Check out the winners for SOL girls’ soccer teams in action Friday.
CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
SOUDERTON 1, CB EAST 0
Souderton has come out of the gates in conference play by making a statement. Fresh off a big win against CB South on Wednesday, the Indians upped the ante by gutting out a tense battle with the Patriots.
A late goal by Tori Dowd provided the separation between the two sides, with neither conceding very much defensively.
"There was not much between the two teams today – East had good chances to score and more than us, but I think we had the best two chances of the day which got us the goal," Souderton coach Chris Felber said. "East has incredibly tough and hard-hitting girls and we talked about how we would only get a few chances to score and had to accept this due to the quality of team we were playing."
It was a waiting game throughout the match for both sides, each relying on its back line and keeper to stem the tide until a breakthrough could happen. Souderton goalkeeper Vivian Feliciani was instrumental in her team's win, making a momentum-shifting stop midway through the second half.
"The striker got around our defender but had a tough angle," Felber said. "Viv came out, closed her down and made herself big, blocking the shot."
Most everything else East threw forward was contained by Sara Cassel in a stellar outing.
"Sara Cassel was very important for us today, she won every long ball and through ball," Felber said. "She did everything she had to, keeping everything out of the back. She was on top of her game today."
The goal came off a through ball by Sara Readinger that Ali Trick dribbled down the field and passed inside to Dowd. Dowd then finished to the lower left corner with about nine minutes left in regulation.
While Souderton has picked up two notable wins so far, the Indians host nonleague foe Elizabethtown on Saturday afternoon. Felber doesn't want a let-down from his group and is cautious to read too much into the season so far.
"It's not a game-changer for us. This was a huge win but was not a 'target game' to win and is definitely a bonus," Felber said. "We did not come today planning to lose, we plan to win every game and are working hard for them. It's way too early to get carried away and we have another tough game in the morning."
Souderton (2-0 SOL) will host Elizabethtown at 12:30 p.m., and Central Bucks East (1-2, 1-1) will be at Pennridge on Tuesday.
SOUDERTON 0 1 – 1
CB EAST 0 0 – 0
Goals: S- Tori Dowd (Ali Trick)
CB SOUTH 1, PENNRIDGE 0
The Titans rebounded from a tough loss to Souderton earlier in the week to put the clamps on a potent Pennridge attack Friday afternoon.
Brooke Steigerwalt's tally rewarded a stellar afternoon from goalkeeper Sophia Boggs and the defending of Mac Ehresman, Krysta Reading, Nicole Wills and Laurel Gogel. The effort was needed with Pennridge's defenders not yielding an inch of pitch without a battle.
"It was a team victory for South against a very tough opponent," South coach Betsy Bullock said. "Our defenders were able to contain (Pennridge's) very fast Peace sisters, both playing forward."
Closing in on the half, the Titans' attack got its chance and made the most of it.
"Courtney Taylor took the ball wide and drew a defender out, leaving space roughly just outside the box for Brooke to collect the ball and shoot," Bullock said.
Boggs had seven saves to preserve the shutout, but none were bigger than a stop the senior made on a set piece in the second half.
"Pennridge had a direct free kick right outside the box," Bullock said. "Even with five people in the wall, the Pennridge player hit a rocket of a shot to the lower 90 that Boggs dove for and pushed away with her fingertips."
Central Bucks South (2-1, 1-1 SOL) will be on the road for a non-league contest at Villa Joseph Marie on Monday, and Pennridge (1-1, 0-1) will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
PENNRIDGE 0 0 – 0
CB SOUTH 1 0 – 1
Goals: CBS – Brooke Steigerwalt (Courtney Taylor)
NORTH PENN 2, CB WEST 1 OT
The Knights struck early, endured an equalizer and then struck again for a victory in extra time on Friday.
Alexis Henderson rifled a ball into the back of the net just 14 seconds into play off an assist from Amelia Eshraghi, but it was far from a finisher.
"The quick start was what we needed as illustrated by the goal in 14 seconds, but to CB West's credit, they didn't let it phase them and they competed the entire game and actually had better play to start the second half," North Penn coach Jim Dehner said.
West retorted after the break with Trish Hauk, on a feed from Mary Kate Vinkler, leveling the score in the 54th minute. North Penn weathered the storm, which was not without its close calls.
"They had two additional shots that hit the post so they had several good chances. As the second half was coming to an end, the momentum shifted to North Penn's side," Dehner said.
Overtime didn't last long, about three minutes, before the resurgent Knights found their way to a win.
"Anna Pedicone received a nice pass from Ava Lehrman and was able to score on a breakaway in overtime," Dehner said.
Dehner also highlighted the play of Zoei Baines, Marissa Werner, Casey Cavanaugh, Live Jerome, Julia Berry, Emma Dickson, Riley Houlihan, and Kat Stevenson in the effort.
North Penn (1-2, 1-1 SOL) will host Christopher Dock on Saturday (11 a.m.) in a non-league contest, and Central Bucks West (1-2, 0-2) will take on Abington in non-league play Saturday at 4 p.m.
NORTH PENN 1 0 1 – 2
CB WEST 0 1 0 – 1
Goals: NP – Alexis Henderson (Amelia Eshraghi) 1', Anna Pedicone (Ava Lehrman) 83'; CBW – Trish Hauk (Mary Kate Vinkler) 54'
Saves: NP- Hannah Lambert – 8, CBW- Jenny Sutorious – 10
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 3, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
Set pieces are an instrumental part of soccer at every level, and a team that can capitalize with them is often in good shape.
Friday, CR North took three of its set pieces, turned them into goals and its young defense passed its first true test of the season in a bitter rivalry. Sydney Allen, followed by a brace from Meredith Hill, all in the second half, propelled North over South.
