BOYS SOCCER
Central Bucks East 3, Central Bucks South 1
The Central Bucks East soccer team knew what was at stake heading into Wednesday's game against Central Bucks South -- bragging rights in the local rivalry, avenging an early season loss, the battle of the top two teams in the Continental Conference standings, the quest for a district berth.
Upon walking off the field, the Patriots found out another reason why their 3-1 win over the Titans was so special.
It turns out it was the 300th victory in coach Mike Gorni's career.
"We found out the second the game ended," said senior defender Steve Fedele. "He's a great coach. He's the leader of this team and he puts us in a position to win every game, every day."
Gorni, who won 44 games as head coach at Sun Valley before amassing 256 victories at East, preferred to let the players take the accolades for this win.
"It feels great," the Patriots’ coach said. "I didn't want to say anything to the team and I didn't even keep track of it until someone said to me, 'you have to be around that number.'
"At this point, it's about the kids playing and winning. I'm really proud of all the teams we've had and I'm most proud of the fact that we put ourselves in a really good position to win another league title, which would be our fourth in five years in a very good division."
The victory lifts East to 10-2 (30 points) in the Continental Conference, four points ahead of North Penn (26 points), which leapt above the Titans (25 points) in the standings with its win on Wednesday evening.
It wasn't easy, though. Amidst intermittent drizzles and strong winds, the Titans came out strong and dictated play early in the contest.
"South came out at us. They needed the win and we had to match their efforts," said senior Sean Jenkins. "This was a huge game. It's always a big rivalry, it was really important in the standings, and they were coming at us with a surge the first couple minutes."
It was Jenkins who put the Patriots -- who weathered the early Titan storm -- on the scoreboard in the 20th minute.
"We got the restart and they didn't clear it and we got the chance and we were able to put it away," he said. "The ball was bouncing around a little bit. I was just in the right spot at the right time. I got the ball and I was able to get it in."
"That was big," Fedele said of the goal. "With the way South was pressuring us early, that took the pressure off us and really put us in the good position in the second half."
East clung to the 1-0 lead at halftime.
"We played a very well-paced first half," South coach Don Brady said. "At halftime, we really didn't have too much to say to them as far as making corrections."
The Patriots made the score 2-0 in the 43rd minute when sophomore defender Ryan Gleason scored off a long throw-in from the corner.
"We made a mistake with the second goal, but we never stopped playing. They didn't step down from the challenge," Brady said. "We're a very good technical team, I think we kind of got out of that technical game in the second half and you have to try to figure out what to do on the fly, but the guys really played hard."
East added a third goal in the 68th minute when Ben Marks received a long pass, ran past his defender and scored on a one-on-one against South goalie Matt Weigner.
But South still would not go down without a fight. Patriots' goalkeeper Jacob Nesteruk came up with several big saves in the latter stages of the second half (as well as a huge save of a Todd Rainey shot in the first half while the Patriots held the 1-0 lead). His shutout bid was denied when Brendan Rennie scored off a cross pass from Stephen Pieri in the closing seconds of the game.
The win puts the Patriots on the verge of another league crown. A win in either of the team's two remaining league games (against Quakertown on Friday and Souderton on Oct. 18) will secure the championship.
"We played solid throughout the whole game," Jenkins said. "This was a really big game, especially after losing to them the first time, and it's a rivalry, so we really wanted to make a statement in this game. We just need to finish out the rest of the season strong and we'll see what happens in playoffs."
"The great thing about this group is ... until it's mathematically done, it's not done, and we take every game in this league very seriously," Gorni said. "We're a very good team, but I think there are a lot of very good teams out there. It's not like we can't lose to Quakertown and Souderton. It's not done, but I like our position."
Council Rock North 2, Council Rock South 1
Derek Antonini's second-half goal broke a 1-1 tie and lifted Council Rock North to a victory over archrival Council Rock South in Wednesday's Senior Night showdown.
Senior defender Chase Coleman scored his first goal (Mike Discavage assist) to give the Golden Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
"I was hoping that goal would have settled down the game," said South coach Alan Nicholl. "But to North's credit, they kept clawing."
The Indians knotted the score late in the first half when Chris Kulczytzky scored on a long shot that skipped off the rain-soaked field and found its way into the South goal.
"It was a typical, hard-fought North-South game," said Indians coach Wendell Beres. "It was an ugly win, though."
Beres credited senior Phil Marks, the Indians' backup keeper who played as a forward on Senior Night, for doing "a (heck) of a job out there" in helping North improve to 9-2-1 (28 points, first place) in the National Conference. South drops to 5-5 (15 points, fifth place), 7-6-1 overall.
