Check out the results of SOL girls’ soccer teams in action Thursday.
National Conference
PENNSBURY 4, ABINGTON 2
The National Conference’s lone undefeated team stayed that way Thursday, as Pennsbury beat Abington in the rain.
Kelly Amador got things started, scoring off a pass from Cara Thomas in the second minute to put the Falcons up early. Hope Drewes made it 2-0 in the 28th minute, scoring unassisted.
The Ghosts cut the lead to one just before the break, getting a goal from Maddy Doyle, assisted by Camryn Lexow.
The Ghosts then got an equalizer eight minutes into the second frame. Bridget O’Neill found Kailey Horton and all of a sudden, Abington was back in the game.
The Falcons had an answer, though. Amador scored her second goal of the game, taking another feed from Thomas in the 57th minute. In the 70th minute, Thomas added a goal of her own to help the Falcons sink the Ghosts.
Pennsbury (10-0, 8-0 SOL) plays next week in a game against the surging Indians of CR North (at CR North) on Tuesday. Abington (5-4-1, 3-4-1 SOL) will play Saturday against Souderton.
Abington 1 1 – 2
Pennsbury 2 2 – 4
NESHAMINY 4, BENSALEM 1
Neshaminy keeps rolling in the National Conference, coming away with another win.
Gabby Farrell got it going in the eighth minute, taking a pass from Riley Nyhus for the goal to put Neshaminy up early. In the 18th minute, Brooke Mullin scored with an assist from Jackie Ziegler to give Neshaminy a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the 51st minute, the Owls cut the lead to one with a goal from Tori Yorgley.
But Neshaminy fired back. Dani McGlynn scored an unassisted goal in the 68th minute and Julia Andreozzi scored (also unassisted) in the 78th minute.
Neshaminy had nine shots to Bensalem’s three.
Victoria Smith and Holly Bowser combined for three saves in net for Neshaminy. Kathleen Rivera had seven saves for the Owls.
Neshaminy (7-2, 7-1 SOL) stays at home to play Archbishop Wood on Saturday. Bensalem (2-8, 1-6 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday.
Bensalem 0 1 – 1
Neshaminy 2 2 – 4
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2, WILLIAM TENNENT 1
CR North reversed its fortune against William Tennent, Thursday night. Back on September 9, Tennent beat the Indians 2-1. This time around, it was North on the winning end of a 2-1 game.
In the 11th minute, The Panthers took a 1-0, however, when Emily Wasserleben’s header found the back of the net.
Five minutes later, though, the Indians had a quick response. Tori Hill’s shot was deflected and Sydney Allen was there to clean it up for the tying goal. A few minutes after that, Kayla Robinson found Hill for a goal to put the Indians up.
Tori Hill, a Syracuse recruit, is finally coming around in 2015.
“Tori has had a rough couple weeks because she’s a possession midfielder, and we haven’t been possessing the ball a whole lot,” North coach Wendell Beres said. “She’s been doing a lot defensively, but not ending up on the score sheet. We figured out how to strengthen the relationship between our really good possession midfielders in Tori and Kayla (Robinson) and Becca Margolis and the girls who can flat out run.”
With Hill able to get more involved offensively, it has allowed the defense to also come into its own as well.
“It’s not Tori finding her stride, it’s the rest of the team finding their stride,” Beres said.
The rain and wind picked up in the second half and the offenses stagnated. North missed a few opportunities to cushion their lead, but it stayed 2-1 through the final whistle.
“We had plenty of chances,” Beres said. “We were pressing and we could have had a third or fourth, but the goalkeeper made some big saves and a couple near misses.”
The win makes it three wins on the week for the Indians and puts them in sole possession of third place in the National behind Pennsbury and Neshaminy. A date with Pennsbury awaits the Indians next week.
“When you lose three games early in the season and you want to be a playoff team, you’ve got no choice but to win,” Beres said. “We’re starting to find our stride and figure things out. It’s a lot of fun to go to practice everyday and it’s a lot of fun to go to games at night.”
Council Rock North (5-3, 4-3 SOL) returns to action Saturday for a nonleague game with Mount St. Joseph Academy. William Tennent (6-3-1, 3-2-1 SOL) drops their second straight game and will face
Franklin Towne Charter Friday.
Council Rock North 2 0 – 2
William Tennent 1 0 – 1
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 4, HARRY S. TRUMAN 0
Maria Buonomo, Lily Dura, Jessee Magee, and Maddie Ellershaw each scored as the Golden Hawks defeated Truman at home.
