SOL BOYS’ SOCCER
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Upper Dublin 0
The penalty kick is as much a mental battle as it is a physical one.
Where will the shooter target? Which way will the goalie move? Will a quick glance or a slight twitch tip off your opponent as to what you're thinking?
When Plymouth Whitemarsh senior Mike Banerjee stepped to the line in the 47th minute of Tuesday's American Conference matchup against Upper Dublin, he knew exactly where he wanted to shoot.
"It does become a little bit of a mind game," Banerjee said of the penalty shot. "The goalkeeper didn't move too much - it just became what I was going to do, and I put it where I wanted it."
Banerjee fired a shot high and to the right of Cardinal keeper Scott Wexler's outstretched hands to break the scoreless tie.
And 29 minutes later, Banerjee found himself facing Wexler once again for a penalty kick. Again the mental games started. And again, Banerjee came out on top, scoring on an almost identical shot.
"If I see the keeper move to one side, I go to the other side," he said. "I thought I saw him go toward the opposite side, so I decided to tuck it away, same side, same area."
Banerjee's two penalty kicks ended up being the difference as the Colonials topped the host Cardinals.
"When Mike Banerjee goes up to the penalty mark, there's no question in my mind he's going to make it ... no question he's going to get it in the back of the net," said PW coach Devon Landgraff. "But this was a team effort. We've talked about playing together and playing as a team and coming together as a unit, and they're really starting to do that."
Wexler was called into play for Banerjee's first shot following a highly disputed call on the Cards' starting keeper, Parker Schroeder. While rushing out of the net to beat a PW attacker to the ball, Schroeder went down to corral the ball and collided with the Colonial attacker. He was issued a red card on the play, forcing him out of the game and requiring the Cards to play the final 33 minutes down one man.
"I very much am in dispute of the red card that was given out in the box. We have it on video, we're going to follow up on that," said Upper Dublin coach Rick Schmidt. "I don't understand that. If you want to call a foul, that's fine, if it's a PK, so be it. I don't see how you can card a goalie in the box going for the ball.
"Considering we were playing a man down the second half, we played pretty well. Unfortunately, playing a man down, we weren't able to get that offensive punch we wanted."
The Cardinals did have their chances in the second half. A long throw-in was headed by Michael Connelly just wide of the net. And an impressive charge up the field by Brian Schaefer resulted in a long shot from Dan Demchick that was gobbled up by PW goalie Tyler Haney. The senior keeper made four saves and the Colonial defense stood strong in recording the shutout.
"I'm very confident in our back four, and they're very confident in themselves," Landgraff said. "This was a huge confidence booster to these guys. They're really believing in each others' talents and believing in each other."
"We really pulled through today," Banerjee added. "I think we proved today that we are formidable opponents."
The win in the aggressive, physical game -- which saw Upper Dublin issued three yellow cards and PW one -- raised the Colonials' record to 3-2 overall, 2-1 in the American Conference. Upper Dublin drops to 2-1-1, 1-1. Upper Dublin outshot the Colonials, 4-2, and held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 2 – 2
Upper Dublin 0 0 -- 0
Bensalem 4, William Tennent 3 (OT)
Greg McDowell scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, as Bensalem edged William Tennent in Tuesday's National Conference matchup. Juan Toro and Zach Hizer each scored a goal for the Owls, who improve to 2-1 overall, 2-0 in the conference. Jim McDowell and Curran Gibbons each recorded an assist. Ryan Eppley scored for Tennent, which drops to 0-5, 0-3.
Central Bucks East 2, Pennridge 1 (OT)
Pennridge led 1-0 at halftime on the strength of a Scott Moyer goal (Kriss Gross assist), but Central Bucks East rallied in the second half and netted the game-winner in overtime of Tuesday's Continental Conference clash.
Sean Jenkins scored the overtime goal (Ben Marks assist) to give the Patriots the victory. Antonio Diaz (Chris Gomex) knotted the game at 1-1 in the second half.
Pennridge goalie Zach Garrett recorded six saves in a strong performance.
Central Bucks South 4, Quakertown 0
The Titans received goals from Mike Serban (Stackhouse assist), Bryan Brady (Todd Rainey assist), Gilbert (Rainey, Pieri assists) in their win over the Panthers.
Council Rock North 4, Harry S Truman 0
Council Rock North remained undefeated and Truman stayed winless in National Conference play with the Indians' 4-0 victory on Tuesday.