"Council Rock North is a nice team," Nicholl said. "They're top five in the district, and for us to have played as hard as we did, I'm OK with that. We're moving forward. We know we can give the top teams a game like tonight. We played them hard, and I don't think the score reflected the effort."
Nicholl commended Discavage on his stellar play as well as his entire senior class for their efforts.
Upper Moreland 1, Upper Dublin 0
Upper Moreland is making a strong run in the American Conference. And the Golden Bears are sending a clear message to the teams at the top. After handing Wissahickon its first conference loss of the season on Monday, Upper Moreland downed second-place Upper Dublin to move into a tie with the Cardinals on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Bears move to 7-3 with 21 points, identical to the Cardinals' league record.
Nate Roberts scored the game's only goal in the 13th minute.
Upper Dublin goalkeeper Scott Wexler made four saves. Upper Moreland netminder Kyle Walder made three stops to record the shutout.
Wissahickon 1, Upper Merion 1 (2OT)
A stellar defensive effort and a timely goal helped Upper Merion, winless in the American Conference, to a 1-1 tie with conference-leader Wissahickon on Monday.
The Vikings scored first on Dan Ocker's goal in the first half and held the Trojans to few scoring threats with an outstanding defensive effort led by sweeper Tervor Kupecky and center back Danny Achek.
"We changed things a little tactically," said Upper Merion coach Tom Dodds, whose team lost 8-0 to Wissahickon on Sept. 19. "We played some pressure defense down low, waited for them to come in, and our defense and goalie (Kevin O'Sullivan) really hung in there. We did a good job forcing them to take a lot of longer-range shots."
Zach Scannapieco knotted the score in the second half for the Trojans. Keeper Neal Guaglianone made one save in the game.
"This was a very important result for us," Dodds said. "This team could have folded up, but they got up for this, and they stepped it up today."
The Trojans remain atop the conference at 8-1-1 (25 points), 8-5-1 overall. Upper Merion moves to 0-6-3 (3 points), 1-8-3.
Harry S Truman 1, Pennsbury 0
A.J. Kolar scored off a Mike Camacho cross pass on a throw-in in the 16th minute, and that stood as the only goal of the game as Harry S Truman earned its second league win of the year with a 1-0 win over Pennsbury in Wednesday's National Conference game.
"That's the first time in my four years that we've beaten Pennsbury,"said Tigers' coach Scott Milone. "We're thrilled.
"We've played well sporadically. We'll put some good games together, and then have a letdown. Today we came out really strong and played a very good game."
Pennsbury pressed for the tying goal the rest of the game, but a strong defensive effort and a solid game between the pipes by David Rodriguez -- who denied a penalty kick in the 60th minute -- preserved the shutout.
Milone commended the efforts of Rashard Gayle and Brett Harder on defense and Camacho and Edgar Rodriguez up top.
"We moved Mike into the middle to deal with some personnel issues," Milone said. "With him there, and Edgar at forward, those two work very well together."
Pennsbury drops to 6-3-1 (19 points) and remains in fourth place in the National Conference (7-4-1 overall) following a 1-0 loss to Harry S Truman (2-9, 4-10) on Wednesday.
Souderton 2, Pennridge 0
Ryan Molineaux had two assists as Souderton topped local rival Pennridge under the lights (and the rain) on the turf at Pennridge on Wednesday night.
Jeff Wolf scored Souderton's first goal off a Molineaux corner kick, then Molineaux set up the second-half goal, which bounced around the box before being fired in from about 20 yards out.
Tyler Afflerbach was exceptional in goal in recording the shutout.
"Michael Gaito had two balls that were right on that Afflerbach had to reach out and tap over the crossbar," said Pennridge coach Peter Valimont. ""We put a lot of pressure on them early, and Afflerbach played a great game for them."
Freshman goalkeeper Steven Catlett played a strong game for the Rams, who showed much improvement over the last time they played the Big Red.
"The first time we played Souderton, we lost 4-0 and it was an embarrassment," Valimont said. "This time it was a much better effort."
Souderton improves to 4-4-3 (15 points) in the Continental Conference, 7-4 overall. Pennridge falls to 2-10 (6 points), 3-13.
Abington 1, Bensalem 0
Dan Sheppard scored the game's only goal as Abington topped Bensalem 1-0 on Wednesday. The Galloping Ghosts improve to 7-5 (21 points) in the National Conference, 8-7 overall. Bensalem falls to 3-7 (9 points), 4-8.
North Penn 2, Quakertown 0
Matt Robinson had a goal and an assist as North Penn jumped into second place in the Continental Conference with a Senior Night win over Quakertown on Wednesday.
The win lifts the Knights to 8-2-2 (26 points), moving them ahead of Central Bucks South (8-4-1, 25 points), which lost to conference leader Central Bucks East on Wednesday.
