BOYS SOCCER
Neshaminy 3, Pennsbury 2
Monday featured two teams in the National conference spotlight battling it out under the lights at Neshaminy High School. The host Redskins scored three goals in the first half, then held off a furious comeback attempt in the second half to earn a 3-2 win and hand Pennsbury its first league loss of the season.
"We just overall jumped all over them to start the game," said Neshaminy coach Rich Reice. "We were working the ball around, sharing the ball well, playing our game."
Sean Sheridan scored twice for Neshaminy and Nick Tucci made it 3-0 in the final seconds of the first half when he headed the ball in off a free kick.
"The kids were a little giddy at halftime," Reice said. "I had to tell them, 'Calm down. These next 40 minutes, they're not going to sit back. They're going to come at us.'"
And the Falcons did just that. Pennsbury battled furiously through the second half, trimming its deficit to 3-2 on goals in the final 15 minutes by Matt Montgomery and Sam Uprichard.
"I told them at halftime, 'It's up to you. You can do something epic or you can go through the motions in the second half,'" said Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart. "To their credit, they tried to do something epic. I'm very happy with the way they came out in the second half."
"They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us," Reice said. "You want to see your guys react to that and play with composure, and they did. I was happy to see we didn't fold, but Pennsbury definitely had us on our heels for a while."
Neshaminy improves to 5-2 in the league (7-2 overall) with the win, while Pennsbury falls to 5-1-1, 6-2-1.
Abington 1, Council Rock North 0
Billy Natter scored from a scramble in the box on the rebound of a corner kick, and the goal held up as a surging Abington squad topped National Conference leader Council Rock North, 1-0, in Monday's game.
Sean Gannon stood tall in net, posting the shutout for the Ghosts.
"Sean was excellent in goal," said longtime coach Randy Garber. "Everything that came at him from the flanks into the box, he found a way to find them. He denied everything they shot at him."
In addition to Gannon, Garber credited the defense for keeping the Indian attackers off the scoreboard.
"Defensively, each game we're getting better," Garber said. "We changed some personnel around and it's made the defense stronger."
Garber credited Chris Tracey in the backfield, Kyle Rocks at midfield and forward Danny Sheppard for their strong performances.
"Overall, this was a very good team effort," said Garber, who believes this is the first time in his 18 years at Abington's helm that the Ghosts have defeated North twice in the same season. "I was talking with (assistant coach) Jim DeFerdinand after the game, and we can't remember if we've ever beaten Council Rock North twice in the same season."
With the win, Abington improves to 6-3 in conference play, 7-4 overall. Council Rock North drops to 6-2-1, 6-2-1.
North Penn 3, Pennridge 0
North Penn jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead in Monday's Continental Conference victory over Pennridge.
Sean Gorman (Jon Nazon assist) put the Knights on the board about 20 minutes into the game. Matt Robinson (Tom Sladek assist) made it 2-0 about three minutes later, and Jaime Bonner (Nick Bernitt assist) added the final goal.
"We played a strong game," said North Penn coach Paul Duddy. "The first 15 minutes was pretty sloppy, and Pennridge played well. They had a couple of chances early. But once we got that first one in, things went pretty well for us."
With the victory, North Penn moves to 4-1-2 in league play, 5-1-2 overall. Pennridge falls to 0-7, 1-9.
Harry S Truman 1, Bensalem 0
Edgar Rodriguez scored the only goal of the contest as Harry S Truman edged Bensalem, 1-0, in National Conference play on Monday.
Truman picks up its first league win and improves to 1-7, 2-8 overall. Bensalem falls to 2-5, 3-6.
Wissahickon 4, Norristown 0
Wissahickon remained undefeated in American Conference play, upping its record to 7-0 (7-4 overall) with its 4-0 victory over Norristown in Monday's game.
Tim Ko, Joe Farrell, Nick Nikic and Eric Hibbs each scored once for the Trojans, who outshot host Norristown by a lopsided 25-5 count.
Jake Harris made 19 saves in a losing effort for the Eagles (1-6-1, 3-6-1). Neal Guaglianone and John Carrozza combined for three saves in recording the shutout.
Central Bucks West 5, Quakertown 0
Steven Cornwell scored twice and eight players recorded points as Central Bucks West cruised to a 5-0 win over Quakertown in Monday's Continental Conference matchup.
Cornwell (Tyler Sablyak assist) and Jared Kelly scored to give the Bucks a 2-0 halftime lead. Bryan Werner (Jamie Lombardi assist) made it 3-0 in the 49th minute, then Cornwell (Ben Wisnewski assist) scored in the 67th minute and Mike O'Niel (Tory Bingemen assist) capped the scoring a minute later.
West moves to 5-3-1 in the league, 6-4-2 overall. Quakertown falls to 0-6-1, 1-6-1.
Upper Dublin 9, Upper Merion 0
Upper Dublin scored early and often, with seven different players scoring, as the Cardinals rolled to a 9-0 win over Upper Merion in Monday's American Conference game.
Glenn VanOrden (Gabe Fellus assist) started off the offensive onslaught in the sixth minute. Will Schultz and Fellus added goals a minute apart early in the half as the Cards took a 3-0 lead into halftime. Kyle Purvis (Zach Arnold assist) scored two minutes into the second half, Dan Demchick scored his first goal of the game in the 50th minute, Drew Yekel (Jared D'Andrea assist) scored two minutes later, Brian Schaefer added a goal in the 60th minute, and Demchick and VanOrden capped off the scoring with goals in the 66th and 76th minute, respectively.
