Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ soccer teams in action Thursday. CR South/Pennsbury photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography, and CB West/Pennridge photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for galleries of both games. (Senior night photos provided)
Abington 2, Hatboro-Horsham 1
Casey Touey scored a goal, assisted a goal and finished her afternoon defending frantically to prevent a goal.
It’s safe to say the Abington senior really wanted to win Thursday’s game. Coming off a frustrating draw with Wissahickon and needing a win over the Hatters to return to the top of the Liberty standings, Touey and her teammates played with a lot of fire.
It took all of it to overcome the Hatters’ usual intensity.
“After every goal we give up, the instinct is to put our heads down but I tell them every single time, no matter what the score is, we need to keep our heads up,” Touey said. “If we keep our heads down, you’re not going to win the game.”
Despite the Ghosts coming out with plenty of energy and drive, the hosts stole all that momentum midway through the first half on a bit of brilliance from senior Maggie O’Neill. Taking possession of the ball, the midfielder won a duel with a defender then ripped a wicked shot that nipped the far post and billowed into the net for a goal against the run of play.
“That girl is ridiculous,” Abington coach Rick Tompkins said. “She’s just a handful and a terrific player.”
O’Neill nearly made it 2-0 about 10 minutes later but was unlucky to only hit the post after a 50/50 challenge with the keeper went her way.
“I thought in the beginning we were out-playing them and I wasn’t concerned, but once they scored that goal, they took it up a notch,” Tompkins said. “We kind of fell apart for a while. Getting the goal before the half was critical because that got us back in it and we could go out and play.”
Touey, of course, was right there to make the tying goal happen. After a shot by Maura Day was blocked into the box, Touey charged in and forced an errant touch that allowed her to tap in a close-range finish.
“I knew no matter how good of a touch their girl had on it, it would be a tight space for her to work in, so if I could pressure her first touch, there would be a mistake,” Touey said.
Thursday marked the second setback this season against Abington for the Hatters, but it’s far from the end for them. The Liberty title, while now more difficult to get, is still in play for Hatboro-Horsham and they were in good position to earn one of the 16 District I 4A playoff spots at stake.
Hatters coach Kelsey Daley reminded her players of that after the game and felt her team did enough to win, but didn’t get a couple of needed bounces.
While the defense was frustrated to give up two goals, senior Izzy de la Torre and Aly Yankanich played very well for Hatboro-Horsham and keeper Sam Hollish recorded some important saves.
“I told them now’s the time to focus on the playoffs,” Daley said. “We had a first round bye last year but we have yet to win our first district game as a group so that needs to be our next goal.”
After playing the role of scorer, Touey played passer on the go-ahead goal. Checking back into the middle, she switched places with sophomore Maura Day, then slipped the midfielder a through pass that gave Day a one-on-one for a compact finish around the keeper with 17 minutes to go.
Hatboro-Horsham brought everything it had after that, challenging a banged up Ghosts back line to hold on and even drawing Touey back to a holding position to help handle the pressure.
“Our two center backs, Caroline Hughes and Ally Holden, they’re steady, they win the ball and they put it back up front,” Tompkins said. “On the outside, Ashley Reilly gets hurt and you’re asking ‘how many more backs can go down?’ We’re happy with the result today, now we have to finish strong and hopefully get healthy.”
Abington (6-0-1 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (6-2) will be on the road at Quakertown for a 7 p.m. contest.
ABINGTON 1 1 – 2
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 0 – 1
Goals: A – Casey Touey, Maura Day; HH – Maggie O’Neill
Quakertown 1, Wissahickon 0 (OT)
The idea of Senior Night is to honor a team’s senior class for its contributions on and off the field through their time with a program.
When those same seniors go out and deliver their best performance of the season the same night, it only makes the event that much better. While he’d love to have another week or two to the regular season, Panthers coach Mike Koch saw his team’s best come out on Thursday.
“I have seven seniors, they all played almost the entire game and they just played with a ton of passion,” Koch said. “If we could put this in a bottle, we’d actually be really good.”
After playing to a tie in their first meeting, the Panthers were able to scratch out a double-overtime win over a Trojans team Koch has a ton of respect for. This was no walkover opponent, Quakertown had to earn the three points under the lights.