"This was a very important game," said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. "It was huge in the standings, and Senior Night gave some extra considerations to it. We played very well."
Conor Kennedy scored the Knights' first goal off a Robinson assist.
"Conor's a role player who really stepped up for us tonight," Duddy said of the senior.
Robinson scored off a Brian Zolot assist in the second half to give the Knights their second goal.
Seniors Dylan Eiger and Marc Meoli split time in the goal for North Penn, with Meoli making several huge saves in the second half to preserve the shutout.
With the loss, Quakertown falls to 0-10-2, 1-9-2.
Central Bucks West 2, Hatboro-Horsham 2 (2OT)
Central Bucks West staked out a 2-0 halftime lead, then Hatboro-Horsham chipped away at it, forging a 2-2 tie that could not be broken even after two overtime periods on Wednesday.
Tyler Sablyak and Steve Werner scored for West. Chris Russomano and Sean Canepa tallied for Hatboro-Horsham.
Both teams earn a point for the tie. West stands at 5-5-2 (17 points) for fourth place in the Continental Conference, 6-6-3 overall. The Hatters are 4-5-2 (14 points), right behind the Bucks, and 5-6-2 overall.
Neshaminy 5, William Tennent 1
Upper Dublin 3, Norristown 0 (Oct. 10)
Brian Schaefer scored on a penalty kick in the second minute, Andrew Yekel added a goal in the 49th minute and Jared D'Andrea capped the scoring in the 74th as Upper Dublin rolled past Norristown. Scott Wexler made four saves in recording the shutout for the Cardinals.
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennridge 1, Souderton 0
Pennridge guaranteed itself at least a share of the Continental Conference title with a 1-0 win over Souderton on Wednesday evening.
Jackie Stevens converted a Megan Shenk corner kick for the only goal of the game as the Rams improve to 11-1 (33 points) in the Continental Conference. Central Bucks South sits at 27 points with two league games left to play.
And though the Big Red sits at the bottom of the conference (0-10, 2-10), this game was anything but a cakewalk for the Rams.
"We possessed the ball for a good chunk of the game, but we couldn't score," said Pennridge coach Jorge Rodriguez. "Souderton's record doesn't speak for how well they're playing. When they had possession, they did some good things with the ball. They keep things close."
With the win, the Rams claim their third straight title -- they shared it with Central Bucks West last season and won it outright in 2009.
"Right now our focus shifts to tuning up for districts," Rodriguez said. "Playing in the Suburban One is so tough, it's like playing in two state tournaments. So we want to finish the regular season strong and focus on districts and getting out of there and hopefully make it to states."
Rodriguez credited junior Shannon Chynoweth and freshman Marissa Sheva for their outstanding efforts.
Council Rock North 1, Council Rock South 0
Coming into the 2011 season, there was not a player on the Council Rock North soccer team who had defeated Council Rock South. On Wednesday, the Indians downed the Golden Hawks for the second time this season, again by a 1-0 count, and inched ever closer to the National Conference title.
"It was a very exciting game," said North coach Larry Sullivan. "There were a lot of close calls. The difference was our back line and our goaltender.
"That might be the best five I've ever had. And (Alex) Hoffman in front of them. We really count on that back line."
Helena Gemmell and Kaitlin McNamara led the defense for the Indians, with Danielle DiGuglielmo recording the shutout in goal.
"I'm pleased with our effort," Sullivan said. "We struggled a little more tonight than we did last time. They had more answers, so we had to change things up a little. South is a really good team. They move the ball well, they're fast and they're tough to stay with."
Caitlin Hannegan scored the game's only goal on a one-on-one against the South goalkeeper. As it turns out, Hannegan had been relegated to the bench earlier in the game for missing the net on a pair of one-on-ones.
She made the third time a charm.
"That drives me crazy," Sullivan said with a laugh. "I told her, 'Don't miss the goal.' I think the message was sent and received. Out of nowhere, she got that chance in the second half. She got a through ball and she hit it early. After that, it was a war the rest of the way."
The win moves the Indians to 11-1 (33 points) in the conference, 12-1 overall. South falls to 9-2 (27 points) and is now tied with Neshaminy (9-2) in second place, six points behind the Indians. Both South and Neshaminy have three league games left, North has two, but one win against either Bensalem on Friday or Neshaminy on Oct. 18 will clinch at least a share of the title.
Hatboro-Horsham 3, Central Bucks West 0
Siobhan Spanninger and Taylor Hays led the defensive effort and Lindsey Day posted the shutout as Hatboro-Horsham downed Central Bucks West in Wednesday's Continental Conference game.
Sydney McNutt assisted on Tory Adlam's goal in the 12th minute, then added the Hatters's second goal on an assist from Ramsey McMenamin in the 73rd minute. Kellie McGoldrick scored the Hatters' final goal off a Mary Kate Bateman assist five minutes later.
