BOYS SOCCER
Wissahickon 3, Upper Dublin 2
Wissahickon overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit and posted a thrilling 3-2 win over neighborhood rival Upper Dublin to clinch the American Conference title on Monday.
The Trojans broke a two-game winless skid at the best possible time, securing the squad's fourth consecutive league title.
"We were sailing along, and we hit a bump in the road last week," said coach Stuart Malcolm, whose team was unbeaten and untied in league play before a loss to Upper Moreland and a tie with Upper Merion last week. "We could have done it earlier, but that put us in a situation where if we win today, we win the division.
"Every year we go with our expectations that we set out at the beginning. We wanted to make playoffs, and the easiest way to do that is to win the division."
Senior captains Stefan Dasbach (41st minute) and Dan Matthews (65th minute) scored, as did Nick Nikic in the 78th minute.
"Our three captains (Dasbach, Matthews and Joe Farrell) were the driving force within the team and they stepped up in a big way today," Malcolm said. "But three doesn't make a team. They've brought the other players along, and we're really playing well as a unit."
The Trojans improve to 9-1-1 in league play, 9-5-1 overall. They'll close out the regular season hosting Cheltenham on Tuesday and National Conference power Neshaminy on Thursday.
"We gave ourselves a tough nonleague schedule to help get us ready for the playoffs," Malcolm said.
The Flying Cardinals, who scored in the 24th minute and in the final minute of regulation, fall to 7-4, 9-4.
Central Bucks East 2, Quakertown 1 (OT)
Brothers Ryan and Eric Vare each scored a goal as Central Bucks East rallied past Quakertown in overtime to clinch the Suburban One Continental Conference title on Monday.
"We're excited to win our league, which is an unbelievably competitive league," said East coach Mike Gorni, whose squad earned its second straight league title. "What we really want to do now is not count on anything until it's done. We think we're in a good position for playoffs."
Quakertown got on the scoreboard with 11 minutes left in regulation. Ryan Vare knotted the score a minute later off an assist from Ben Marks. Two minutes into the overtime period, Miguel Diaz beat two players down the end line and crossed a pass to senior midfielder Eric Vare, who found the back of the net and earned the Patriots the victory and their fourth league title in five years.
"Quakertown played a great game today, which goes to show how competitive our conference is," Gorni said.
The Patriots, who stand at 11-2 in league play (12-2-1 overall), close out the season Tuesday against Souderton and Thursday against Abington.
"After that, it's a whole new season and it's single-elimination, so we have to be ready," Gorni said. "We're going to go out and play and give our best effort, but it definitely reduces the stress of the last games to have already clinched."
Hatboro-Horsham 5, Central Bucks South 1
Finally a healthy team, Hatboro-Horsham flexed its muscle on Monday by downing Central Bucks South 5-1 in a Continental Conference matchup.
"I've had a bunch of guys injured, and we've finally gotten everybody back and healthy," said Hatters' coach Kyle McGrath. "We really went at them in the first half.
"It's been frustrating, if anything, to have been battling injuries all season. But it was good to see them play so well today."
Ryan Smith, Sean Canepa and Alex Badulak each scored once to stake the Hatters to a 3-0 halftime lead. Ryan New added a pair of second-half goals. Chris Russomano, Sasha Malofiy, Paul Haggerty and Tom Hucker each recorded assists for the Hatters, who improve to 5-5-2 in league play, 6-6-2 overall.
Mike Serban scored the lone goal for the Titans, who fall to 8-4-1, 10-5-1.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1, Springfield 0
Jimmy Rooney scored the only goal of the game and three goalkeepers combined to record the shutout as Plymouth Whitemarsh topped nonleague opponent Springfield on Monday.
Tyler Haney started the game in goal, but was hurt in the first 10 minutes. Backup keepers Andrew Pilhuj and Mike Willis split time the rest of the way to post the shutout.
With the win, PW improves to 8-6-1 overall (5-5-1, 16 points, fourth place in the American Conference).
Council Rock South 3, Bensalem 0
Alex Wolf had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Caffey posted the shutout in goal as Council Rock South bested Bensalem in Monday's National Conference game.