“Tonight, we played our best 94 minutes that we played all season,” Koch said. “I feel like Wissahickon has some of the most dangerous players in the league and they were putting us under a lot of pressure but we responded individually and as a team.”
Quakertown’s seven seniors – goalkeeper Morgan Sipprell, center back Cori Pursel, left back Gianna Monastra, holding mid Haley Gordon, center mid Natalie Reilly, attacking mid Kara Kruez and winger Paige Russell – were all standout performers. Among them, Koch felt Monastra, Kruez and Russell played their finest games in a Quakertown uniform.
As always for the Panthers, it was a resolute defensive effort that helped secure the win.
“We had to compress on the ball and I think we did a great job of that,” Koch said. “They have players that can run at you and if you jump in and help and let them come at you in a one-v-one situation, they’re very difficult to defend.”
Koch noted every team had to deal with the effects of COVID-19 during the summer and fall, but he feels his team took longer than usual to round into form. This week, the Panthers seemed to figure it out.
“This is what I look for us to do every year,” Koch said. “It took us a little while to get there but we defended as a unit tremendously.”
In a defensive game, it was fittingly a pair of defenders who provided the lone goal in the second overtime.
“It was a restart from about 40 yards away that Cori Pursel hit,” Koch said. “Carol Sipprell, the other center back, got up and headed it brilliantly. It was a beautiful header, she’s about 5-foot-11 and she was up in the air above everybody.”
Koch credited Wissahickon’s center back duo of Peyton Weber and Margo Kasenchar, as well as keeper Caroline Hassall, for making his team’s desire to score extremely difficult to attain.
“Caroline Hassall is very good off her line and cleaned up a lot of stuff most keepers aren’t getting,” Koch said. “Both teams tonight got incredible play from their center back tandems.”
Koch knows it would take a lot for his team to qualify for the 16-team District I playoff, but he plans to schedule more games if the Panthers don’t make the cut.
“We’re just to keep playing hard and getting better and better,” Koch said. “I’m not giving up on the playoffs but my goal all along for this strange season was just to keep getting better and better.”
The Panthers left knowing they did that on Thursday.
“It was a great night,” Koch said.
Quakertown (3-5-1, 3-4-1 SOL) will host Lansdale Catholic in a non-league game Monday at 7 p.m. Wissahickon (3-3-2, 2-3-2) will host Upper Dublin Tuesday a t7 p.m.
QUAKERTOWN 0 0 0 1 -1
WISSAHICKON 0 0 0 0 – 0
Goals: Q – Carol Sipprell
Upper Dublin 4, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2
It finally came together for the Flying Cardinals.
Winless entering Thursday’s game, things started off well for UD before familiar mistakes saw the Cardinals down 2-1. It was time for the team to make a choice and coach Chuck Gesing finally saw them come together to make the right one.
“I think we finally got mad enough at ourselves for making silly mistakes that some of our big players stepped up,” Gesing said. “It’s been a struggle. We believe that we are better than our record shows but we haven’t been able to put together a solid 80 minutes.”
Sophomore Alex Devers, one of the big players Gesing mentioned, scored in the first six minutes. The shorthanded Colonials, playing their third of four matches this week, replied with a pair of goals 16 minutes and 27 minutes into the half.
Senior Anna Desch was able to tie the game 2-2 at half, scoring in the 38th minute.
After halftime, sophomore Regan Rubin took it on herself to get UD in the win column with a pair of goals.
“She’s always had that ability, I see it in practice regularly,” Gesing said. “Being able to do it in a game is another story. We’ve been working on shooting a ton in practice. I keep stressing making aggressive mistakes and not passive ones.”
Rubin scored 15 and 27 minutes through the second half, giving the Cardinals a much-awaited victory.
“We tell them to play with confidence and not with fear,” Gesing said. “Today, Regan and the team played with confidence and it paid off.”
Both teams will face off again on Friday afternoon to conclude the back-to-back series.
“We have a deep roster, I told the girls that didn’t play a lot today to be ready for tomorrow,” Gesing said.
UPPER DUBLIN 2 2 – 4
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 2 0 – 2
Goals: UD – Alex Devers, Anna Desch, Regan Rubin 2
SOL COLONIAL
Central Bucks West 2, Pennridge 1
Kate Weyer is a freshman not known for her accurate long-range shooting, but she was in the right spot to score the biggest goal of the Bucks’ season on Thursday.
