Zach DiNardo scored in overtime to lift Strath Haven to a 1-0 nonleague victory over Archbishop Carroll. Goalie Dixon Damico (six saves) posted the shutout for the Panthers. Jake Langley made eight saves in goal for the Patriots.
Harriton 2, Academy Park 1 >> Serhat Sakarcan put home the winner in overtime for the Rams. Clifford Wrobah converted a pass from Clarence Koboi in the second half for Academy Park to send the game into overtime. Goalie Ishmael Americain made seven saves for the Knights.

Evan Trizonis and John Berry broke through for second-half goals as Garnet Valley downed Sun Valley, 2-0, Saturday in a nonleague boys soccer match.
Tyler Tracy (two saves) and John Scott (one save) split time in net for the Jaguars (3-1).
In other nonleague action:
Avon Grove 5, Penncrest 3 >> Nate Rodgers, Evan Wildermuth and Sam Brown had one goal each, and Pat Hughes made 12 saves for the Lions in the loss. Shea Morgan contributed a pair of assists and Brown added a helper for Penncrest.
Radnor 1, Bishop Shanahan 0 >> Ryan Peter converted a feed from Cal Hanson in the first half for the lone goal, with Ben Toomey needing to stop just two shots to notch the shutout for the Raiders.
Peddie School 3, Episcopal Academy 0 >> The Churchmen (3-2-2) kept it close early, but six saves from Matt Freese weren’t enough to prevent the home loss.
Cardinal O’Hara 2, Ridley 1 >> Martin Meenan scored off an assist from Derek Sacks, and Sacks scored off a helper from Ryan Shields as the Lions won in overtime.
In the Hill School Invitational:
South Kent 3, Haverford School 0 >> Despite seven saves from Will Baltrus, the Fords (0-1-2) suffered their first loss of the season — albeit to the defending national champions from Connecticut.

The Haverford School boys soccer team ran into stiff competition again Sunday, falling 3-0 to Kiski Prep in the Hill School Invitational.
Goalkeeper Will Baltrus was credited with two saves while the Fords couldn’t get on the scoreboard despite outshooting Kiski, 9-5.
The loss — and shutout — was the second in two days for Haverford, which slipped to 0-2-2 on the season.

Owen J. Roberts 2, Perkiomen Valley 1 >> Brandon Ott and Graham Pugh scored first half goals as the Wildcats held on for a PAC win against the Vikings.

Doug Sbei added an assist in front of Tyler Stonebraker’s six-save showing in goal. Brandon Fiore scored PV’s lone goal.

Phoenixville 9, Upper Perkiomen 0 >> Phil Meszaros registered four points and Clay Kopko scored his first varsity goal in the Phantoms’ shutout of the Tribe.

Meszaros scored twice and added two helpers while Andre Souza and Arun Sankar each scored twice. Other goals came from Colin Hook and Patricio Perez while assists were credited to Greg Flamma (two), Tyler Siefer, JT Stephens, Jake Perillo and Jair Ibarra. Michell Coll made three saves in goal.

South Kent School (Conn.) 2, Hill School 1 >> A very strong South Kent School side defeated host Hill School 2-1 on the final day of the annual Hill School Soccer Jamboree. The visitors took an early lead in the third minute on a strike from Tomas Jamett before The Hill tied the match just before intermission on a goal from Nico Besselaar.

Payton Blynn of South Kent volley home a rebound from the top of the box four minute after halftime for the deciding score. Hill keeper Aiden Perry ’17 had seven saves and South Kent keeper Hunter Kochiss has three saves for the victors.

In the other match, Kiski School defeated Haverford School 3-0.

Caleb Robinson had a huge game to lead The Christian Academy boys soccer team to its first Bicentennial League victory with a 6-2 triumph over Calvary Baptist Monday.
This is TCA’s first year as a full member of the league.
Robinson scored four times and the Crusaders used a four-goal outburst in the first half to take control of the game. Jesse Brittain added one goal and one assist. Grant Sareyka handed out two assists and Warner Litrenta had the other goal for TCA. Andre Jones took care of things in goal with two saves.
Elsewhere in the Bicentennial League:
Devon Prep 4, Delco Christian 2 >> Nicholas Bello tallied twice and Connor Kelly once as the Tide overcame an early 1-0 deficit.
Jamie Fitzgerald converted a pass from Dante Felize in the fourth minute to give the Knights a 1-0 advantage. Bello scored twice and Kelly put home what turned out to be the winner in the 32nd minute.
Nicholas Daniel scored DC’s second goal with an assist from Nate Carroll.

UPPER DUBLIN >> Neither head coach was jumping for joy following Tuesday afternoon’s 1-0 win by the Upper Dublin boys’ soccer team over Wissahickon.

Trojans head coach Stuart Malcolm was bemoaning the lack of a goal scorer while Cardinals head coach Derek Priest was grousing about what he called “the worst first half” his side had played all season.

But ultimately it was Priest’s charges who were celebrating victory after Anthony Wisdo found the net in the 65th minute to give the home side the victory.

“In the first half we played very poorly,” said Priest. “Wissahickon outplayed us, and it was one of the worst halves I’ve seen us play in a while.

“We weren’t winning any 50-50 balls and when we did get the ball we threw it away. Credit Wissahickon for playing so well, but we just made too many bad plays.”

