Central Bucks East defeated Hatboro-Horsham in girls’ soccer action Saturday.
Central Bucks East 3, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Coach Jake Nesteruk felt like his team had actually played quite well this week, but the Patriots didn’t have any results to show for it.
A pair of one-goal losses to Central Bucks rivals West and South would have been a tough way to go into a long weekend, but East was able to go in on a good note thanks to Saturday morning’s efforts. Led by a strong game from senior Sofia Mignon, the Patriots picked up a win and flipped the script on their first full week of the season.
“It felt like a reset,” Nesteruk said. “We learned a lot between Abington, West and South and took a lot of good. There was some stuff we clearly needed to work on, but this felt like a springboard for next week.”
Mignon, a three-year varsity fixture in central midfield and a two-year captain, isn’t tasked to be a top scorer for the team. Her role is still hugely important between the work she does defensively and as an initiator getting the ball to the attacking players, but she’s got a scoring knack if the opportunity presents itself.
Thanks to a first half foul that granted East a penalty kick, she had the opportunity.
“I take PKs for my club team, so I’m confident stepping up there,” said Mignon, who plays for Warrington Soccer Club.
Five minutes after she’d tucked in the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead, Mignon made it 2-0 when she hit in a Grace Craig corner kick that had been deflected by Hatters keeper Alyssa Tooley.
As a captain and a leader for a team that started three freshmen on Saturday, including her younger sister Ava, Sofia Mignon is a player that has her coach’s utmost respect.
“For three years, that kid has not come off the field at all,” Nesteruk said. “There’s been a lot of names that have scored a lot of goals and created a lot of chances, but when you look at the backbone of our teams, it’s been Sof. To see her go out and get hers, she’s so, so deserving.”
East finished its scoring with a second half goal from freshman Kiera Sleicher, who was the beneficiary of a great run by Julia Santanello down the left flank and ending with a perfectly weighted ball across the front of goal.
“The prior two games we played this week looked similar to this one, we played really well, moved the ball really well but didn’t create a lot of really dangerous chances and shot ourselves in the foot defensively,” Nesteruk said. “To see the girls bounce back and finish the game the way they did, plus keep a clean sheet, was a good step back in the right direction.”
Hatboro-Horsham, which has been hit hard on the back line by the injury bug early, held tough against a relentless
CB East attack that put 17 shots on target. The only reason more didn’t find the back of the net was a stellar game from Tooley, the senior giving her all to make 13 stops.
The Hatters drop to 1-3, but they’ve also had a difficult slate to open their 2023 season.
“We looked at the first two weeks of the season as probably our toughest weeks,” Hatters’ coach Kelsey Daley said. “Our league is very equal this year, I think all the teams are going to trade wins, losses and ties so we see it as a very even playing field and the girls are excited.
“We have 12 seniors, it’s probably the biggest senior class I’ve had, so we’re looking to them for motivation.”
Central Bucks South (2-2, 0-2 SOL) will host Pennridge on Wednesday (7 pm), and Hatboro-Horsham (1-3, 1-1) will be on the road at Hatboro-Horsham on Wednesday.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2 1 – 3
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 0 – 0
Goals; CBE – Sofia Mignon 2, Kiera Sleicher
About the Author