With about 90 seconds left on the second half clock, Taylor Moyer drove a free kick into the six-yard box that forced a leaping punch from the Rams’ keeper. The rebound fell to the far post where Weyer was in prime position to unload on it.
“I was waiting for Riley (Corona) to get it because she had her back to goal, but it came out and I told myself, ‘Kate, lean over it and hit it,’” Weyer said. “I always hit those over. I was just trying to keep it simple and hit it off the post or right in the goal.”
The game lived up to the billing as the top two squads in the Colonial Conference finally met. With their initial meeting rained out, anticipation built for the latest chapter in what’s been a close and very intense series in recent seasons.
Both teams played an excellent match, but it was the Bucks’ night to pick up the points.
“I’m so happy for Kate, a freshman, to get that last goal. Taylor has just been unbelievable for us up top. She’s having a year. She has nine goals already, and they’re all big goals,” West coach Mike Moyer said. “We’re just really happy with the win. I can’t tell you how much respect I have for Audrey (Anderson) and that Pennridge team. It’s kind of surreal that we came out on top.”
West got off to a flying start as a long ball from Mariella Neri found Taylor Moyer on the run past the Rams’ backline. Moyer got into a one-on-one setup and coolly put away her shot just six minutes into the contest.
Pennridge responded well, settling in and taking some command of the midfield behind Lindsey DeHaven’s ability to win the ball in the air.
“They are so fast, they’re so well coached. We just wanted to sit back and let them make mistakes and then try to counter and beat them. I thought in the first half we had a lot of chances,” Mike Moyer said. “I think it was really an even half. It was one of the best halves of high school soccer that I’ve seen. It was up and back. It was just a really fun game to watch.”
DeHaven would tie the game up after she worked a give-and-go with Liv Grenda to isolate herself on the near post before tucking home her shot.
“Our season is not over by any means so I hope the girls rebound and recognize it’s not going to be easy,” Anderson said. “We want to learn from this one, look at our next game and finish and capitalize from our opportunities.”
Pennridge had numerous chances, including six corner kicks in the second half, but the Bucks defensive group had an outstanding night.
“It was really a good game – we’re two of the best teams in this area. I thought my whole back line – Courtney Moylan, Ava Longo, Keely McGlone, Bella Centenera and Kate Weyer just played really, really well. We played well as a team, we defended well. We knew that they were going to be very good in the midfield, we know what they have up top. We had to withstand all the pressure they gave us. We defended, we defended, we defended, and we just never broke,” Mike Moyer said. “In the second half, they took it to us a bit. They had a bunch of corners. We defended really well again. I thought Jules Broskey stepping in at goal did a phenomenal job.”
Moylan and McGlone were tenacious at the back, stepping up with confidence and looking to play the ball out of pressure instead of getting fancy.
“We really picked up on what they wanted to do,” Moylan said. “I give Ava Longo a lot of credit. She doesn’t usually play back there with me, but she saved me a lot of times and with Keely back there directing us, we kept them out of the box. Also Jules, our keeper, played amazing tonight.”
Neri also earned a rave review from her coach for the constant effort she put in helping the Bucks stabilize the battle in the air and central midfield.
“Mariella Neri was a stone cold warrior today. After the game, it looked like she had come out of an MMA fight,” Mike Moyer said. “She had a gash at her eye, her nose was broken, her lip was bleeding, and then she had a contusion on her leg. She just hobbled off the field. She gave everything she had tonight. She was unbelievable.”
The teams are due to meet again on Oct. 27.
“This game is always our hardest game, every season, they’re just such a talented team,” Taylor Moyer said. “Every girl on their team is so good, so we knew we had to come out, play our hardest and put everything we had out on the field.”
Central Bucks West (6-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks East Tuesday for its Senior Night at 7 p.m. Pennridge (7-1, 6-1) will host Souderton on Tusday.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1 1 – 2
PENNRIDGE 1 0 – 1
Goals: CBW – Taylor Moyer, Kate Weyer; P – Lindsey DeHaven
Souderton 3, North Penn 0
Souderton’s season standouts all turned in strong efforts on Thursday.
With about 13 minutes left in the first half, a combination between senior Averie Doughty and junior Katie Pazdziorko netted the Indians a corner. Pazdziorko, a high-scoring striker, went out to deliver the service.
