SOL District Boys’ Soccer Preview (Second Round)

Ten SOL boys’ soccer teams will be in action in the second round of the District One AAA Tournament on Thursday.

What a difference a year makes.

Last year, eight SOL teams were part of the District One AAA Tournament 28-team field. This year, thirteen teams earned district berths, and they proved they belonged.

In Tuesday’s opening round, twelve SOL teams were in action – only two (Upper Dublin and Bensalem) were pitted against each other with 11 of 12 games featuring SOL teams. Nine advanced to Thursday’s second round where they will be joined by top-seeded Central Bucks East, which had a first round bye.

Thursday’s eight games feature three all-SOL matchups with Plymouth Whitemarsh at Central Bucks East, Pennridge at North Penn and Upper Dublin at Abington. Seven of eight games will include at least one SOL team with seven the maximum number of SOL teams still alive after Thursday’s action and three the minimum number of teams still standing.

By comparison, in 2014, only five SOL teams played in the opening round – four of them were matched up against each other with three teams advancing. Neshaminy (2), Wissahickon (3) and Central Bucks East (4) had first round byes, resulting in six SOL teams in the second round. Three teams – eventual district champ Central Bucks East, Plymouth Whitemarsh and Wissahickon – advanced to the quarterfinals.

Rounding out this year’s field of 16 teams, the Central League – which had eight teams in the original field of 28 – has three teams remaining, and the Ches-Mont, which sent four teams to the districts, has two still alive. The PAC-10 had two representatives – Owen J Roberts and Boyertown. Only OJR survived. Penn Wood, the Del Val League’s lone representative, fell in the opening round.

Check back for a recap of Thursday’s SOL district action.

#16 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH at #1 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST (3 p.m.)
Central Bucks East

18-0-0 overall
First undefeated, untied regular season in 21 years under coach Mike Gorni
14-0-0 Suburban One League Continental Conference champions
Third consecutive and tenth SOL Continental title in 12 years
8-0 against District One Class AAA playoff teams
Senior forward Evan Vare scored 32 of team’s 64 goals
Vare had four hat tricks and three game-winning goals

How they got here: Frist round bye

Plymouth Whitemarsh

13-3-2 overall
9-3-2 Suburban One League American Conference third place
Ended season on three-game winning streak
2-2 against District One Class AAA playoff teams
2-0 versus Wissahickon, 0-2 against Upper Dublin
Gave up 11 goals in 17 regular season games
Fell to CB East 2-1 in overtime in last year’s district quarterfinal

How they got here: The Colonials defeated 17^th-seeded Unionville 1-0 in an opening round game. Dillon Johnson (Austin Betterly assist) scored the game winner with 3:40 remaining as the Colonials posted another shutout.

#11 LOWER MERION at #6 PENNSBURY
Pennsbury

13-4-2 overall
9-3-2 Suburban One League National Conference second-place
Led SOL National for most of the season
Went on two four-game winning streaks
Outscored last four regular season opponents 17-3
Three players—Colin Marks, John Griffin, and Zach LoBasso—with seven goals or more (11, 8, 7)
Scored 50 goals as a team

How they got here: Pennsbury rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat 27^th-seeded Great Valley 2-1. Biagio Lazaric scored the game winner with 21 minutes remaining off a throw-in from Colin Marks. Earlier, John Griffin (Brad Edwards assist) scored the equalizer in the first half.

Lower Merion

11-4-3 overall
5-3-3 Pennsylvania Central Athletic League fifth-place
Allowed just 11 goals during the regular season
Ryan Tillman leads the offense

How they got here: Lower Merion was extended to penalty strokes in Tuesday’s opening round against 22^nd-seeded Neshaminy, rallying from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation to knot the score. Jeremey Hillsburg scored the first, and Alex Moureaud connected on the equalizer. Lower Merion keeper Sebastian Jenkins saved a penalty kick. The Aces went on to win 4-1 in PK’s.

#10 UPPER DUBLIN at #7 ABINGTON
Abington

15-4 overall
10-4 Suburban One League National Conference first-place
First league title since 1996
Trailed Pennsbury and CR North in conference standings until the second-to-last week
Ended regular season on six-game winning streak
Outscored opponents by 28 goals in the regular season (47-19)

How they got here: In Tuesday’s opening round, Abington defeated 26^th-seeded Garnet Valley 1-0 in overtime. Robbie Durham connected early in the first OT, using assists from Kevin Weintraub and Dave Pohle.