Despite that, the Cardinals seemed to have the better of the scoring opportunities, most notably by Wisdo, who was robbed by Trojans netminder Jun Yuh, Chris Tocchet, whose shot was batted over the net and Jose Palomeque, whose free kick was corralled by Yuh.

At the other end, Wissahickon’s Brad Schwartz was blunted at net off a strong move up the right wing, but Malcolm felt the Trojans were just not in sync offensively.

“I thought we competed well, overall,” Malcolm said. “But we don’t have anyone who seems to want to finish right now.

“What it’s coming down to right now is scoring, and we don’t seem to have the player who’s looking to the net.”

At the half, Priest went away from his team’s normal 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 alignment to get better ball rotation. And while it didn’t produce all of what he wanted, the Cardinals did play marginally better.

And when they got the opportunity to score, Wisdo didn’t miss.

The scoring play was set up by Tocchet, who got the ball to Wisdo on the right side.

“Coach put me on, and told me if I got the opportunity, to go hard,” Wisdo said. “I thought I was offsides, but I wasn’t, and when I got my chance I opened up my hips as if I were going far post and then got it past him on the short side.”

The goal wound up the Cardinals, and they were able to kill off the remaining time, although the Trojans did have a dangerous free kick in the closing seconds.

“It was a nice win for us,” Priest said. “When you don’t play and win, that’s always a plus. But our goal is to win by playing well.”

Meanwhile, Malcolm was left shaking his head over his side’s lack of goal production.

“If you come out and watch us play you’ll think we’re playing well, and we are,” Malcolm said. “We’re just not scoring, and you have to score to win.”

Methacton 2, Pottsgrove 1 >> Junior Vince Delisi sent a nice pass over to sophomore Trevor Taylor for a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.
Delisi scored early in the second half off an assist by Aidan O’Leary to make it 2-0. Pottsgrove cut the deficit to one with six minutes to play but Methacton held on from there.
Senior keeper Matt Kenwood stopped 13 shots for the Warriors.
Methacton 2, Pottsgrove 1
Methacton 1 1 — 2
Pottsgrove 0 1 — 1
Methacton: Vince Delisi 1-1, Trevor Taylor 1-0
Saves: Matt Kenwood (M) 13.

Pope John Paul II 1, Cardinal O’Hara 1 >> PJP scored in the 21st minute Monday, with Tim Faust knocking one in off an assist by Colin Flanegin.

Cardinal O’Hara scored on a free kick by Martin Meenan with three seconds left in the game to send it to overtime.
Pope John Paul II 1,
Cardinal O’Hara 1
Pope John Paul II 1 0 0 — 1
Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0 — 1
PJP: Tim Faust 1-0; Colin Flanegin 0-1.
CO: Martin Meenan 1-0.
Academy New Church 2, Calvary Christian 1 >> Declan Duran scored on a penalty kick in overtime to push ANC past Calvary on Tuesday.
ANC improved to 2-0 on the season.
Academy New Church 2,
Calvary Christian 1
Academy New Church 1 0 1 — 2
Calvary Christian 1 0 0 — 1
ANC: Wil Vandegrift 1-0; Declan Durand 1-0; CC: Jake Downs 1-0.
Saves: Xander Pendleton (ANC) 6; Michael W. (CC) 20.

TOWAMENCIN >> Coming up empty on scoring chance after scoring chance through a combination of misses, hitting the post and saves from William Tennent keeper Brendan Hanratty was a bit deflating for the North Penn boys soccer team. But getting so close also kept the Knights motivated.

“It’s frustrating because we could really use the goals, but on the other hand we definitely know we can score,” NP senior Nate Baxter said. “And we have the players up top that can get it done. We know it’s coming.”

Baxter was that player Tuesday afternoon, breaking a scoreless tie in the Suburban One League Continental Conference matchup at in the second half as host North Penn edged the Panthers 1-0.

“We definitely needed the three points, we needed the win in our league,” Baxter said. “We started off the year a little bit shaky against (Central Bucks) East but we’re getting our foothold back and we’re going to go only up from here.”

The Knights (3-1-0, 2-1-0 conference) should of had a lead at halftime, but were twice denied by the right post — the first on an indirect free kick in the Tennent 18-yard box, the second on Luke McMahon’s shot with an open goal. McMahon had another quality chance to collect the opening tally, but his shot in front off a header was stopped by Hanratty.

“I don’t think in the midfield and attack it wasn’t our best game but we still managed to win. And that’s what we’re after,” North Penn coach Paul Duddy said. “That just reminded me of a typical Continental league game. But we’re fine with it, glad to see Nate score.”

Baxter finally put the Knights up with 23:21 left in regulation, as a ball played by Noah Kwortnik took a fortuitous bounce for Baxter, who raced in and put a shot up high before outcoming Hanratty could make a sliding save.

“I think it was a ball from the midfield out wide but it deflected off a defender and it was just a lucky bounce and I got in and put it away,” Baxter said.

William Tennent (1-2-0, 0-2-0), without Billy Hanratty in the lineup, had trouble creating a consistent pressure on the NP defense and dropped it second straight game after opening the season with a win over Archbishop Wood.