“Pazdziorko’s ensuing cross on the corner was a dangerous ball that fell to sophomore Alexis Stefanowicz who was able to poke home the first goal of the match,” Souderton coach Ian Smith said.
Souderton has some strong pieces offensively, but the Indians have also received stellar play in goal from senior Morgan Molyneaux. Facing a Knights team adept at scoring on set pieces, Molyneaux had command of her territory.
“Senior goalkeeper Morgan Molyneaux earned the shutout, after a flurry of dangerous set pieces from the Knights in the first half,” Smith said. “Molyneaux showed again that she’s an important leader on our team, commanding the ball and giving direction to the backline throughout the match.”
Indians junior Avery Nogami forced a big-time save on a rocket of a shot just before half, but Souderton had to settle for a 1-0 lead at the break.
Souderton ramped up its intensity in the second half and found chances starting to come. Eventually, the ball came to Pazdziorko and she took off.
“Pazdziorko broke free on a signature unrelenting run past North Penn’s defense to finish off an impressive solo goal. Shortly after, Nogami and Pazdziorko combined again, but Pazdziorko just fired wide.”
Nogami would again help create a chance when she and Cait DiCandilo worked a diagonal pass down the sideline that led to a shot from Hannah Alderfer that forced a save.
Finally, Nogami’s work in spreading the ball paid off in sealing the game.
“Souderton was able to put the game out of reach with about ten minutes left as Nogami sprung Pazdziorko on a counter attack,” Smith said. “Pazdziorko ran the length of the field and fired her shot off the post and into the top corner.”
Souderton (4-4 SOL) will host Pennridge Tuesday, and North Penn (1-6-1) will travel to Central Bucks South Tuesday.
SOUDERTON 1 2 – 3
NORTH PENN 0 0 – 0
Goals: S – Alexis Stefanowicz, Katie Pazdziorko 2
SOL PATRIOT
Council Rock South 2, Pennsbury 1 (OT)
Golden Hawks coach Nick Heim has learned when his team meets the Falcons, the last minute is just as important as the first.
“The division name may have changed but this was a typical South-Pennsbury battle, just as we knew it would be,” Heim said. 
“Our girls dug deep today.”
CR South ended up eking out the win in double overtime, thanks to senior Aubrey Hondros, but the key contributions started almost from the first whistle.
“Pennsbury had a PK about a minute into the game that Sydney Mandel made a massive save on,” Heim said. “Pennsbury scored shortly after but to our girls’ credit, they stayed the course.”
Last season, the Falcons had one of the most memorable wins of the fall with a four-goal rally to beat South before the Hawks enacted some revenge with an OT win in the postseason. This fall, CR South took the first meeting between the two, Pennsbury’s only loss entering Thursday’s rematch.
“We knew it wasn’t about who starts fast but who finishes last,” Heim said. “Having a veteran group certainly helped us today in that respect. The girls never panicked and stayed the course. I’m really proud of them.”
Hondros may have scored the winner, but she’s just as content to set up goals. About 15 minutes after the Falcons opened the scoring, Hondros found Carly Irvin on the run, who put away a calm finish to level the score.
The teams traded chances all through the second half and first overtime and CR South needed numerous players to rise to the moment.
“Sydney Mandel played fantastic in goal for us. Our midfield of Aubrey Hondros, Kimmie Herritt and Lauren Smith were solid as usual,” Heim said. “We got great flank play from Carly Irvin, Zoe Brossman, Brianna Hondros and Skyler Scarborough and our back line made some great adjustments after Pennsbury scored.”
After giving up an early PK and a goal in the first 10 minutes of play, the Hawks defense rebounded with some urging from their coach.
“I got on them at halftime a bit and Karlyn Wunder, Emily Davis, Kim Speiser, Reghan Mudie and Kate Henlon adjusted well to 
keep their offense at bay,” Heim said. “Pennsbury is really dangerous and I told their forward Taylor (Mays) after the game she’s a nightmare to coach against. She is a tough, talented player and I thought our defenders did a good job of winning the ball before she could get a head of steam and really cause trouble.”
Heading into the second OT, Heim urged his team to find an ender. Irvin and Hondros got the message and delivered with two minutes left on the clock.
“I told the girls someone needed to step up and make a play,” Heim said. “Carly Irvin played a dangerous ball into the box and Aubrey put her body on the line to get a flick past the goalie as she was coming out.”
