Upper Moreland pulled off a major upset, Souderton won a key conference battle, CB East won in overtime. Check all of Monday’s SOL girls’ soccer recaps. CR South/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.\
SOL Continental
Souderton 2, Central Bucks South 1
Allie Trick's strength is easily apparent, but what tends to catch opposing defenses off-guard is the junior winger's explosive speed.
Trick assisted Souderton's first goal and scored the eventual game-winner as the Indians claimed their second win over the Titans this season. The victory also put Souderton atop the Continental standings with Pennridge idle.
"This is the first time we've managed to beat them twice, so it's huge for us," Souderton coach Chris Felber said. "It's the difference between trying to win the conference and not, trying to beat South or Pennridge twice.
“They played well, they really picked it up in the second half. They're a nice team, they have some really good players."
Naturally, the outcome wasn't decided until the final whistle.
"It was another good game, an enjoyable game, I was nervous," Felber said. "Peev turned it on at the end. She did that in the first game, she turned it on again and I could see it happening so I subbed and got some fresh legs in there."
Souderton central midfielder Sara Readinger also had a strong game both finding forwards offensively and winning balls late defensively.
Trick set up the first goal with strong run down the left side, crossing it back for a sliding Dowd to knock in with 14 minutes left in the half. The junior then scored on her own when she stole the ball from a Titans’ defender and sprinted away from the defense before slotting the ball away with three minutes left before the break.
"I don't think it matters who it is, she always has that ability to get past defenders and find crosses and find headers," Felber said. "It was a good finish. She's had a lot of breakaways but she hasn't been able to finish a few and she was hard on herself.
“We worked on it, she deserved that goal. She'll score more of them. And the cross to Tori - we make fun of her because she always seems to slide to shoot, but it's another good goal."
South took over in the second half and put pressure on Souderton for 40 minutes. Sophomore Grace Tecce again gave the Titans a lift off the bench with her energy and speed and set up the Titans' lone goal with a cross that Brooke Steigerwalt headed in with 24 minutes left.
Aleksa Peev was a menace all night, sending in cross after cross and making plenty of runs in the second half.
CB South (5-3-3, 3-2-2 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Wednesday while Souderton (9-2, 5-2) travels to CB East.
For the Indians, staying atop the conference won't be easy.
"This is crunch time," Felber said. "The losses against East and Pennridge kind of put us a little behind where we wanted to be. We wanted to be in that top eight for districts, we finally broke that, we're into the top five but we have our toughest stretch coming up."
SOUDERTON 2 0 – 2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 1 – 1
Goals: S - Tori Dowd, Allie Trick; CBS - Brooke Steigerwalt
Central Bucks East 1, North Penn 0 OT
The Patriots needed five extra minutes but were able to finally break down a resolute Knights side.
Julie Beedle created the winning opportunity when she broke behind a defender and fired a shot. North Penn keeper Ashley Schmidt made the save, but Ali Hamilton was able to swoop in and hammer home the rebound.
"We dominated most of the play but North Penn did an excellent job moving the ball and had some dangerous chances up top," East coach Paul Eisold said. "Their goalkeeper, Ashley Schmidt, was outstanding in goal and continued to make things difficult for us."
Beedle is in the midst of a run of excellent form for the Patriots.
"Julie continues to dominate play," Eisold said. "She is able to posses the ball and move to put herself in situations to create opportunities for herself and others."
Keeping the ball was a team-wide effort for East.
"Ashley Balderson continues to be consistent winning balls out of the back and Anna Bound continues to be a workhorse and refuses to quit," Eisold said. "Izzy Hunter did a nice job getting forward and I would like to see her contribute offensively."
East (6-3-3, 3-2-2 SOL) has a difficult stretch coming up, hosting Souderton on Wednesday and going to Pennridge on Friday.
"We need to put some pieces together and get back to running on all cylinders moving forward for the next couple of games," Eisold said.
North Penn (4-7-1, 1-5-1) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Wednesday.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0 0 1 – 1
NORTH PENN 0 0 0 – 0
Goals: CBE - Ali Hamilton
Willliam Tennent 3, Central Bucks West 0
Tennent not only bounced back from a loss last week, but the Panthers also got payback on the Bucks.
After losing 5-1 to Souderton to conclude last week's schedule, Tennent wanted to get itself back on the right foot. So, coach Bill Hontz mixed things up.