Hatboro-Horsham improves to 8-3-1 (25 points, third place) in the Continental Conference, 10-3-1 overall. The Bucks fall to 3-6 (9 points), 3-8.
Neshaminy 3, William Tennent 2
Neshaminy jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and William Tennent battled back from a pair of two-goal deficits, but the Redskins hung on to take a hard-fought 3-2 win in Wednesday evening's National Conference matchup.
Megan Schafer put Neshaminy on the board with an unassisted goal, then registered the helper on Erin Farrell's goal to make it 2-0. Ashley Swain cut the Panthers' deficit to 2-1 before the half. Farrell netted her second of the game in the second half to make it 3-1, but Swain answered again and made it a one-goal game.
"We played well. It was really a pretty evenly played game," said Tennent coach Dan Russo. "I feel good for the girls. They got close. They never gave up. I'm very proud of their efforts."
Russo commended the efforts of Taylor Gerstenfield, Madison Massaro and Erin Foley.
With the win and Council Rock South's loss, Neshaminy moves into a tie with the Golden Hawks for second place in the National Conference at 9-2 (27 points), 10-3 overall. Tennent falls to 4-8 (12 points), 5-8-1.
Central Bucks South 1, Central Bucks East 0
All it takes is one mistake to cost a team a soccer game. On Wednesday, Central Bucks East made that crucial mistake, and Central Bucks South capitalized, with Emily Casey scoring off an assist from Taylor Matsinger in the 69th minute as the Titans earned a 1-0 win.
"We played very well today," said East coach Paul Eishold. "We had a very good first half but we were unable to capitalize. They put one in on a defensive mistake. It's happened in a lot of games. We play extremely well and we're not able to capitalize, then we make one or two mistakes and they score."
Eishold noted Aimee Chimera, Shawn Kane and Jess Haug for their strong efforts in the game.
The Titans improve to 9-3 (27 points, second in the Continental Conference), 10-4 overall. East drops to 6-5 (18 points, fourth place), 8-5-1 overall.
Pennsbury 7, Harry S Truman 0
Pennsbury powered in five second-half goals to pull away from host Harry S Truman in Wednesday's National Conference game.
"We had more players step up today," said Pennsbury coach Kaitlyn Battiste. "Goal-scoring has been one of our areas of weakness, so it was nice to see a lot of girls score and a lot of girls got a chance to play."
Stephanie Fisher (Lexi Brown assist) put the Falcons on the board in the 10th minute and Bree Gidner gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead. Brown added the next two Pennsbury goals, one assisted by Megan Egeland. Uche Onuoha then assisted goals by Emily Vogel and Kym Brewton. Emily Herbert capped the scoring on an assist from Jackie Sweeney.
"We came out very slow today. We just couldn't get going," said Truman coach Cosmo Diliegro. "We played all right in the first half, then our lack of depth catches up to us."
Diliegro commended defender Lindsay Zigler and midfielder Brittany Prescavage for their strong efforts.
Pennsbury improves to 6-4 (18 points, fourth place) in the National Conference, 7-6-1 overall. Truman drops to 0-11, 1-11.
Cheltenham 6, Norristown 0
Six different players scored as Cheltenham downed Norristown on Wednesday.
Cayla Rodney, Alix Macklin, Sarah Keeny, Molly McHugh, Oceana Hopkins and Jae Munoz each scored once for the Panthers.
Cheltenham, fighting for a posteseason berth, improves to 6-4 (18 points), third place in the conference, and 7-5 overall. Norristown drops to 0-9, 1-11.
North Penn 0, Quakertown 0
Quakertown goalkeeper Sarah Fothergill made four saves and North Penn keeper Laura Leonard turned aside six shots as North Penn and Quakertown played to a scoreless tie in Wednesday's game. Quakertown held a 13-7 edge in shots.
North Penn moves to 4-6-2 (14 points) in the Continental Conference, 6-6-2 overall. Quakertown stands at 2-8-1 (7 points), 3-8-1.
Bensalem 2, Abington 1
Chelsea Jones scored to break a 1-1 tie in the first half and that held up as the game-winner as Bensalem topped Abington, 2-1, in Wednesday's National Conference matchup.
Paige Wendling put the Owls on the board when her shot from the right side hit the far corner of the net. Abington knotted the score on Emily Willard's penalty kick.
Abington had several chances to tie the game in the second half, with Cindy Wade and Caroline Leahy hitting the crossbar on excellent scoring chances. Jess Domansky was moved up from junior varsity and played a strong game for Abington, which falls to 0-11 in the league, 0-13 overall.
Bensalem improves to 5-5 (15 points), 6-7-1.
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