Nine SOL boys’ soccer teams advanced to Thursday’s seconds round. To view photos of the Pennsbury/Great Valley and Abington/Garnet Valley matches, please visit the Photo Gallery.
It was a good day for the Suburban One League with nine teams advancing to the second round. Central Bucks East – which had a first round bye – gives the SOL 10 teams in the remaining field of 16 teams.
#6 PENNSBURY 2, # 27 GREAT VALLEY 1
Biagio Lazaric scored with 21 minutes remaining to propel the Falcons to the come-from-behind win over the visiting Patriots.
“Great Valley is a team with great pedigree, and we knew they weren’t going to go down easy,” coach Tom Stoddart said. “I think we were a little tight at the beginning of the game, but once we settled in – Anthony Russo, our goalkeeper, made some really big saves early in the game to keep it down to 1-0 or we could have really dug ourselves a hole.
“We just started to play with more confidence, and in the second half, we played with a lot more confidence. Even though we only got the one goal, we played much better.”
The Patriots jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, scoring a goal in the first five minutes of the game, but the Falcons knotted the score at the 11-minute mark on a goal by John Griffin, using a Brad Edwards assist.
“John Griffin has been really, really good for us lately,” Stoddart said. “He’s just been where he’s supposed to be, and it was a really nice cross by Brad Edwards coming out of the back.
“That helped us settle in a little bit, and we started slowly taking over the play. I thought Great Valley had a little push at the end of the first half, but we absorbed that.”
That 1-1 tie held until the 59th minute when Lazaric scored on a restart.
“Colin Marks served a great ball in – it was a very dangerous ball in and caught them kind of in between, and Biagio was there,” Stoddart said. “He has been so close to scoring so many big goals for us both last year and this year, but he has been so snake bitten. He got the one in today, which was great to see.
“Today was the first time all year we have trailed in the first half. We haven’t played well in tight games, and that was definitely a concern coming in because the playoffs are definitely going to be tight games. It wasn’t until last week when we beat Council Rock South that we won a game when we weren’t leading with 20 minutes to go. It was very good to get a win against a great program in a tight spot and get ourselves started in the tournament. I’m very proud of the boys.”
Stoddart credited the performances of several players.
“Both my center backs held up,” he said. “Justin Chapuis and Tyler Williams have been monsters this year in the back.
“Our center midfielder, Matt Franks, quietly just does his job, and he had a fantastic day.”
Pennsbury (13-4-2, 9-3-2 SOL) will host Lower Merion – a winner in penalty kids over Neshaminy – in Thursday’s second round.
Great Valley 1-0 1
Pennsbury 1-1 2
#7 ABINGTON 1, #26 GARNET VALLEY 0 (OT)
In a game of limited scoring opportunities for both squads, it took overtime to determine a winner with Robbie Durham scoring the game winner early in OT to propel the Ghosts to the important win.
“It just went back and forth,” coach Randy Garber said. “Most of the game was played between the 35s and the 18s. There wasn’t a whole bunch of chances for either team.
“I think us having five days off didn’t suit us very well only because of the fact that the last two weeks of the season we played four games in five days and three games in four days, and here we get a little bit of a breather, and we came out and just didn’t look sharp at all.
“I take nothing away from Garnet Valley because those kids were tough, they were organized, they played good defense, and a lot of the opportunities that we had – they destroyed them before they became opportunities, so hats off to them. They were tough, gritty kids.”
The Ghosts had an opportunity to get on the board with 10 minutes remaining but misfired on a penalty kick.
“In the 80 minutes, we probably had two other chances that were legit chances to finish, but we didn’t,” Garber said. “They maybe had one, but there weren’t that many corner kicks, and there weren’t many restarts around the box. It was all played within the 35s.”
The Ghosts finally cashed in early in the first OT when Durham connected on a header, using assists from Kevin Weintraub and Dave Pohle.
“The ball got knocked out to the right flank, and David made a good move and beat a player. He crossed a ball to the back post, and it just so happened Robbie was at the right place at the right time,” Garber said. “I don’t know that the goalkeeper ever got off his line because when Robbie headed it – he almost looked like he was on the goal line inside the post because I think it hit the top of the net. That’s how close he was. It was a well-struck ball, and he had a great finish, but you wouldn’t expect that kind of goal to be the game winner.”
Garber acknowledged the efforts of several players.
“Aiden Coyle played extremely well,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Sam Wells did everything that he needed to do to keep it a shutout, and Aiden cleaned everything in the back, didn’t let anyone get behind him.