"We watched game film from the Souderton game and cleaned up some of our mistakes," the Panthers’ coach said. "We also tried to have a more fun practice on Friday to relax and breathe a little to reflect on what we have done so far this season."
CB West took the first meeting between the two teams, and Hontz said that helped get his players thinking forward. Still, the teams played to a scoreless first half and the Panthers made a couple of changes.
"I moved Ashley Rivera up top, she's usually a midfielder, to try and mix things up and try something different," Hontz said. "She came through with two big goals."
Rivera scored in the 48th and 69th minutes, bookending a 30-yard volley by senior midfielder Nikki Reh.
The Panthers used a team effort defensively from backs Brianna Broccardi, Liz Layer, Jenna Rodebaugh and Paige Schmidt to keep the Bucks quiet.
"Paige Schmidt and Danielle Scott did a great job neutralizing the west players wo scored on us earlier in the season," Hontz said.
William Tennent (8-3, 4-3 SOL) will host North Penn on Friday, and Central Bucks West (5-6, 1-6) will take on North Penn on Wednesday.
WILLIAM TENNENT 0 3 – 3
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 0 – 0
Goals: WT - Ashley Rivera 2, Nikki Reh
SOL National
Council Rock South 3, Abington 0
Patience paid off for the Golden Hawks on Monday.
Playing a tough-minded Abington side, CR South scored three times in the final 15 minutes to pick up the conference win. While the final two goals came on counters with Abington pressing up, it was Sierra Tarantino's goal that finally broke through.
"We were a bit more patient in the second half. We told them at halftime to stay disciplined and opportunities will come," South coach Nick Heim said. "We rushed chances in the first half that we should have capitalized on. To the girls' credit, they stayed patient and generated great chances the we finished off."
The Hawks also relied on their veteran defense to handle Abington's potent attack.
"They stayed very organized and Emily Hemlich called out shifts appropriately," Heim said. "The back line is experienced, and they are comfortable working with each other to adjust to other offenses."
Council Rock South (12-0, 8-0 SOL) will face Council Rock North on Wednesday, and Abington (5-7, 3-4) will host Pennsbury.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0 3 – 3
ABINGTON 0 0 – 0
Goals: CRS - Sierra Tarantino (Sammy Jones), Sammy Jones (Julie Rebh), Sierra Tarantino (Sammy Jones)
Pennsbury 7, Bensalem 0
The Falcons received a balanced offensive effort as they took down the Owls to open the second half of conference play.
Christine Cataldo-Smith's brace led Pennsbury offensively while Gabby Zalot continued to impress with a goal and assist.
"Gabby Zalot was all over the field today," Falcons coach Kaitlyn Battiste said. "She was distributing the ball so well through the middle and finished a beautiful shot in the first half. She plays with amazing composure for a sophomore and can dictate our pace of the game."
Hope Drewes assisted a pair of goals for Pennsbury.
Pennsbury (10-1-1, 6-1-0 SOL) will be on the road at Abington on Wednesday, and Bensalem (2-9-1, 1-8) will host Neshaminy on Wednesday.
PENNSBURY 3 4 – 7
BENSALEM 0 0 – 0
Goals: P - Christine Cataldo-Smith (Dani Cady), Gabby Zalot (Riley Young), Lizzy Kirk (Jenna Peters), Cataldo-Smith (Hope Drewes), Evie Ciaccia (Zalot), Cady (Kirk), Kelli Hunter (Drewes).
Council Rock North 7, Harry S Truman 0
Six different players scored for the Indians, led by a brace from Kaleigh O'Donnell. Mia Scalamandre and Caroline Erlandsen each had two assists while Claudia Falch and Becca Margolis each scored a goal and assisted another.
Council Rock North (7-4-1, 4-3-1 SOL) will face Council Rock South on Wednesday, and Harry S Truman (0-10, 0-7) will host Council Rock South on Friday.
Goals: CRN - Kaleigh O'Donnell 2, Becca Margolis, Claudia Falch, Ali Zingaro, Chloe Hill, Olivia Durcan
SOL American
Upper Moreland 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
The Golden Bears have been putting a lot of work on the training field, and it paid off with a hard-fought win on Monday.
Megan O'Donnell was the hero for Upper Moreland, scoring in the 63rd minute for the game-winning goal.