“I thought our defense and our goalie in particular played very, very well. Up top now we’re a little shorthanded,” Tennent coach Ryan Todt said. “We’re missing one of our premier forwards in Billy Hanratty, so I think once we get him back, we’ll get things back to normal but in the meantime I think some of our younger guys just have to step up. A lot of them are being given an opportunity and we’re waiting for somebody to assert themselves.”

The Panthers best chance for a goal came after halftime on the second of three straight corner kicks with the contest still locked at 0-0. The corner was initially cleared, but the ball was sent back by North Penn into the box and a Tennent header was knocked over the crossbar by NP keeper Bobby Dean.

“Bobby reacted great, just got his hand up. It was a great save,” Duddy said.

After Baxter’s strike made it 1-0, William Tennent had a free kick chance from distance with less the 15 minutes to go, but the shot was low and into the NP wall.

“I think that some of these guys basically are finding their niche up top and we have a couple position changes right now and I think that we’re going to start clicking,” Todt said. “I can see we’re one pass away from clicking, one goal away and once you start scoring I think it’s contagious, but we just got to get that first one. We’ve kind of been snake-bitten and gun shy for the first couple games.”

Tuesday’s victory was the second straight for North Penn. All three of the Knights’ victory so far in 2016 coming by shutout, the lone blemish on their record being a 1-0 defeat to last year’s PIAA Class AAA champ Central Bucks East Sept. 7.

“We’re definitely still improving,” Baxter said. “But we’re a pretty good team, we still have a lot to work on.”

William Tennent, in its first season in the SOL Continental, stays in conference play for its next game as the Panthers visit Central Bucks South 3:30 p.m. Thursday. North Penn next plays Saturday in a non-league contest at Wilson-West Lawn at 11 a.m.

The Knights’ first good opportunity for a goal Tuesday came when the Panthers were called for dangerous play in their own 18-yard area, giving NP an direct kick. But Brendan Hanratty came out and got a foot on Mike Kohler’s low shot with the ball knocking off the right post to keep the match scoreless.

The right post again came into play when Brendan Hanratty stopped another Kohler shot. The rebound went to McMahon with an open net, but a touch by a WT defender had his try hitting of the post, the ball rolling tantalizingly in front of the goal line before Hanratty grabbed it.

Perkiomen School 4, Phelps School 3 >> The Panthers’ second-half scoring flurry negated Phelps’ early offense for the Tri-County League victory.

PK Arthur scored twice to lead Perkiomen, which trailed by a 3-0 count at the half. Michael Pulcini and Eduardo Gulin each had one goal to round out the Panthers’ production.

Pope John Paul II 1, Cardinal O’Hara 1 >> The Golden Panthers were unable to make their early lead hold up, O’Hara scoring in the second half to force a tie in their non-league contest.

PJP’s goal was scored in the first half by Tim Faust, with Colin Flanegin on the assist.

Bishop Shanahan scored twice in the second half as the Eagles rallied to top Great Valley, 3-2, in a Ches-Mont League boys soccer contest Tuesday.
The Eagles (3-1) tied the score five minutes into the second half, and won it off a deflected shot with under three minutes to play.
Austin Coron made eight saves, including a number of key stops.
Todd Simes and Federico Noguera tallied in the first half for the Patriots (1-3).
Bishop Shanahan    1    2 – 3
Great Valley    2    0 – 2
Great Valley goals: Simes, Noguera.
Bishop Shanahan goals unavailable.
Goalie saves:  Coron (BS) 8; Nehring (GV) 2, Dinsmore (GV) 2.

PERKIOMEN SCHOOL 4, PHELPS 3  >> Alvin Dahn, Sebastien Salazar, Nate Wilson scored for Phelps in its opener.
Perkiomen School    0    4 – 4
Phelps    3    0 – 3
Downingtown East goals: Arthur 2, Eduardo, Pulcini.
Bishop Shanahan goals: Dahn, Salazar, Wilson.
Goalie saves: Glavin (PS) 14; Siegerman (P) 9.

W.C. Rustin 3, Sun valley 2 >> Chris McMahon scored twice in the last 90 seconds, the game-winner coming with seven seconds left, as the Golden Knights (2-0) recorded the Ches-Mont American victory. Aidan Doris also tallied for Rustin.
Zach Montgomery scored twice for the Vanguards (1-2).
W.C. Rustin     0    3 – 3
Sun Valley    2    0 – 2
W.C. Rustin goals: Chris McMahon 2, Doris.
Sun Valley goals: Montgomery 2.
Goalie saves: Skwriut (SV) 3; Bosch (WCR) 1.

Avon Grove 3, Coatesville 0  >> Stetson Fenster, Juan Hernandez and Dan Perkins dented the net for the Red Devils (1-1, 2-2-1) in the Ches-Mont National victory. Christian Zamudio had four saves in the shutout.
Avon Grove    1    2 – 3
Coatesville     0    0 – 0
Avon Grove goals: Fenster, Hernandez, Perkins.
Goalie saves: Zamudio (AG) 4; Oleykowski (C) 7.

Unionville 0, Kennett 0  >> Mitt Nitz made three saves as the Indians (1-1-1, 2-1-1) battled to a scoreless tie with the Blue Demons. Kyle Garvey and Hunter Firman were standouts for Unionville.