Pennsbury 2, Abington 1
Trailing 1-0 after just one minute of action, Abington tied the game on a goal by Kyle Rocks with seven minutes remaining in the half. Pennsbury scored a goal that turned out to be the game winner three minutes into the second half.
Upper Merion 1, Cheltenham 1 (OT)
Upper Dublin 4, William Tennent 0 (Monday, Sept. 12)
Gabe Fellus (Drew Yekel assist) scored in the fourth minute, and by halftime, the Flying Cardinals led 3-0, thanks to goals by Yekel (Zach Arnod assist) and Dan Demchick (Mike Connelly assist).
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2, Upper Moreland 1 (OT)
Ian McDade scored to knot the score 1-1 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Sam Brodovsky scored the game winner for the Colonials two minutes into the first OT off a corner kick from McDade. Keeper Tyler Haney had six saves for PW in net.
SOL GIRLS’ SOCCER
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Souderton 1 (2OT)
Center midfielder Kellie McGouldrick tied the game with three minutes left in regulation, then netted the game-winner with four minutes left in the second overtime period as Hatboro-Horsham rallied to take a thrilling victory over Souderton in Tuesday's Continental Conference matchup.
"Kellie beat her player in the midfield and just stroked the ball," H-H coach Ben Winderman said of the game-winning goal. "You knew it was going in the moment she kicked it.
"We gave up an early goal in the first half and (Souderton) played smart. We hung in there, got the goal with three minutes left, and you could sense that they took the momentum. We carried that momentum into the overtime."
The Hatters finally broke through when Sydney McNutt brought the ball up the field from her sweeper position and set up McGouldrick's game-tying goal.
"Sydney dominated the game," Winderman said.
The Hatters also received a stellar performance from midfielder Ramsey McMenamin. "She didn't stop running all night," Winderman said. "She's up and back all night, she never gives up."
With the win, the Hatters improve to 2-1 overall (1-1 Continental Conference). Souderton falls to 1-3, 0-3.
Pennridge 1, Central Bucks East 0
Natalia Pinkney scored the only goal of the game off an assist from Maggie Butcher as Pennridge topped Central Bucks East in Tuesday's battle of two of the top teams in the Continental Conference. The Rams improve to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in the conference. The Patriots fall to 2-1, 2-1.
Pennsbury 1, Abington 0
The Falcons received a goal from Uche Onuoha (Lindsey Jones assist) in the 66th minute to earn the win.
Council Rock North 8, Harry S. Truman 0
Andrea Mateer got the ball rolling for the Indians, scoring a goal and then assisting on a goal by Karina Kovalcik. By halftime, the Indians led 4-0 on their way to the big win.
“We were playing poorly, and she just came up and scored a goal and then made a great assist on our next goal,” coach Larry Sullivan said. “It just relaxed us.”
Also scoring goals for the Indians were Nicole Moonan, Adrianna Rosario, Caitlin Hannegan, Sarah Scheidell (two goals) and Savanna Yourtee.
Central Bucks South 3 Quakertown 1
Kelsey Mariner connected for the hat trick for the Titans in Tuesday’s SOL win. The win came 24 hours after the Falcons fell to Archbishop Ryan in non-league action on Monday. Lexi Brown accounted for her team’s only goal in the 35th minute.
Cheltenham 1, Upper Merion 0
Sloane Macklin scored the game winner in a game controlled by the Lady Panthers.
Upper Moreland 4, Norristown 1
The Eagles didn’t win Tuesday’s SOL game against Upper Moreland, but they did score their first goal of the season when Megan Grande connected.
North Penn 2, Central Bucks West 1 (Monday, Sept. 12)
Kelsey Horst scored to put the Bucks on the scoreboard in the 37th minute, but the Maidens used a late surge to earn the win. Megan Kelley (Elizabeth Ricci assist) scored at the 56:55 mark, and Kiara Forte netted the game winner at the 66:55 mark. Maiden goalie Laura Leonard had six saves.
Central Bucks East 1, Hatboro-Horsham 0 (Monday, Sept. 12)
Sam Axenroth (Aimed Chemera) scored the game’s only goal in the 57th minutes of Monday’s contest.
Quakertown 6, Wissahickon 2 (Monday, Sept. 12)
Shannon Gibat scored four goals for the Trojans while teammate Shelly Cowan added a pair of goals and an assist. Jami Soriano had two assists and Linzi Wolfe, one assist. For the Trojans, Alyssa Ryan and Cailin Gray each had a goal. The Panthers held a 17-4 advantage in shots.
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