie. Pennridge started the game with a quick goal by Marisa Sheva, but Titans’ Marley Sczesniak found Taylor Matsinger late in the first half to send the teams into halftime deadlocked 1-1. “Goalkeeper Morgan Campbell made a couple breakaway saves in the first half and did great job organizing the defense,” South coach Joe Bocklett said.
Despite the stellar efforts of Campbell and midfielder Margo Fox, Pennridge connected again as Megan Shenk scored off a cross from Natalia Pinkney with only five minutes remaining in regulation. The Titans answered only a minute later with a goal by Kendall Brody to tie the game and send it into overtime. Neither team found the net during the two overtime periods.
The Titans are a fairly young team with many first-year players who may have been dealing with some early-season jitters under the lights on Pennridge’s turf.
“We hung in there, found our spot and finished our chances,” Bocklett said.
Rams first year coach Audrey Anderson says her team could have done better.
“We were unlucky and hit the crossbar maybe seven times,” the first-year coach said. “We definitely had a ton of opportunities.”
Anderson, who has been with the Rams for seven seasons as an assistant under Jorge Rodriguez, admits that the outcome often comes down to luck.
“Last year was such a great run, but every game was a good game - we were unlucky sometimes and lucky sometimes,” she said. “It’s good to be challenged early in season and have a plan, rather than learn things later in the season.”
With two starting backs out with ACL tears, Pennridge is hoping to find more of the luck they experienced in 2011.
Souderton 1, North Penn 0
The Indians were ecstatic to pick up their first league win of the 2012 season after going winless in the league last season.
“I don’t know what the year is going to hold for us but it’s definitely a good start,” said coach Joe Duffy, whose team improved to 2-0. “We are headed in a positive direction.”
The winning goal did not come until the 76th minute of play, when key returner Grace Morielli found herself open in the middle and seized the opportunity.
Goalie Jaclyn Parry is also playing well for the Indians, with two shutouts already under her belt.
“I think we’ve been working hard to improve,” Duffy said. “We lost a lot of close games last year.”
The Indians, who now boast many experienced underclassmen, might be the team to watch out for in the Continental Conference.
Central Bucks East 3, Hatboro 0
“It’s always nice to start off with a win in the conference,” said Patriots coach Paul Eishold of his first league game of the season.
The East coach credited the entire team for its effort in Thursday’s win.
“We have a lot of contributors on everything - it’s nice to see,” he said.
Six different players combined to secure this 3-0 win, which is why Eishold says his team is “definitely scoring by committee - everyone is contributing to the success.”
Abby Emmert, Aimee Chimera and Taylor Mysza each scored a goal for the Patriots, while Miranda Meehan, Shaun Kane and Nicole Pannella supplied the assists. On the defensive end, Jess Haug and Ally Walker are using their experience as seniors to set the tone.
“We do have a little bit of depth this year,” Eishold said. “The reserves come in and continue the same level of play.”
The Patriots are hoping they can maintain this momentum as they look ahead to a competitive week full of league games.
Central Bucks West 2, Quakertown 1
The Bucks took an early lead, thanks to a goal by Quin McNamara, but the Panthers knotted the score with a goal from Shelly Cowan (Linzi Wolfe assist) in the 45th minute. Kelsey Horst won it for the Bucks, turning an assist from Erin McQuate into a goal in the 62nd minute.
Quakertown coach Michael Koch credited the outstanding defensive effort of West’s Gwen Harvey and also pointed to the strong play in the midfield of Cowan for his Panther squad.
The Bucks held an 11-5 advantage in shots. Panther keeper Erinne Finlayson recorded six saves while her counterpart, Grace Bendon, had three saves.
National Conference
Council Rock North 3, William Tennent 0
Council Rock North took a 1-0 lead into halftime after a goal from senior Nicole Moonan assisted by Michaela Finnyfrock, but the second half belonged to the Indians.
“I don’t think we played well in the first half, but in the second, we got a hold of the ball,” coach Larry Sullivan said.
And by “we” Sullivan was referring to senior Nicole Moonan who controlled the ball and allowed her team to control the game in the second half.
Defensively, the Indians were strong as well, limiting Tennent to only one shot on goal, which Sullivan attributed largely to the defensive effort of Madison Antonnisi.
Adrianna Rosario scored the final goal (unassisted) late in the second half.