Tredyffrin – Each time the Conestoga boys’ soccer team takes the field, they do so with a target on their back.
Tuesday evening against visiting Harriton was no different, as the hosts broke open a close game in the second half to post a 5-1 win over their Central League rivals in key match-up at Teamer Field.
“Before each game in the locker room we start off saying we have a target on our back and every team wants to beat us and it really motivates us to come out strong,” said Conestoga junior Nick Jennings, who finished the night with one goal and one assist. “Just knowing other teams want to beat us we have to come out strong in both halves and play our best.”
Holding a 2-1 lead at halftime, Conestoga emerged from the locker room and came out strong with the combination of Jennings and fellow junior Chris Donovan teaming up to score two of Conestoga’s next three goals to break open a close game and give the hosts a 4-1 lead with 12:06 to play.
“Chris and I have been playing basketball and soccer together since we were eight years old so we have built a good chemistry that we know where each other is on the field,” Jennings said.
Donovan, who finished with two goals and one assist, said, “I believe those second half goals knocked down some of their motivation to keep going. To beat another Main Line team is always nice.”
Conestoga head coach Dave Zimmerman added, “They (Chris and Nick) play on the same club team so it does not surprise me they have great chemistry. They know where each other is on the field and they are both great passers and finishers.”
Conestoga jumped out of the gates quickly scoring in the first 30 seconds when they capitalized on a set piece that was served into the box by senior Blaise Milanek (committed to Lehigh) and finished by Will Klein, who beat Harriton keeper Jake Putnam.
Following the quick start, the Harriton defense firmed up and went on the attack placing Conestoga on their heels for the next 10 minutes. During that time, the Rams netted the equalizer when Alex Cades converted a set piece when he placed the shot on goal that would deflect off the Conestoga wall and into the back of the net.
Just before halftime, Conestoga began to regain their offensive spark and finally found the back of the net with 5:23 left when Logan Schwartz beat Putnam with a header off a Milanek set piece into the box.
With his focus geared toward formulating a new defense, Zimmerman saw glimpses of that chemistry coming together as his defense was able to overcome some early turnovers and hold yet another opponent to one goal or less. Early this season, Conestoga held perennial powers Central Bucks South and West Chester Henderson to a combined one goal.
“Defense wins championships, right?” said Zimmerman, following the contest. “All season we have been focusing on developing our defense and I thought they played well but I still think we can be better. I credit Harriton tonight for putting us on our heels but I was happy to see us overcome and continue to work hard and come away with the win.”

Conestoga 5, Harriton 1
Harriton 1 0 – 1
Conestoga 2 3 – 5
Conestoga goals: Chris Donovan 2, Nick Jennings, Will Klein, Nino Mauro.
Harriton goal: own goal.
Goalie saves: Jake Putnam (H) 10; Luke Smith (C) 5.

The Radnor High School boys’ soccer team defeated Ridley, 7-0, Tuesday. Goals were scored by Jack Miller (penalty kick), Andrew Bojoukus (penalty kick), Miles Maesaka (assisted by Jack Miller), Bobby kirsch (assisted by David Azzarano), Ryan Peter (assisted by David Azzarano), Ryan Peter (assisted by Ben Toomey) and Bobby Kirsch (assisted by Jack Dooley.)
Three days earlier, Radnor defeated Bishop Shanahan, 1-0. Ryan Peter scored the game-winner, with an assist from Cal Hanson. Red Raider goalie Ben Toomey recorded two saves and the shutout.
The Red Raiders defeated Upper Darby, 2-1, in overtime Sept. 8. For the Red Raiders, scorers were Peter Miller and Jack Miller (assisted by Andrew Boujoukos). Radnor goalie Henry Cooke had one save.Archbishop Carroll defeated Bishop McDevitt, 8-0, Sept. 8. The patriots got two goals each from Vito Vincent and Nick Booth, and two assists from Sam Frederick.

In other Main Line high school boys’ soccer action:

Barrack Hebrew Academy defeated AIM, 6-3, Tuesday. Abe Wachs had three goals and one assist, and Noah Maltzman dised out three assists and scored a goal. Jordan Naim and Josh Goldstein each tallied a goal for Barrack.
The Cougars defeated Friends Select, 3-1, Monday. Zach Lipstein had two goals and one assist, Ben Jacobson had two assists and Noah Maltzman scored a goal. Barrack goalies Simon Gordon and Ben Bernstein combined for three saves.

Episcopal Academy improved to 4-2-2 with a 3-0 win against Shipley Tuesday. Goals were scored by Samuel Wilson (assisted by Johnny Cunningham and Ramon Gallegos), Quinn Dudek (assisted by Nick Wallick) and Brandon Sheppard (assisted by Jason Miller). EA goalie AJ Marcucci posted his fourth shutout of the season.
EA lost to Peddie, 3-0, Sept. 10. Goalie Matt Freese made six saves for Episcopal Academy.

Friends’ Central (3-1) earned a 6-2 win against Cardinal O’Hara Sept. 9 in the home opener. Asa Bell, Matt Blackman, Ingram Dillingham, Matt Nguyen, Miles Johnson and Lucas McGrann all scored. The hot day saw coach Galen Guindon use all 23 players on the roster to secure the win.
The following day, FCS traveled to Marple Newtown and pulled out a 2-1 victory in a hard-fought contest. Matt Blackman scored the first goal off of a set piece on an assist from Chris Annas. Blackman scored in each of FCS’ last three games. The second goal went to Asa Bell in the second half on a solo run down the center of the field. Nolan McGrann had five saves on the day.