Council Rock South (4-5, 3-5 SOL) play Central Bucks West Friday at home, and Truman (0-11, 0-8 SOL) play on the road against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, PENNRIDGE 0
Paul Eisold knew he would need to go beyond his starting 11 this week.
After tough battles with Villa Joseph Marie on Monday and Souderton on Tuesday, his Patriots would likely be pretty worn down by Thursday afternoon’s game with Pennridge.
After all, the last time East met the Rams, it took two overtimes to decide a winner.
“We really started, through the week, to develop some reserve players that could come in and play an important role in the game,” Eisold said. “We moved some forwards in and out to try and make things happen.”
He inserted Karli Whiton into the rotation in the second half amidst the rain and wind in East Rockhill. Shiton broke a few tackles and found Emma Loving up field. Loving made a move around the goalie and scored a 64th minute goal. It was Whiton that set it all up, though.
“We knew this week was going to be difficult looking at the schedule and that’s why we told the reserves that this was going to be a week that was going to take the whole team to get through,” Eisold said.
“Certain players are listening and understanding and stepping up in key positions.”
When the moment mattered the most, Loving once again rose to the occasion with the game-winning goal. It’s especially impressive in the eyes of Eisold, who is noticing his junior forward is getting more and more attention from opposing teams.
“Emma Loving has really become a mature, patient forward,” he said. “This week has been very difficult for her. She’s getting to the point where she has two and three people that are constantly marking her and trying to get her off her game. Time and time again, she just sees it through and she keeps coming up with key moments in the game that just changes things.”
East was ranked second in the first District One AAA power rankings released earlier this week, behind only Spring-Ford. The Patriots have made a strong case for the number one spot after finishing off the week 3-0 against some more than formidable opponents. Pennridge, last year’s Continental champs are certainly no slouch.
“I thought Pennridge was very good today and they played us very tough. The weather didn’t seem to bother them, but it seemed to bother us a little more,” Eisold added.
CB East (10-0, 8-0 SOL) will host North Penn on Tuesday. Pennridge (5-3-1, 4-3-1 SOL) will be on the road for a non-league game at Wissahickon on Monday and then will travel to central Bucks West on Tuesday.
Central Bucks East 0 1 – 1
Pennridge 0 0 – 0
Central Bucks South @ North Penn 3:45pm
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, NORTH PENN 1
The Titans stayed hot, coming out on the winning end of yet another close game, holding off a hard-charging North Penn squad.
Forty minutes ticked by with no score, North Penn applying pressure, but not able to sneak one past.
Lindsay Weiss got South on the board in the 46th minute to give the Titans a second half lead. Nicole Willis had the assist the goal.
Aleksa Peev added another goal for the Titans to widen the lead 2-0. North Penn cut the lead to one late in the game, but the Titans held on for the win.
CB South gets an important three points in the league and will go out of league on Saturday to face West Chester East on the road at 12:30. North Penn (3-6-2, 1-5-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East on Tuesday.
Central Bucks South 0 2 – 2
North Penn 0 1 – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, QUAKERTOWN 3
Quakertown fought back from being a 3-0 deficit to force a draw with visiting CB West
Sophie Alvarez, Ellie Manca, and Meghan Gallagher scored for the Bucks to put them up 3-0, but the Panthers crawled back in the game. Victoria Sturgess had a pair of goals and an assist, Kyra Handel had a goal and an assist and Lauren Pursel had an assist for Quakertown.
Manca, Allie Walsh, and Kyra LaLena played well for West in the loss.
Morgan Small made seven saves for Quakertown, while Jennifer Sutorious saved 11 shots for West.
CB West (4-4-2, 3-3-2 SOL) travels to Council Rock South Friday for a rematch of last year’s District One third place game. Quakertown (2-7-1, 1-6-1 SOL) will play Saucon Valley on Friday.
Central Bucks West 2 1 – 3
Quakertown 0 3 – 3
SOUDERTON 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
Souderton stayed in second place in the Continental Conference with a shutout win over Hatboro-Horsham.
Meredith Moore, Bre DeRenzi and Ellie Andrade scored goals for the Indians in the winning effort. Kylie Heath assisted two of the goals.
“Great result for us as we bounce back from a loss against CB East,” coach Chris Felber said. “(A) big positive for us is getting goals from our attacking mids—Bre and Ellie—who have been very busy creating chances all season, but this week we have gotten them in amongst the goals. Scoring goals from as many options as possible is important for us to keep moving forward, so two goals from Ellie this week and one from Bre is another big step in the right direction.”