Scott Wexler and Ben Kramer each made one save to split the shutout victory for the Cardinals, who improve to 6-2 in the league, 7-2 overall. Kevin O'Sullivan made five saves for the Vikings (0-5-2, 1-7-2).
Upper Moreland 1, Plymouth Whitemarsh 0
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennridge 2, North Penn 0
Pennridge played its game. The Rams controlled the ball and dictated the style.
And though they struggled to finish at times, when they had their chances, the Rams put the ball in the net. As a result, the host Rams took a hard-fought 2-0 win under the lights in Monday's Continental Conference game against North Penn.
Natalia Pinkney scored Pennridge's first goal. Julia Rufe added one in the second half off a corner from Cate Sheehan.
"The game was similar to the first time we played North Penn," said Pennridge coach Jorge Rodriguez. "I thought we had better possession this time, but we were not able to put the ball away.
"We did a very good job connecting passes. Everyone played very well and we played the style we wanted to play."
Rodriguez praised the play of Shannon Chynoweth and the defensive efforts of Stevi Parker in the victory.
Rodriguez also had kind words for the opposition.
"North Penn has a good group of talented players," he said. "(Defenders) Haley Mangiaruga and Katie Huber did a great job dealing with our speed."
Pennridge remains atop the Continental Conference at 8-1 (11-1 overall). North Penn falls to 4-4-1, 6-4-1.
Council Rock North 5, Abington 0
Caitlin Hannigan scored a goal and assisted on two others and Sarah Scheidell added a goal and an assist as Council Rock North remained undefeated in posting a 5-0 shutout of Abington in Monday's National Conference game.
Scheidell (Hannigan assist) and Juliah Wexler (Scheidell assist) gave the Indians a 2-0 halftime lead, and Lexi Crocker (Hannigan assist), Hannigan (Sarah Cannon assist) and Adrianna Rosario (Cannon assist) added to the lead after the break.
"This was a better game than the score would indicate," said North coach Larry Sullivan. "The first half of the first half was a battle. We scored right before halftime, and in the second half, we played pretty well."
Central Bucks South 1, Souderton 0
Kristen Upton scored in the first half and her goal stood as the only tally of the game as Central Bucks South defeated a much-improved Souderton team, 1-0, in Monday's Continental Conference matchup. Megan Radwanski posted the shutout for the Titans.
"A lot of the game was played between the 18s," South coach Joe Bocklet said. "We out-chanced them, but they had a couple chances as well. Souderton is much improved from the beginning of the season.
"This was one of three in a row for us, so I played my whole bench, got a lot of girls some action today."
Bocklet praised the efforts of Nikki Weiss, Madison Vitelli and Shannon Senour in the victory.
With the win, the Titans improve to 5-3 in the league, 6-4 overall. Souderton drops to 0-8, 2-8.
Council Rock South 4, William Tennent 1
Council Rock South scored three second-half goals to pull away from a vastly improved William Tennent squad and post a 4-1 victory in Monday's National Conference matchup.
Kate Jackson scored for South in the first half, and Alexa Crosier and Erica Crosier scored in the second to give the Golden Hawks a three-goal lead. Angelina Liddy scored Tennent's only goal, which made it a 3-1 game, but Gabrielle Rosenfeld added one more for South to ice the contest.
Sam Lawson minded the Hawks' nets in the first half, with Liz Eagan taking over in the second.
"We had some opportunities in the first half, we just didn't score on them," said South coach John Oberholtzer. "We've had trouble all year finishing.
"William Tennent is better from the first time we played them. But we're better also. We're getting more offensive opportunities, we just have to capitalize on our chances. Our attack is better now than it was two weeks ago."
Oberholtzer praised the play of Chrissy Volrath, Amanda Nicholas, Paula Jurewicz and Colleen Diviney.
South improves to 7-1 in the National Conference, 9-2 overall. Tennent falls to 3-6, 4-6.
Neshaminy 3 at Pennsbury 0
Megan Schafer had a hand in all three goals, scoring twice and adding an assist, as Neshaminy topped Pennsbury in Monday's National Conference action.
Katie Suchodolski (Schafer assist) put the Redskins on the scoreboard and Dana Knapp (Schafer assist) made it 2-0 before Schafer (Erin Farrell assist) capped off the scoring.
McKenna Mullin earned the shutout in goal for Neshaminy. Courtney Bennett played a solid game in goal for the Falcons.
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Central Bucks East 1
Ramsey McMenamin scored in the first overtime period as Hatboro-Horsham took a 2-1 win over host Central Bucks East on War Memorial Field in Monday's Continental Conference action.
Kelsey Schafer put the Hatters on the board in the fifth minute. Nicole Panella knotted the score in the 63rd.
Bensalem 1, Harry S Truman 0
Bensalem scored and early goal and made it hold up as the Owls edged Truman 1-0 in Monday's National Conference game.
"They scored in the first five minutes. It was a close game the whole way," said Truman coach Cosmo Diliegro. "Both teams played very well."
Bensalem improves to 2-4 in league play, 2-6-1 overall. Truman falls to 0-7, 1-7.
- Log in to post comments