South improves to 8-5 (24 points, tied for third place) in league play, 10-6-1 overall. Bensalem falls to 3-9, 4-10.
Abington 4, Harry S. Truman 0
Isaac Pitkow scored twice and Danny Sheppard and Kyle Rocks each added one goal as Abington blanked Truman in Monday evening's American Conference matchup.
The Ghosts improve to 8-5 (24 points, tied for third place) in the conference, 8-7 overall. Truman drops to 2-10-1, 4-11-1.
GIRLS SOCCER
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Central Bucks South 1
In a battle of two teams jockeying for position in the Continental Conference, Hatboro-Horsham rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Central Bucks South, 2-1, and leap past the Titans and into second place in the conference. The Hatters move to 9-3-1 (28 points) in league play, 11-3-1 overall. South falls to 9-4 (27 points), 10-5.
Nikki Weiss scored (Maddie Vitelli assist) in the 24th minute to give the Titans the lead. Kellie McGoldrick knotted the score on a penalty kick in the 60th minute, and Tory Adlam netted the game-winner in the 78th.
Ramsey McMenemin provided strong play in the midfield and stopper Emily Sheehan was at the top of her game.
The Hatters host North Penn in Tuesday's Senior Day game and close out the season with non-league games against Cheltenham and Wissahickon. South visits Central Bucks West Tuesday evening and hosts non-league opponent William Tennent on Thursday.
Council Rock South 10, Bensalem 0
Paige McDowell collected a hat trick and Paula Jurewicz and Erica Crosier each scored two goals as Council Rock South rolled past Bensalem, 10-0 in Monday's National Conference game. Chrissy Vollrath, Colleen Diviney and Rebecca Davey each added one goal for the Golden Hawks, who improve to 10-2-1 (31 points, second place) in the conference, 12-3-1 overall. Bensalem falls to 5-7, 6-9-1.
Upper Moreland 3, St. Basil 2
Upper Moreland jumped out to a 3-1 lead and held off St. Basil through the second half to come away with a 3-2 non league victory on Monday. Coupled with the Golden Bears' 4-1 win over nonleague opponent Springfield on Saturday, Upper Moreland is riding a two-game winning streak and facing back-to-back games against Upper Merion and a non-league matchup against Phoenixville to close out the regular season.
"We're starting to play like a team," sad Upper Moreland coach Joe Joyce. "We weren't playing consistently for a while. We were our own worst enemy. But in the last two games, we were in control a lot more.
Lindsay Walder scored twice against St. Basil (giving her four goals in the past two games) and Maddy Mauro added one.
With the win, Upper Moreland improves to 5-9 overall.
"It's exciting to see the team come together," Joyce said. "It's such a young team, it's like we have a three-year plan. But we're going to play these last three games and we're looking to capture lightning in a bottle at the last minute and try to finish 8-9 and see if we can slip into the (Class) AA playoffs."
Central Bucks East 2, Cheltenham 0
Central Bucks East scored a pair of goals in the final 14 minutes of regulation to pull away with a 2-0 win over Cheltenham in Monday's non-league matchup.
Abby Emmert scored in the 66th minute (Annie Axenroth assist), and Sam Axenroth (Aimee Chimera assist) added a goal four minutes later. Paige Marcinkowski recorded the shutout in goal.
East improves to 9-5-2 overall and visits Souderton for a 7 p.m. game Tuesday.
Quakertown 6, Springfield 0
Shannon Gibat scored a natural hat trick as Quakertown scored early and often in its nonleague victory over Springfield on Monday.
In addition, Sarah Fothergill got the opportunity to see her name appear in a different part of the scorebook as the Panthers' starting goalkeeper recorded an assist on Steph Burke's goal in the 77th minute.
Gibat scored the game's first three goals (assists to Lindsey Rathjens, Linzi Wolfe, Devin Reed, respectively). Shelly Cowan (Jami Soriano assist), Soriano (Jordyn Pursel assist) and Burke added second-half goals.
Quakertown outshot Springfield, 14-1.
The Panthers improve to 5-8-1 with the win.
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