Felber also credited the play of Heath, who helped create the chances.
“Heath caused Hatboro a lot problems on the outside to very well worked crosses from Kylie got us the goals,” he added.
Souderton (8-3-1, 5-2-1 SOL) will travel to Abington for a nonleague SOL battle Saturday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-8, 1-7 SOL) will meet Strath Haven on Saturday.
Souderton 2 1 – 3
Hatboro-Horsham 0 0 – 0
American Conference
UPPER MORELAND 1, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1 (2OT)
In the 29th minute, Ashley Kleinert scored to give the Bears the advantage. The shot came from 25 yards out and sailed over the head of Colonials goalie Morgan Jaren.
“(We) came out strong in the first half and continued to pressure their defensive line and goalie,” Upper Moreland coach Lisa Benvenuto said.
In the 35th minute, the Colonials responded. Ragen Ebersole had the equalizer for PW. In the rain and wind, it remained that way after 100 minutes, ending in a 1-1 draw.
Bears goalie Kim Benge had 11 saves on the afternoon.
Upper Moreland (5-4-1, 4-3-1 SOL) is back at it tomorrow and will take on Lower Moreland. Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-4-2, 4-3-2 SOL) will go home to play Harry S. Truman.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 0 0 0 – 1
Upper Moreland 1 0 0 0 – 1
SPRINGFIELD 1, WISSAHICKON 0
If you only looked at the number of scoring chances rather than goals, it’d be reasonable to think Wissahickon dominated Springfield. From a possession standpoint, you’d be right.
But keeper Katie Fitzpatrick made all the necessary saves, and Springfield put in one of their only five shots to come away with the upset win, 1-0.
“Katie Fitzpatrick, our goalie, had another incredible game,” Springfield coach Suzette Wolf said. “She came off her line and saved a lot of through balls that they were playing to each other. She dominated as a goalie, and that kept us going. She has now taken control of the game, so that we're playing 11v11 instead of 10v11.”
Emily Cooney knocked in Springfield’s only goal off a corner in the 78th minute. Wissahickon keeper Nicole Hastings came off the line to block it. There was a scrum in front and Cooney was able to bury the eventual game-winner.
“She’s really come alive for us,” Wolf said of Cooney.
Wolf gave credit to the strong play of her defenders—sweeper Lindsey Smith, Julie Kelly, Sam Wynne, Emily Walsh—who dealt with constant pressure from the Trojans attack.
“Lindsey Smith controls everything. Without her, it would really be devastating for us,” Wolf added.
In addition to Cooney, Meghan Nelson and Emily Giampietro had strong games at midfield for the Spartans.
Wolf has noted a huge improvement for her goalie, Fitzpatrick. She’s become more aggressive and allowed her to be more successful in turn.
“At the beginning of the season, Katie wasn't coming off her line,” Wolf said. “She was standing back, waiting for the ball to come to her, and it hurt us. Now she's coming off her line, and she's grabbing those balls that are being crossed and the balls that are coming through. She's taking charge.”
For Wissahickon, Emily Vervlied, Mady Foglia, Gabby Unipan, Mary Matthews, and Maddie Elwell played well in the loss.
“The entire team played well today, only lacking the urgency needed in a 0-0 game,” Wissahickon coach Shannon Franke said. “Now that we have a loss in conference we have our work cut out for us. We will use the loss as fuel to play out the season from whistle to whistle in the future.”
Springfield (5-3, 5-3 SOL) returns to action Friday when they take on Christopher Dock. Wissahickon (6-2-1, 6-1-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Monday and then take on Upper Moreland at home on Tuesday.
Wissahickon 0 0 – 0
Springfield 0 1 – 1
CHELTENHAM 2, UPPER MERION 1
Olivia Tuszl and Carly Waldman had goals for Cheltenham as the Panthers picked up an American Conference win over Upper Merion. Robyn Rhindress scored in the 15th minute for the Vikings.
Cheltenham (4-6, 3-5 SOL). Upper Merion (1-9, 1-7 SOL) will play Harriton Friday afternoon.
UPPER DUBLIN 5, NORRISTOWN 0
Wednesday, Sept. 30
NORRISTOWN 2, POTTSTOWN 1
The Eagles received goals from Ashley Schools and Lauren Fortescue in Wednesday's win over the Trojans.
About the Author