“Jason Gales and Connor Gallagher did a nice job in the midfield winning balls for us.”
Abington (15-4, 10-4) will host Upper Dublin in a second round game on Thursday.
Garnet Valley 0-0-0 0
Abington 0-0-1 1
#8 NORTH PENN 2, #25 STRATH HAVEN 0
The Knights scored a pair of goals in the opening half and went on to win by that 2-0 score. Liam Parker scored a goal that turned out to be the game winner in the 28th minute, using a Collin Jerome assist. Five minutes later, Musa Sheriff turned an Owen Nakatani pass into a goal for the 2-0 final.
“We played great defense today,” coach Paul Duddy said. “They didn’t get many shots off.”
North Penn (13-4-2, 9-3-2 SOL) will host Pennridge in an all-SOL match on Thursday.
Strath Haven 0-0 0
North Penn 2-0 2
#10 UPPER DUBLIN 8, #23 BENSALEM 0
The Flying Cardinals blew open a close game with six second half goals to earn a convincing win in Tuesday’s opening round.
“We played very well tonight,” UD coach Derek Priest said. “We were ready to go and played hard.
“The first half was a close game, but in the second half, we managed to get a couple of early goals, and I think that really kind of demoralized Bensalem a little. It was one of those days where it seemed like everything we hit went in, and that’s not always the case.”
A goal by Justin Greene in the 12th minute put the Cards on the scoreboard, and Nick Browdorf’s goal in the 24th minute sent the Flying Cardinals into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Jose Palomeque scored back-to-back goals in the 52nd and 54th minutes to put the Cardinals on top 4-0 and all but seal the Owls’ fate. Jerry Bardol scored a pair of goals sandwiched around a Clemente Nass goal, and Josh Saitsky added a single goal.
“Jose Palomeque was a standout for us tonight,” Priest said. “He scored a fantastic goal and put in two goals on the night and was just a constant thorn.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but it really was a good all-around team performance. Going into the game, I felt it didn’t matter how, but if we could get the win, that would be huge. We’ve struggled in the past in playoffs on the boys’ side. We get to go again, which is always great, and the guys were very excited.”
Upper Dublin (13-4, 12-2 SOL) will face Abington on Thursday in an all-SOL match. Bensalem closed out its season with a 7-8-2 record overall (5-7-2 SOL).
Bensalem 0-0 0
Upper Dublin 2-6 8
#15 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, #18 RADNOR 0
The Indians seized early control and maintained it for the better part of 80 minutes on their way to the big win.
“They’re a good club, but I think we were the better soccer team,” coach Joe Stackhouse said. “We played the first 10-15 minutes in their end of the field. They didn’t get past midfield in the first 10-15 minutes, and that’s unusual for us. Usually we’re the slow starter.
“I don’t think they knew what to expect, and it’s hard when you don’t have a common opponent.”
Nikita Ihlin scored midway through the opening half, using a Brett Miller assist. That 1-0 lead stood until halftime. Max Mykhyluk found the back of the net 20 minutes into the second half, also using a Miller assist, and the Indians iced the win when – shortly thereafter – Nick Guarna scored on a penalty kick for the 3-0 final.
“It was a total team effort,” Stackhouse said. “I had told them from the beginning that they needed to score the first goal and set the tone
“We were lucky – we got done last Wednesday. I gave them off Thursday and Friday, we practiced really hard Saturday morning, and we actually practiced Sunday night. Yesterday we walked through everything again. We did some pretty good game planning with as much information as we could get from people about them. What we got was pretty good information because it played into exactly where we wanted to go.”
Stackhouse was especially pleased with his team’s response to a tough final week of the regular season that saw the Indians drop two out of three games.
“Abington beat us on that Monday to win the league, and then we had to play a very hard opponent in La Salle the very next day, but we beat Bensalem on our Senior Night, and that helped us,” the Indians’ coach said.
All but lost in the shuffle of the 3-0 win was another standout performance by keeper Billy Storm, who recorded five saves in the shutout win.
“Billy did have to make a couple of big ones,” Stackhouse said. “We’re a fairly tall team, and they were actually taller than us.
“Billy came up big in the air, a couple of times came off the line. He came up big.”
Council Rock North (12-5-2, 8-4-2 SOL) will travel to second-seeded Conestoga on Thursday (7 p.m.) for a second round contest.
Radnor 0-0 0
Council Rock North 1-2 3
#16 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1, #17 UNIONVILLE 0
Center back Dillon Johnson scored with 3:40 remaining in regulation to propel the Colonials to the dramatic win.