"The quality of the restart itself is something that we've been talking about," Indians coach Wendell Beres said. "We hadn't worked on them a lot, but we know we have to find ways to score goals. We have two big-time players in our attack, but we can't always depend on those two to do all the work, so we preached that other people are going to have to step up and today we had two players execute."
Beres said it's a credit to his group and its 11 seniors, but it's also a turn from last year when he felt North was a bit one-dimensional with its attack.
"We have a great forward in Kayla Robinson who scores 20 goals in a season and already has four this year, so she's going to score her goals, but everybody knows we can't rely on one person, we have to have a bunch of people step up," the Indians’ coach said.
Beres added that most of his players are getting comfortable with their current roles, which extends to his back line.
"I was really pleased with the work of our entire back four," he said. "We have one who's a freshman and started her first varsity game yesterday against Truman. So her first real test of action is the North-South rivalry game and I thought she handled herself really well.
“Brooke Strobel is our freshman at center back and Bailey Matthews is a sophomore right back, and I thought Bailey was one of our top two players on the field today."
North hasn't conceded a goal yet, a sterling mark for a unit with two new starters on the back line and a newcomer in net with Carly Riggs taking over. Riggs made six saves to secure the shutout on Friday.
"She had one or two really good saves when the score was 0-0 that could have been a difference maker if it had gone in," Beres said.
North is off to a good start, but isn't reading too much into it.
"We're only on Game 3, there's still a long way to go," Beres said.
Council Rock North (3-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Gwynedd Mercy on Monday in a non-league contest, and Council Rock South (1-2, 1-1) will be on the road at Conestoga Monday for a non-league contest.
CR NORTH 0 3 – 3
CR SOUTH 0 0 – 0
Goals: CRN – Sydney Allen 44', Meredith Weber 50', Weber 77'
Saves: CRN – Carly Riggs 6
NESHAMINY 5, BENSALEM 0
Even on a narrow field, Neshaminy's flank players were able to find some space to work and it translated to team win on Friday.
With four of the team's five goals coming off crosses, Neshaminy was able to maximize its space and got contributions going forward from the entire formation.
"Genna Obringer is a wide back who was able to get forward a lot and play balls into the box," Neshaminy coach Chelsea Lovelace said. "Brooke Mullin did a great job anticipating and finding the ball in front of the net. All over the field we were very consistent."
Mullin bagged a hat-trick, scoring in the 23rd, 47th and 67th minutes for the team's first, third and fifth goals. Maggie Daeche and Kristin Curley provided the other two goals. Obringer had a pair of assists, her cross to Mullin for a header providing the opening strike and another cross setting up Curley.
"The field was very narrow so we had them stay as wide as possible to use all the space, that way they could take people on," Lovelace said. "Our midfielders and forwards did a great job of playing through balls to get behind their defense."
Neshaminy (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Abington Tuesday, and Bensalem (1-2-1, 0-2) will host Council Rock North on Tuesday.
NESHAMINY 2 3 – 5
BENSALEM 0 0 – 0
Goals: N- Brooke Mullin (Genna Obringer) 22:09, Maggie Daeche (Riley Nyhus) 31:05, Mullin (Jackie Ziegler) 46:31, Kristin Curley (Obringer) 60:39, Mullin (Gina Sexton) 66:28
Saves: N- Victoria Smith & Riley Spingler 1, B – Kathleen Rivera & Alyana McSeed 4
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
WISSAHICKON 3, PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH 1
The Trojans shook off an early goal against, then scored twice after the half to pick up a win.
P-W's Alyse Caffery scored just three minutes into the contest, taking advantage of a slow-starting Wissahickon side. The Trojans recovered when Maddie Elwell's through ball found freshman Carley Amato to level the score in the eighth minute.
"The game was HOT HOT HOT, and both teams looked as if they were moving in slow motion," Wissahickon coach Shannon Creamer-Franke said. "Off the bench for (us) were Kelly Dickson and Victoria Selverian, who both did an exceptional job to help us lift our energy level."
The 1-1 deadlock held until the very end, when Wissahickon broke through with two goals in the final three minutes.
"First in the 78th minute, Anna Wilde scored unassisted on her own corner, and less than two minutes later Jasmine Bishop found Rachel Coleman for a volleyed shot to bring the score up to 3-1," Creamer-Franke said.
Wissahickon keeper Nicole Hastings recorded seven saves in a contest that saw the Trojans hold a 16-7 advantage in shots.
Wissahickon (2-1, 1-1 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Tuesday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (0-3, 0-2) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Tuesday.
WISSAHICKON 1 2 – 3
PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH 1 0 – 1
Goals: W- Carly Amato (Maddie Elwell) 8:31, Anna Wilde 78:23, Rachel Coleman (Jamine Bishop) 79:55; PW – Alyse Caffrey (assist Victoria Betterly) 3'
HATBORO-HORSHAM 3, UPPER MORELAND 0
The Hatters picked up their second win in as many games after moving into the American.
Sarah Miller's brace and a strike from Ali Hontz powered the Hatters attack. Kim Benge made 12 saves for the Golden Bears.
"Pretty decent game by our group," Hatters coach Ike Onyeador said. "Multiple goals scored, we kept a shutout. We just have to continue to build on it."
Hatboro-Horsham (2-0 SOL) will host William Tennent in a non-league contest Monday, and Upper Moreland (1-1) will be on the road at Merion Mercy on Monday in non-league action.
UPPER MORELAND 0 0 – 0
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 2 – 3
Goals: HH – Sarah Miller (Erica Paluszek) 12:26, Miller 49:36, Ali Hontz (Kerryn MacBride) 58:22
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