On the heels of a very successful 2011 season but losing a lot of key defenders to graduation and seeing two players sidelined with ACL injuries, Sullivan’s team is still trying to put it all together. The rhythm the Indians found today will be tested next week when they will face Abington, Truman and Pennsbury.
Neshaminy 5, Truman 0
Despite a slow start, there was no stopping the ‘Skins, who scored all of their goals in the second half. Fran Donato started the scoring run about 5 minutes into the second half off an assist from Megan Schafer. Schafer then continued to score a true hat trick with three consecutive goals assisted by Stephanie Donahue (2) and Katie McCoy. The final goal was scored with only 30 seconds left by Katie Suchodolski.
Council Rock South 4 Abington 0
The Golden Hawks, despite boasting a young squad, rolled to a convincing win over the Ghosts. First-year coach Kim Francis acknowledged the strong play of keeper Maddy Caulfield, who stopped eight shots. Goal scorers for Rock South were sophomore Rebecca Davey (2), senior Paige McDowell and freshman Emily Wilkinson.
Pennsbury 4, Bensalem 1
The Falcons scored goals in the first half before the Owls could answer back. Megan Engeland scored midway through the opening half, followed quickly by a goal from Uche Onuoha (Lexi Brown assist). Brown also connected from Emily Wunder late in the first half. Bensalem’s Christine Cueto scored early in the second half, but it was too little too late as Brown found the net again for the Falcons with seven minutes remaining.
American Conference
Wissahickon 2, Upper Dublin 1
The Trojans took an early lead five minutes into the game after a goal by Cailin Grey, who converted a through ball from Meghan Guzewicz into the score.
“This set the tone of the game,” coach Shannon Creamer-Franke said.
In the 70th minute, Grey capitalized on a breakaway and found the far left corner of the net, sealing the victory for the Trojans. Upper Dublin got on the scoreboard with five seconds remaining for the 2-1 final.
Creamer-Franke pointed to the efforts of midfielders Ellen-Claire Benbow and Alyssa Ryan as a key to her team’s success.
Keeper Rachel Stone (eight saves) was also a big part of the win with several saves that arguably kept the Trojans in this game.
“This win over our rivals was long in coming (over 4 years),” Creamer-Franke said. “I am so proud of how our team is playing. They have been working so hard and it paid off today.”
The Trojans held a 10-8 advantage in shots.
Cheltenham 2, Springfield (MONTCO) 1
The Lady Panthers were thrilled to pick up their first league win today over Springfield, which is back in the SOL after a two-year stint in the Bicentennial Athletic League.
“Springfield puts competitive teams out each time we play them,” Cheltenham coach Mark Woodcock said.
The Spartans, according to coach Suzette Wolfe, are dealing with low numbers this season.
“In games where you would like to overcome, its hard to compete with only 12-13 girls,” the Spartans coach said.
Although Wolfe’s roster may not be deep, Woodcock credits her team with being “big and strong and pretty physical.”
The Lady Panthers were recovering from their 4-1 loss to Bensalem yesterday, so they were happy to make the improvements they needed to in a short period of time. Key contributors for Cheltenham were Liz White at sweeper and Anna McHugh at center midfielder.
Looking forward to next week Wolfe said, “We have a skeleton crew, and they are playing as hard as they can… we need to work on finishing.”
Woodcock noted that his team will need to continue to improve to be successful in the competitive American Conference, but credited his players for giving a lot of heart and effort to win this game.
Springfield’s only goal was scored by Megan Wheatley assisted Paige Morrison while Tiana Han and Sloane Macklin scored goals to lead the Panthers to the 2-1 victory.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7 Upper Moreland 2
The Colonials dominated the Bears, winning 7-2 in the first day of league play. Upper Moreland goals scorers were Maddie Mauro and Lindsay Walden.
BOYS SOCCER
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 2, Hatboro-Horsham 1 (OT)
In a classic Continental Conference battle, the Patriots used a goal by Ryan Gleason (Shane Stolz assist) in the 93rd minute to escape with a win in Tuesday night’s SOL opener at War Memorial Field.
“We got a cross from Shane Stolz, and Gleason hit one from about eight yards out that the keeper had no chance on – he put it right under the crossbar,” East coach Mike Gorni said.
The veteran coach went on to tip his hat to Hatboro coach Kyle McGrath and his players.