Haverford School lost to defending National Champion South Kent (Conn.), 3-0, at the Hill School Invitational. Ford goalie Will Baltrus had seven saves.
The Fords tied Shipley, 3-3, Sept. 7. Ford goals were scored by Nik Golz (two, one assisted by Solomon Dorsey) and Nick Pippis (assisted by Nik Golz). Will Baltrus made one save in goal for the Fords.

Lower Merion defeated host Haverford High School, 1-0, Sept. 9 to open its Central League campaign. The Aces knocked on the door in the first few minutes of the first half, with a nice combination play that lead to a Ryan Tillman shot that was saved by Haverford goalie Nicholas Defeo. Junior Midfielder Max Shapiro marked the Aces on the scoreboard with a 30th minute first half goal. Senior Aces goalie Sebastian Jenkins notched his second shutout of the season.

Malvern Prep tied Germantown Friends, 1-1, Sept. 8. Vince Melchiorre scored the Friars’ goal, and goalie Jake Hodlofski recorded eight saves. Matthew Lamond, Thomas Albergo and Erik Kolar had standout performances for Malvern.

NORTHAMPTON – In Tuesday’s Suburban One matchup with Truman, Council Rock South head coach Alan Nicholl was not happy with the way his team was playing in the waning moments of the first half.

So he decided on a bold move, inserting freshman goalkeeper Kevin McNamee in between the pipes in place of senior Nolan Gaudet, a 2-year varsity veteran.

“Coming off of two losses last week, I think it was important to come out here and get the win,” said Nicholl. “We scored a couple girls early so my fear was that the players would think, ‘this one’s in the bag.’”

“We still had 60 or 70 minutes on the clock.”

At halftime, Nicholl told his players he was inserting McNamee into the game, challenging the Golden Hawks to play with passion in the second half.

“Any opportunity I have to get a freshman on the field, particularly as a goalkeeper – it’s never happened before,” added Nicholl “We were up two-nil at the time so I thought I felt we were comfortable enough where I could get him some minutes and work on his development.”

“I kept yelling, ‘let’s stay professional; let’s keep the focus,’ and they did a really good job of that in the second half.

Gaudet and McNamee did a nice job, helping South record its second shutout of the season (the Hawks blanked Harriton to start the 2016 campaign).

But it was senior midfielder Ethan Benedict, who created much of the offense in this game. Just about every goal in this game was tallied on a cross from the right side, which just happens to be Benedict’s station on the pitch.

“He’s very, very quick,” said Nicholl. “He puts defenses under pressure,” “He causes defenders to make decisions very, very quickly because he’s that style of player.”

“He also started for us as a freshman and he’s now four years in. You’re not only expecting that explosiveness but also that experience, the maturity. He’s team captain so the boys look up to him.”

After setting up junior Anthony Ritts in the sixth minute of play, Benedict poked a ball home that was left lying in the crease by classmate Kevin Bowers for a quick 2-0 lead.

“That’s why I like playing on the wing so much,” said Benedict. “Sometimes it’s not about you; it’s about setting up the other players on the field

“That’s what I think is so neat about the outside wing position – just getting the opportunity to go out there and make things happen for my teammates.”

In the second half, Benedict connected with junior Pat Wilczynski on a set piece with the 11th-grader getting a knee into a corner kick from the senior captain in the 47th minute of play.

“Pat’s a really creative player,” said Benedict. “He pulls stuff like that off out of nowhere, sometimes.”

Try as they might, the Tigers found it hard to penetrate the Hawks defense in the second half. There were several occasions after the break where either junior Ilyas Nashid or classmate Badr Fask tried to break through CR South’s back line, only to get sealed off by one or more defenders. Frustrated, Fask took down a Hawks attacker streaking down the flank, and was subsequently given a 5-minute yellow card infraction.

“I think (coach) was trying to get Kevin some good experience and today was a good opportunity, having possession for most of the time”

“I think (Nicholl) really trusts our back line to keep it locked down in those scenarios.”

For Truman, the Tigers need some time to regroup. After a win in its season opener over Philadelphia Public League rival George Washington, Truman has now lost by identical scores to both Rock North and Rock South to fall to 1-2 on the season.

“We’re inexperienced and a lot of the players were just out of breath, said senior Rafael Medina. “We didn’t attack the ball or shoot to the flanks – that’s one of our biggest problems right now.

“We just have to do what our coaches tell us to do because right now you don’t see a lot of us doing that right now but you will in the next game.”

The Tigers return to the pitch Thursday, Sept. 15 at Bensalem then face Coatesville (9/17), New Hope-Solebury (9/19)and Abington (9/20) before coming home to face Neshaminy Sept. 22.

The Golden Hawks host Archbishop Wood Thursday, Sept. 15 afternoon before traveling to Unionville Sept. 17 for a Saturday morning matchup.

Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Council Rock South 5, Harry S Truman 0

(Sept. 13 at CR South)

TRUMAN         0 0 – 0

CR SOUTH       2 3 – 5

FIRST-HALF GOALS: Anthony Ritts (CRS) from Ethan Benedict, 6th minute; Benedict (CRS) from Kevin Bowers, 9th minute.

SECOND-HALF GOALS: Pat Wilczynski (CRS) from Benedict, 47th minute; Colby Brown (CRS) 64th minute; own goal (CRS) 70th minute.