“We were pushing forward, and our outside back passed to Austin Betterly pretty much on top of the six,” said Devon Landgraff of the sequence that set up the game winner. “Austin, our go-to guy this year, beat his man, took a great shot that the keeper got a hand on. It popped back out, and Dillon Johnson came storming through and put it away.
“To be honest, we created multiple opportunities – hit the post three or four times in the first half. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for the offensive punch they delivered tonight.”
One goal is enough to win it on most nights for a Colonial squad that has allowed just 11 goals this season.
“Defensively, it was another standup job by our center backs, led by Dillon Johnson and Sean O’Brien,” said Landgraff.
The Colonials’ coach also credited Christian Jones, Kyle Bloomenthal and Noah Goldstein, who rotate in at the other two back positions.
“Our midfielders are really starting to click,”Landgraff said of Gavin Hedrick, Skyler Goldstein and Tyler Goldman. “It’s one of our goals to improve as a team and score more goals.
“Towards the end of the year, we beat Springfield 4-0, Norristown 5-0, Radnor 2-0. We were starting to put more goals in, and we gained a lot of confidence. We’re heading in the right direction, and we have to be because we’re going against CB East.”
PW keeper Matt Gatta was credited with three saves in the shutout win.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-3-2, 9-3-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East Thursday for a contest against the top-seeded Patriots. The game will be a rematch of last year’s district quarterfinal game – a 2-1 CB East win in overtime.
Unionville 0-0 0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1 1
#19 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1, #14 MARPLE NEWTOWN 0
The Bucks went into Tuesday night’s game at Marple Newtown with a game plan and executed it to perfection. Anything less would not have been good enough.
“Marple Newtown was one of the best teams we have seen all year,” coach Stefan Szygiel said. “They are good.
“They possess the ball extremely well, they have three or four very dangerous players in the attack, and honestly, this is the most defending we did all year, and we had to. They were better than we were in possession, so we just had to kind of cede the fact that they were going to have the ball more, and we had to pick our moments to press them and counter attack. That was the game plan.”
The Bucks scored on a set piece near the end of the first half when Marcos Urffer turned a long throw-in by Brandon Morris into the game winner.
“Brandon Morris is our guy with long throws,” Szygiel said. “It was scrappy – it was a long throw, and the ball bounced down to Marcos Urffer. The goalkeeper committed, and it bounced around a little, and Marcos tapped it in. It was a little bit of a slow motion goal.
“That was part of our game plan. We talked about it in training yesterday – we wanted to be dangerous on set pieces. We knew we were not going to have as much possession, and we just had to be okay with that. In all fairness, we were lucky to be winning 1-0 at halftime though.”
Keeping the Bucks in the game was freshman keeper Dylan Smith, who turned in another stellar performance to earn his 11th shutout of the season.
“Dylan Smith was unbelievable tonight,” Szygiel said. “We credited him with nine actual saves, and three of them – I’m sorry, if we don’t have Dylan in there, we lose 3-1 or possibly 4-1. If he’s not in there, there’s no way we win this game, and all the boys know that. Dylan’s the main reason we won today.”
Armed with a 1-0 lead, the Bucks threw some serious defense at the Tigers.
“In the second half, we executed our defensive game plan a lot better,” Szygiel said. “We put more pressure on the ball, we forced Marple to make decisions faster.
“They were still extremely dangerous, but we cut off a lot of services. My center backs – Brady Boylan and Sam Winderman – were pretty solid in the second half. Really, they didn’t allow any penetrating passes to come through the middle, which is important.”
The Bucks’ coach tipped his hat to Marple Newtown
“I’m certainly happy for the win,” Szygiel said. “You have to credit Marple Newtown. Charlie Dodds has that group playing such good soccer. Some of these high school games can get scrappy and ugly.
“To be perfectly honest, this was one of those games where I do think they were the better team. We just kind of scrapped out a 1-0 win, but I do think they were the better team by a good amount.”
Central Bucks West (13-6, 8-6 SOL) will be on the road for Thursday’s second round game against third-seeded Springfield-Delco, which had an opening round bye.
Central Bucks West 1-0 1
Marple Newtown 0-0 0
#20 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 4, #13 HARRITON 0
The Titans ignored their tag of underdog and silenced the partisan Harriton crowd with an impressive opening round win.
“Harriton was a handful,” coach Don Brady said. “They really were.