“Hatboro played great,” the Patriots’ coach said. “Kyle had his team playing very hard for one another. They’re a younger team, and you could say that for us as well. They played very spirited and hard together.”
The Hatters struck first with a goal from Dante D’Alonzo (Nick Sienkiewicz assist) in the 26th minute. The Patriots rallied to knot the score in the 70th minute when Ryan Gleason turned a corner kick from Ryan Salvo into a goal, setting the stage for OT.
“We had the better of play, the second half in particular,” Gorni said. “I thought the first half was more even. We missed a couple, and their goalkeeper played real well.
“Hatboro did a lot of things right tonight. Kyle has them playing very, very hard together. They certainly made us work unbelievably hard for the win.”
The win was the second in overtime in as many outings for the Patriots, who edged Wissahickon in OT last Friday.
“It’s been a little strange,” Gorni said. “I’m happy that we won, but we haven’t been what we hope to be, that’s for sure.”
While the Hatters fall to 0-3 (0-1 SOL), the Patriots upped their record to 2-0 (1-0 SOL).
Souderton 1, North Penn 0
Souderton coach Tom Quintois and North Penn coach Paul Duddy both described Thursday’s matchup as electric, fast-paced and high-level soccer.
“Almost every time we play each other it’s a good game,” Duddy said. “Our players know each other very well.”
Thursday’s battle between the crosstown rivals remained deadlocked at 0-0 until co-captain Ryan Molyneaux scored for the Indians with only four minutes remaining.
Co-captain Tyler Afflerbach also contributed to the win, turning away all four of the Knights’ shots on goal to record his second shutout of the season.
For the Knights, center defender Shawn Gorman and center midfielder Jamie Bonner helpe
d keep the Indians scoreless for most of the game.
Central Bucks South 3 Pennridge 0
The Titans – who found themselves locked in a 0-0 halftime tie - got off to a slow start, a habit there are looking to break, but that’s when Bryan Brady entered the game on a mission to triumph.
“Today was Brian’s first opportunity to step up,” coach Don Brady said.
Brady found the first opportunity in teammate Pat Berneski whom he assisted on South’s first goal three minutes into the second half. That was all Brady needed to light the fire as he scored twice in the next 30 minutes with assists from Connor Stackhouse and Danny Busichio.
Coach Brady, whose squad already has five different goal scorers, acknowledged his team will need to “get in a flow” and start playing both halves as strong as they have been playing the second. The Titans look forward to their league matches next week, especially North Penn on Monday.
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Upper Moreland 0
With 18 minutes remaining in regulation, Joey Galleo scored the game winner on top of the 18, turning a perfectly-placed pass by teammate Joeb Hunter into a goal that stood. Keeper Mike Willis was credited with five saves for the Colonials.
Both teams had five corner kicks while the Colonials held a 12-6 advantage in shots.
The Bears not lost six key seniors to graduation from last year’s district runner-up squad, but star sweeper Nick Perkins is sidelined with a concussion, making it hard for them to find their stride.
“We need to work on finishing and being a little more relaxed and patient,” Golden Bears’ coach Jack Knauss said. “We had more than ample opportunities to score.” Knauss applauded the efforts of both teams and said the Colonials did a great job.
The Golden Bears face the daunting task of playing four games next week, including three league games.
Wissahickon 2, Upper Dublin 1
Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm had only one word to describe this game: a battle. The Trojans’ and Cardinals’ defenses are both strong and skilled, which made it difficult for either side to score.
The Trojans gave up a goal on a penalty kick by Upper Dublin’s Brian Schaeffer early in the second half, prompting Malcolm to make some changes to his lineup. One of those adjustments was moving goalie Neal Guaglianone to forward late in the half. The change paid off, and Guaglianone scored after playing attack for only four minutes off an assist by Ryan Becker. Shortly thereafter, Alex Schwartz scored to give the Trojans the lead and a win their first conference game 2-1.
Norristown 1, Upper Merion 1 (OT)
Effrain Guzman scored for the Eagles, and Cameron McDaniel scored for the Vikings as the American Conference rivals were forced to settle for a 1-1 tie.
National Conference
Pennsbury 1, Bensalem 0
Charlie Rushing scored the game’s lone goal in the 39th minute, using an assist from Sam Uprichard.
William Tennent 1, Council Rock North 0
Joey Cialantre scored the game winner for the Panthers.
Council Rock South 2, Abington 1
Neshaminy 1, Harry S Truman 0
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