SHOTS: Truman 5, CR South 19

SAVES: Dawson Black (HST) 1, Mert Avci (HST) 10; Nolan Gaudet (CRS) 1, Kevin McNamee 1.

RECORDS: Truman (1-2, 0-2 SOL); Council Rock South (3-2, 1-2 SOL)

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> The Pottsgrove boys soccer team has a history of owning the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division.

Phoenixville goalkeeper Mitchell Coll comes off his line to block a shot from Pottsgrove’s Jacob Spotts during Wednesday’s game. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

Yet through the first half of Wednesday’s visit from Phoenixville, the Phantoms were doing the owning with a steady share of quality chances, including a crossbar hit from forward Andre Souza.

Under pressure but unscathed, Pottsgrove goalkeeper Liam Abdalla and his defensive line managed to keep the Phantoms off the scoreboard for the first 40 minutes. And the next 40 for good measure.

Tyler Rolando capitalized on a defensive error less than two minutes into the second half and Germann Larmond and Mike Sereny combined to seal the game in the late stages while Abdalla continued to shine in an eight-save shutout while giving Pottsgrove a 2-0 victory over Phoenixville on its new turf home.

Photo Gallery: Phoenixville at Pottsgrove

“It was a good win. I think we struggled a bit in the beginning defensively. But once we got the jitters out we really held our own, played really well and deserved the win,” Abdalla said. “I think we really controlled the game even though we didn’t score in the first half. I knew it was coming because we were getting our opportunities. And I knew we were holding our own in the back.”

Abdalla and defenders Jared Krieger, Kevin Benitez, Pat O’Brien and Nik Curnew needed to against the Phantoms’ attacking talent of Souza, midfielder Phil Meszaros plus Jared Carboy and Clay Kopko.

Pottsgrove’s Germann Larmond (10) celebrates after setting up a goal for Mike Sereny (2) in the second half Wednesday against Phoenixville, knocking over teammate Kevin Benitez in the jubiliation. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

For all the attacking threat Phoenixville posed, they were unlucky not to score with Souza and Meszaros each hitting the crossbar.

Conversely, the Falcons made the most of their chances despite the superb performance by Phoenixville keeper Mitchell Coll (8 saves).

Rolando pounced on a failed header clearance and fired high, near-side past Coll at the 38:20 mark of the second half. Pottsgrove kept up the pressure earning corner after corner (nine in the second half, 15 overall) and was rewarded when senior forward Larmond carried the ball to the left end line and cut a pass back for onrushing sophomore Sereny for an easy finish and decisive 2-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Scoring goals >> Pottsgrove is coming off a District 1-AA championship and with nine returning starters it has visions of an even better season that will include another Frontier Division championship and long-sought trip to the PAC final, plus another district run, this time in AAA.

“It’s always the same with Pottsgrove soccer. I had two brothers that went through here and the goals are always the same. Even though we won districts last year, our regular season wasn’t the best so we want to really hold our own against the crossovers and come out unbeaten on our side,” Abdalla said. “And of course we really want to get over that hump and be the first (Frontier) team to get into the (PAC) final and win it. We definitely think we’re capable of it because our team did such big things last year and we returned nine starters.”

“We have the experience now and hope to win another district title and have another run at states even though last year didn’t end the way we wanted it to. This year we’re hoping that won’t happen again.”

Phoenixville for its part left Wednesday undeterred and is still gunning for the Falcons’ position in the division.

“This is my third year on varsity and I think this is the best team I’ve been on,” Coll said. “We’ve definitely been on track. We have a better record than in years past and I think we’re hitting our stride.

Pottsgrove goalkeeper Liam Abdalla comes off his line to collect the ball ahead of Phoenixville’s Velkin Escobar. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

“Our goal is to try to get to districts. I’ve been here four years and I’ve never seen a district (berth) out of this team. I think we’re good enough to do that.”

No place like home? >> Pottsgrove has very different surroundings in 2016, trading in its compact, natural grass field for a brand new turf track.

It suits the possession-based playing style of Jay Witkowski’s Pottsgrove teams.

“It’s really good for our team because we play real wide and really fast on the turf. It helps out a lot for us. So far we like it,” Abdalla said. “A few bruises from diving on it, but other than that…”

Keeping up >> Goalkeepers Abdalla and Coll were all but one-upping each other.

Abdalla made a low, diving save of a Colin Hook shot from a long cross from Souza in the first half. Coll wasn’t to be outdone with a star save from close range on a Jacob Spotts swinging strike and made a diving, tip save of a Sereny shot later.

It was all respect between the two.

“Liam did a great job,” Coll said. “We just couldn’t put it in the back of the net and I guess you’ll have those games every once in a while.

“Pottsgrove was district champs last year, they’re a good team and I think we hung with them. It was a close game. I think we gave it a good fight. We definitely had a lot of chances, it was just one of those games where we weren’t able to finish a lot.”

Perkiomen Valley 2, Norristown 0 >> Andrew Daubenspeck posted his third shutout of the season in the Vikings’ win over Norristown.

Daubenspeck finished with four saves while Max Chamorro finished with a goal and an assist.

Sebastian Leyes scored the game’s opening goal while AJ Hansen had an assist on Max Chamorro’s clincher in the 76th minute. John Gonzales made 11 saves for Norristown.