Upper Dublin

13-4-1 overall
12-2 Suburban One League American Conference first place
Trailed Wissahickon in conference standings until final week of season
6-0-1 in last seven regular season games
Outscored opponents 54-15
Scored three or more goals in nine of 13 wins

How they got here: Upper Dublin used goals by Justin Greene and Nick Browndorf to go on top 2-0 in the first half of Tuesday’s opener against 23^rd-seeded Bensalem. The Flying Cardinals exploded for six second half goals en route to an 8-0 win. Jose Palomeque and Jerry Bardol each scored a pair, and Clemente Nass and Josh Saitsky both added single goals.

#24 PENNRIDGE at #8 NORTH PENN
North Penn

13-4-2 overall
9-3-2 Suburban One League Continental Conference second place
Started season 8-1
All three league losses were by one goal (CB East twice, Pennridge)
5-3-1 against playoff teams
Wins over #5 Owen J. Roberts (2-1), #19 CB West (2-0, 2-1), #20 CB South (4-0), and #24 Pennridge (4-1)
Split season series with Pennridge, winning the first (4-1) and losing the second (2-1)

How they got here: North Penn scored a pair of goals in the first half and went on to defeat 25^th-seeded Strath Haven 2-0. Liam Parker (Collin Jerome assist) scored the first and Musa Sherriff (Owen Nakatani assist) connected for the second.

Pennridge

12-7 overall
7-7 Suburban One League Continental Conference fourth place
Seven-game winning streak to end regular season
Seven shutouts during that streak
Lost by a combined three goals in two games against CB East
2-5 against playoff qualifiers with wins over North Penn (2-1) and CB West

How they got here: Pennridge won its eighth straight game with an upset of ninth-seeded Boyertown in penalty kicks. The Rams trailed 1-0 at halftime, but a goal by Josh Jarrett (Sebastian Perkowski assist) 10 minutes into the second half knotted the score. Perkowski, Kenny Estep and Dylan Henry converted their PKs as the Rams connected on 3-of-4. Brody Giblin was superb in goal, turning away three of four penalty kicks.

#15 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH at #2 CONESTOGA
Council Rock North

12-5-2 overall
8-4-2 Suburban One League National Conference third-place
Shut out opponents in 11 of 12 wins
Keeper Billy Storm recorded nine shutouts
Keeper Anthony Caruso had two
3-5-2 against playoff qualifiers in regular season
Wins against Wissahickon (3-0), Abington (1-0), and Bensalem (1-0)

How they got here: In Tuesday’s opening round, Council Rock North defeated 18^th-seeded Radnor 3-0, opening up a 1-0 halftime lead and adding a pair of second half goals. Nikita Ihlin, Max Mykhyluk and Nick Guarna (penalty kick) each scored a goal. Brett Miller had a pair of assists.

Conestoga

16-0-1 overall
11-0 Central League champions
Only blemish on record is a 0-0 tie with 27^th-seeded Great Valley on Oct. 17
Allowed just five goals while scoring 44
Wins over nine playoff teams in regular season, including wins over #3 Springfield-Delco (2-0) and #4 West Chester Henderson (2-1)

How they got here: First round bye.

#19 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST at #3 SPRINGFIELD-DELCO
Central Bucks West

13-6 overall
8-6 Suburban One League Continental Conference fourth place
Started season 5-0
Went 7-6 in last 13 games of regular season
Keeper Dylan Smith recorded 11 shutouts
How they got here: In Central Bucks West’s 1-0 win over 14^th-seeded Marple Newtown, freshman Dylan Smith was outstanding in goal, turning away nine shots. Marcos Urffer scored the game’s only goal off a long throw-in by Brandon Morris near the end of the first half.

Springfield-Delco

13-3-2 overall
7-3-1 Central League second place
Wins over Marple Newtown (3-2), Garnet Valley (2-1), Radnor (1-0) and Lower Merion (2-0).

How they got here: First round bye

#20 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at #4 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON
Central Bucks South

13-6-1 overall
9-4-1 Suburban One League Continental Conference third place
Started season 3-2 overall and 1-2 in league play
Went 6-0-1 over the next seven games
Lost twice in last two weeks to drop from eighth to 20th in the district power rankings
Four wins against playoff teams
Wins over Neshaminy (5-2), Pennridge (2-1, 3-0), CB West (2-0)

How they got here: In Tuesday’s opening round, Central Bucks South led 1-0 at halftime on its way to a 4-0 win over 13^th-seeded Harriton. Jason Reimert, who scored a pair of goals, connected for the game winner in the first half. Colin Fagan and Eric Pataki added single goals. Colin Green had a pair of assists while Jake Helwig and Giani Goss each had one assist. Billy Gorman came up big in goal.

West Chester Henderson