"We had another break where the ball found its way to Megan O'Donnell, who beat her defender down the left flank, cut inside and was able to put a shot on goal," UM coach Lisa Benvenuto said. "As we crashed the goal, the ball found its way into the goal."
PW scored early when Alyse Caffrey found the back of the net six minutes in, but the Bears were able to rally around each other and battle back. Upper Moreland was able to tie the game up with 40 seconds left in the first half thanks to Katherine Morrow.
"Sarah Veneziale was able to find Katherine Morrow running a diagonal," Benvenuto said. "Veneziale played the ball, Morrow made one move and was off to the goal and she beat the goalie to the far post side."
In the second half, the Bears played a high line, forcing PW to play long balls and drawing the Colonials offside six times.
"We have been training very hard as a team in playing smarter soccer both offensively and defensively," Benvenuto said. "We were able to really maintain composure in high pressure situations today. I am really proud of our girls."
Upper Moreland (1-8, 1-7 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-4, 5-3) will host Wissahickon on Wednesday.
UPPER MORELAND 1 1 – 2
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1 0 – 1
Goals: UM - Katherine Morrow, Megan O'Donnell; PW - Alyse Caffrey
Upper Dublin 5, Cheltenham 1
The Cardinals controlled the game as they rebounded from their first loss of the season with a win on Monday.
Emily Booth scored two while Tina Haig scored and assisted a goal to pace Upper Dublin offensively. UD relied on its midfield to set the pace.
"Aiden Hopkins and Lexi Moss played a great game in the central midfield," UD coach John Topper said. "We dominated possession and created multiple scoring chances."
Upper Dublin (9-1-1, 8-0 SOL) will travel to Quakertown for a key conference battle Wednesday. Cheltenham (1-8, 1-7) will host Springfield Township Wednesday.
UPPER DUBLIN 4 1 – 5
CHELTENHAM 0 1 – 1
Goals: UD - Emily Booth (Tina Haig), Booth (Anna Desch), Haig, Maddie Sanders, Lindsey Schreiber (Tori Hoffner); C - Jada Holland
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Springfield Twp 1
The Hatters are at their best when playing as a unit, and that's exactly what they did on Monday.
"I think the girls had a good fighting spirit today that we haven't always had," HH coach Ike Onyeador said. "It was really nice to see. It was a team effort today and everyone did a job."
Cam Ryan handed the Hatters a 1-0 lead at halftime while Sarah Polesuk scored the game-winner off a corner kick in the second half.
Playing at Springfield can be challenging to some teams and the Hatters had to adapt.
"It's small and bumpy and doesn't lend itself to the type of soccer that we want to play," Onyeador said. "They had to find a way to win while not playing our normal style. They did a good job with that."
Sarah Potocki knotted the score for the Spartans with a second-half goal, using an assist from Rileigh Serroni.
“It was such a good game,” Springfield coach Suzette Wolf said. “We dominated so much of the game.
“We had so many opportunities. We battled back, but we couldn’t finish. My girls did everything right. They marked well, they won 50-50s, and they did everything they could. We just do not have the soccer gods on our side. The ball doesn’t bounce our way.”
Hatboro-Horsham (8-4, 5-3 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Wednesday, and Springfield (3-8, 1-7) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Wednesday.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 1 – 2
SPRINGFIELD TWP 0 1 – 1
Goals: HH - Cam Ryan, Sarah Polesuk
Quakertown 2, Wissahickon 0
Quakertown scored once on each side of the half to hold off a resilient Wissahickon side.
Ashley Gluck and Maddy Spadafora provided the scores for the Panthers while Sam Barkholz and Brenna Foster set them up. Morgan Small was strong in goal with Melina Jagiello and Becah Fox anchoring the back line.
Trojans keeper Quinn Klessel made seven stops, including two superb efforts that denied surefire goals.
"Both sideways in the air, outstretched over the goalmouth, able to paw it away denying Quakertown the additional tally," Wissahickon coach Shannon Creamer-Franke said. "I am very proud of the play we got from the girls this afternoon. It takes heart to dig deep and keep pushing back."
Wissahickon (3-7, 3-5 SOL) welcomes Pennridge on Tuesday while Quakertown (9-3, 7-1) hosts Upper Dublin in a major American clash Wednesday night.
QUAKERTOWN 1 1 – 2
WISSAHICKON 0 0 – 0
Goals: Q - Ashley Gluck, Maddy Spadafora
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