Owen J. Roberts 3, Methacton 0 >> Andrew Siana scored on a feed from Graham Pugh just 40 seconds in as the Wildcats never looked back to take a PAC win.

Nolan Smith scored twice, with feeds from Matt Pron and Austin Koury, while Tyler Stonebraker made three saves in the shutout. Mason Lesage finished with eight saves in the loss.

Spring-Ford 1, Boyertown 0 >> Mike Hyduke scored off a corner kick with 21 minutes remaining to give the Rams a PAC (Liberty Division) win over the Bears.

Chase Parr was credited with the assist on Hyduke’s tally. Kyle Allan made six saves in the Spring-Ford nets to preserve the shutout, with Connor McKeown making five stops for Boyertown.

Hill School 4, Westtown 0 >> The Blues racked up 17 shots on goal while limiting the opposition to just one in taking a non-league shutout over Westtown.
Jake Fetterman and Ryan Wallace each finished with a goal and an assist while Bo Dlamini and Philip Bell each scored once. Matt Wasserman finished with a save to earn the shutout in goal.

Grant Sareyka scored twice early in the second half as Christian Academy broke open a scoreless game at the break Wednesday for a 4-0 win over MaST Charter.

Jesse Brittain and William Wang also scored, and Jake Sitkowski added an assist to go with stellar defense in front of goalie Andre Jones (two saves).

Also in the Bicentennial League:

Delco Christian 1, Phil-Mont Christian 0 >> Daniel Deger converted a first-half penalty kick to get the Knights on the board, and Brody Veleber made five saves for the clean sheet.

In nonleague action:

Academy Park 6, Conwell-Egan 0 >> Owen Ede recorded a hat trick, Lansana Doumbouya scored twice and Ismael Americain earned the shutout with three goals as the Knights (1-4) notched their first win of the season.

Episcopal Academy 1, Germantown Friends 0 >> Quinn Dudek slotted home a penalty kick in the second half, and A.J. Marcucci denied three shots to post the shutout for the Churchmen.

FAIRLESS HILLS – While Conwell-Egan Catholic (CEC) was missing 2015 First Team All-Catholic fullback Jake Kemery and a host of other players from last year’s team, even head coach Barry Roxberry had no answers for the way the Eagles played Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 14 vs. Del-Val League rival Academy Park.

The visiting Knights may have arrived a little late for the 3:45 p.m. matchup, but they quickly made up for their tardiness with a pair of goals in the first half and four more in the second for a convincing 6-0 triumph on Egan’s home turf.

“It was a tough one. We’re a young team. Last year, we lost nine starting seniors,” stated CEC sophomore forward Paul Leible. “We’re going to put some hard work in practice and get better.

“We’re going to improve from this.”

The Eagle defense had no answers for AP senior forward Owen Ede, who registered a hat trick in the contest, including both goals in the first half, helping his team to its first win of the season and its first victory ever over the Eagles, who topped AP three times over the last three seasons.

“We didn’t have much of a chance to warm up, but sometimes, that’s good for us – not much thinking, we just get on the field and play,” said Knights head coach Dan Schultz. “It was good – we got off the bus, we stretched and we were on the field.”

To review, Conwell-Egan blanked Academy Park 3-0 last year and 4-0 the year before.

“We have had trouble with Conwell-Egan in the past. We’ve had a couple games where they’ve stuck it to us really hard,” explained Schultz “I think my kids were sitting back and kind of expecting that. When they realized they’d be able to play with them, that kind of fired them up a little bit.”

That fired the Knights up a lot in the second half.

Fifteen minutes after the break, senior Yahann Chawiky put Academy Park up 3-0 with a direct kick that got past starting CEC goalkeeper Steve Carroll. After netting both goals in the first half, one of which was a deflection of a cross by sophomore Tahjay Swaby, Ede struck again for his third goal, netting the hat trick on a direct kick from 20 yards out that put the Knights up 4-0 in the 63rd minute of play.

Eight minutes later, the Eagles were called for a handball in the box and AP junior Lansana Doumbouya made no mistake when he put the penalty kick to the right of backup keeper Luke Schiavo and into the back of the net.

The sudden turn of events sent the CEC defense on its heels. On the second of many odd-man rushes by the Knights in the second half, Doumbouya attacked the goal with classmate Kho Tuang to his right. Not knowing where the shot was going to come from, Schiavo was left defenseless while the second goal of the contest by Doumbouya pushed the score to its 6-0 final.

“We just weren’t marking our men; we were all over the place,” said Leible. “Late in the game, I guess we just broke down.

“That’s a mental thing so we should be able to fix that.”

With the loss, Conwell-Egan drops to 1-6 overall, 0-2 in the Philadelphia Catholic League. The Eagles started their season with a 1-0 win over Philadelphia Academy Charter Aug. 25 at Lighthouse Soccer Club. But the team has lost six straight including its PCL opener at Bonner-Prendergast on Sept. 8 when CEC lost 2-0. Five days later, Egan battled Archbishop Ryan to a standstill in regulation only to see Will Stackhouse score for the Raiders in overtime to put that one in the win column for the opponent.

Academy Park, meanwhile, started its season Sept. 6 by dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker at New Oxford. From there, the Knights dropped three more one-goal games including overtime losses suffered at the hands of Central League rival Harriton and Ches-Mont League opponent Bishop Shanahan.