Council Rock South (4-2-1, 3-2-1 SOL) will travel to New Hope-Solebury for a non-league game Monday. Pennsbury (5-2) is schedule to travel to Council Rock North on Thursday.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1 0 0 1 – 2
PENNSBURY 1 0 0 0 – 1
Goals: CRS – Carly Irvin, Aubrey Hondros
SOL FREEDOM
Upper Moreland 2, Springfield Twp 1
The Golden Bears picked up a tough win over a resilient Spartans team on Thursday.
UM jumped out early as Willow Taylor scored in the fifth minute, just as the Bears wanted.
“Today was a hard fought, great win for us. We were able to control the ball in the first half, and met our goal of scoring early,” UM coach Lisa Benvenuto said. “Willow Taylor put in a perfectly placed shot in the upper ninety, and that really sparked our momentum.”
The Spartans, who have competed and played hard all season, fought back and tied the game up before halftime.
“We know to never underestimate Springfield, when given opportunities, they find Hannah Potocki, and she is dangerous on the attack and was able to tie up the game,” Benvenuto said.
Upper Moreland tried for another fast start after halftime, but despite a few chances, couldn’t get another quick goal. However, it didn’t take too much longer and the Bears combined for the winner.
“The combination play between our midfielders and forwards was really strong today, and we were able to get the ball to Abby Engart’s foot who distributed to Emma Frasca, and Emma finished,” Benvenuto said. “It was great to see the combination play between Frasca and Engart, both are really putting in the time at practice.”
Natalie Walton had a strong game in goal for UM, making eight saves and holding off the Spartans’ charge for a second tying goal.
“Mattea Taylor had an outstanding game for us, she won crucial 50/50 balls and was able to command the midfield,” Benvenuto said.
Upper Moreland (3-2-1 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday for a 4:45 p.m. contest. Springfield Township (0-7) will be on the road at Lower Moreland Tuesday.
UPPER MORELAND 1 1 – 2
SPRINGFIELD TWP 1 0 – 1
Goals: UM – Willow Taylor, Emma Frasca; ST – Hannah Potocki
William Tennent 3, New Hope-Solebury 1
A two-goal advantage doesn’t tell the story of this game.
“The was again a lot closer than the score shows,” Panthers coach Bill Hontz said. “It was tied 1-1 at half but we had a nice conversation that we needed to calm down and play our game.”
Gabby Sowers struck for the Panthers in the 34th minute, but their lead was short-lived as the Lions came back behind freshman Kendall Malmros. New Hope-Solebury won an indirect free kick, so senior Sam Kruopas simply laid the ball off for Malmros to drive in.
“It was a great game, we lost 6-1 last time so we came in with a way different game plan,” Lions coach Derek Antonini said. “It seemed to work well but we went down 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half. We had our Senior Night festivities at halftime and then went into the second half and fought them off for about 20 minutes.”
Panthers senior Caroline Weir broke the deadlock before Delaney Lockett iced the game in the 73rd minute with a free kick goal.
“It was nice to get Delaney Lockett back from injury and get her some time up top as she will add another dimension to our game with her talent,” Hontz said. “Typical hard-nose soccer from Gabby Sowers and Caroline Weir that showed they can move all over the field and still stay a force.”
Hontz also cited the play of Caitlin Somerville.
“She is the grinder in the middle that usually starts the connections that eventually become goals,” Hontz said. “She is the type of player never looking for recognition, instead just creating nice, positive passes. Her size is also a plus in the middle.”
Antonini also pointed to the solid play of seniors Sam Finch and Julianna Cauvino.
William Tennent (7-1, 6-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Tuesday, and New Hope-Solebury (3-3-1) will host Council Rock South in a non-league game Monday.
WILLIAM TENNENT 1 2 -3
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 1 0 – 1
Goals: WT – Gabby Sowers, Caroline Weir, Delaney Lockett; NHS – Kendall Malmros
Non-league
Archbishop Wood 4, Neshaminy 2
The Vikings, behind braces from All-PCL picks Paige Hoeger and Leighann Kafel won their season opener while sending Neshaminy to a second straight loss.
Neshaminy (3-3-1, 3-2-1 SOL) will host Council Rock South Tuesday.
ARCHBISHOP WOOD – 4
NESHAMINY – 2
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