“We scored early and late, but they were a handful, and their student body was incredible. It took us the whole game just to quiet them down a little bit.”
Midway through the opening half, Jason Reimert turned a Jake Helwig pass into a goal and a 1-0 lead that stood until halftime. Colin Fagan scored 10 minutes into the second half with a Giani Goss assist to put the Titans on top 2-0, and that goal may have broken the Rams’ collective backs.
“It was a beauty,” Brady said. “They had a 6-2 goalkeeper, and Colin blasted it from about 25 out, maybe 30, and it just did a dip right over the top of the goalkeeper into the top of the net.”
The Titans put an exclamation point on the impressive win with goals in the 72nd and 75th minutes by Eric Pataki (Colin Green assist) and Reimert (Green assist), respectively.
“We played really, really well,” Brady said. “The first goal – we worked hard for it, but it wasn’t spectacular. It went over the goalkeeper’s head far right diagonally into the back of the net.
“Actually, the other three goals were incredible. We hit the post twice, we had two other near misses. Things were coming in bunches for us.”
Brady acknowledged the strong play of keeper Billy Gorman.
“He came up big three times with saves,” said Brady, also crediting the performances of C-cubed – Connor Bethel, Colin Green and Colin Fagan. “Everyone just did a really nice job. It was a great team effort.”
Central Bucks South (12-6-1, 9-6-1 SOL) will be on the road at fourth-seeded West Chester Henderson (7 p.m.).
Central Bucks South 1-3 4
Harriton 0-0 0
#24 PENNRIDGE 1, #9 BOYERTOWN 1 (3-1 PKs)
The Cinderella story that is the Pennridge soccer season continued on Tuesday as the Rams won their eighth game in a row, pulling off the upset of the tournament with their win over the Bears in penalty kicks. “Last year we were 2-9-7, second to last in the league to this year the second round of districts as the 24 seed,” coach Pete Valimont said. “With our backs against the wall, we turned into an eight-game winning streak to the playoffs.”
One change in the lineup might well have altered the course of the season for the Rams.
“There was one big thing we did – we moved Jeremy Baum from outside mid to center back, and he, in my opinion, is our unsung hero,” Valimont said. “He doesn’t say much, he works his butt off, he’s fast as anybody, he’s tough as nails.
“We give up some balls over the top, and he is able to close them down, and he makes good decisions. Since he has been there, we started to win, and with every win, we’ve grown more confident.”
The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the first half, scoring on a corner kick.
“We actually had video on them, and we knew all their set plays,” Valimont said. “We fell apart on a marking assignment, and they scored on a good set piece. Our heads were down a little bit.”
But not for long. The Rams scored the equalizer 10 minutes into the second half.
“Sebastian Perkowski slotted a ball through the box, and Josh Jarrett connected,” Valimont said. “Our defense – even after they scored – just shut them down.
“They had a couple of really good chances at the end of regulation and in overtime. They were getting hot, and then it came down to PK’s, and we were ready. We had film on them. We knew exactly who was going to shoot and where they would hit. All but one hit exactly to spot.”
Pennridge keeper Brody Giblin came up with huge saves on three of the four penalty kicks he faced while his teammates buried three of four.
“This goes back to my second year of coaching when we beat Council Rock North in PK’s when they were the fourth seed,” Valimont said. “Our goalie made two saves, and this was better than that.
“We did the research and gave Brody the info, and Brody stepped up and did the job. He did fabulous. We’re so proud of them.”
Perkowski found the net on the Rams’ first shot, setting the tone.
“A sophomore in his first District One playoff game, and he buries it – ice in his veins,” Valimont said of Perkowski.
Also burying their shots were Kenny Estep and Dylan Henry.
In the Rams’ eight-game tear, they have allowed just two goals, and Valimont credited defenders Estep, Jeremy Baum, John Montano and Evan Freed.
“They’ve just played great,” the Rams’ coach said.
The Rams were minus Casey Giblin, who was forced to sit out Tuesday’s game after receiving a red card in the Rams’ win over Upper Moreland on Saturday.
“We’re excited he’s back, and he’s going to be a huge help for us,” Valimont said.
Pennridge (12-7, 7-7 SOL) will face a familiar foe in Thursday’s second round when they travel to North Penn to face the eighth-seeded Knights.
Pennridge 0-1-0-0 1
Boyertown 1-0-0-0 1
#12 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 3, #21 WISSAHICKON 0
#11 LOWER MERION 2, #22 NESHAMINY 2 (1-0 PKs)
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