“It’s not rare that we really wanted it more than this team,” said Schultz. “It showed that we really wanted to win. It goes back to those four games that we lost by one goal.

“They really wanted to win so badly for themselves that they were going to force the issue and make sure they came out ahead.”

For AP, the win over Egan comes just one day before the Knights begin their league schedule. Academy Park opens league play today (Sept. 15) at Del-Val League rival Interboro then takes on Central League rival Upper Darby in a Sept. 19 road match. AP returns home Sept. 20 to resume league play against Chichester.

Conwell-Egan, meanwhile, resumes PCL action Friday, Sept. 16 at Lansdale Catholic before traveling to Friends League rivals George School (Sept. 17) and Abington Friends (Sept. 19). The Eagles resume league play Sept. 20 at home against Bishop McDevitt.

Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Academy Park 6, Conwell-Egan Catholic 0

(Sept. 14 at Conwell-Egan Catholic)

ACADEMY PARK 2 4 – 6

CONWELL-EGAN 0 0 – 0

FIRST-HALF GOALS: Owen Ede, from Tahjay Swaby, 30th minute; Ede, unassisted, 35th minute.

SECOND-HALF GOALS: Yahann Chawiky, 55th minute; Ede, 63rd minute; Lansana Doumbouya (PK), 71st minute; Doumbouya 74th minute.

SHOTS: AP 14, CEC 1.

SAVES: AP 3, CEC 10.

HORSHAM >> When the ball touches Danny Bateman’s foot, you can’t help but lean forward with excitement waiting to see what happens next.

Hatboro-Horsham’s electric sophomore scored both goals — each giving his side the lead — in a 2-1 Suburban One League American Conference win over Wissahickon Thursday afternoon at Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School.

“I think that’s five on the year now for him,” Hatters coach Kyle McGrath said. “He’s our leading goal-scorer. He’s involved in a lot of our attack.”

Bateman’s first goal came in the 32nd minute. He won a race to a loose ball on the left side, got around the goalie who left his net and took a few dribbles before burying the game’s first score.

“It was a good ball,” he said. “It was exciting. It was a good result we got. I was kind of iffy about taking that shot. I took another touch and I thought it was too late but I got a good shot off.”

The second broke a 1-1 tie in the 66th minute. Junior Nick Hatzenbeller found Bateman in the center of the field and he ripped a shot. Wissahickon’s keeper got a piece, but not enough to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.

“The second goal was complete luck,” Bateman said. “It was a good ball from Nick Hatzenbeller. I just hit the ball and it rolled off the goalie’s hand in the net. Probably some luck on that one.”

Wissahickon tied the game at one in the 51st minute. After an offensive throw in was cleared from the box, the Trojans sent it back in. Eddie Fortescue centered to Brad Schwartz who redirected it home for the score.

That was Wissahickon’s best scoring opportunity and it managed just three other shots on goal — all of which were turned away by Hatboro goalie Stephen Doney.

“We don’t have a goal-scorer,” Wissahickon coach said of the offensive woes. “Simple as that.”

Conversely, the Hatters were attacking on offense all game. They totaled 10 shots on goal — eight of which came in the second half. Wissahickon goalie Jun Yuh made some incredible saves to keep the Trojans within striking distance.

“He’s done that all year,” Malcolm said of his goalie. “These guys need to recognize what he’s doing because at the moment the scores are looking a little better than (they should). He’s saved some breakaways and some long shots from other teams.”

Hatboro improves to 3-0-1 in SOL American play with the win.

“It’s good to be in the new league,” McGrath said. “Things are going well obviously, but we need to make sure we take it day-by-day still and we know that the second time through the league is going to be just as challenging as the first time. Just have to make sure the guys stay focused and ready to perform every day.”

The loss drops Wissahickon to 1-2 in league play.

“We’ve got to find some ways of winning games,” Malcolm said. “We’ve got to compete better than we’re doing. Whether we’ve got to change things up with regards to who we have on the front line or who we have in the midfield, but we’re either who we are and we’ll see that at the end of the season or we’ll make some changes and get better. This is the third game in a row we’ve lost by one goal and, to be honest, this was probably the one where we weren’t as good as we could’ve been.”

WHITEMARSH >> After the first half of play concluded in Thursday’s Suburban One League American Conference game, it appeared as if Upper Dublin was going to beat Plymouth Whitemarsh despite the 0-0 score.

The Cardinals ended up winning the game 2-1 but there was plenty of action that happened between the opening tip of the second half and the game-winning goal in overtime that came off the right foot of Upper Dublin’s Anthony Wisdo.

“We came into this game knowing it’s going to be a tough game, PW is always a good opponent of ours,” the senior captain said.

In the first half, Upper Dublin dominated the time of possession. The Cardinals controlled the ball in the PW zone and generated a handful of quality scoring chances.

Having weathered the first half storm by Upper Dublin, PW generated some offense of its own. The Colonials caught Upper Dublin in a couple of transition opportunities, which led to some good looks.

“I was really proud of our kids the way they came back in the second half and even in the overtime,” PW coach Jeff Heaton said.

Between not being able to break through on the scoresheet and the referees calling a tight game, Upper Dublin began to lose a bit of composure in the second half but regained it just enough at the right times.

“We knew (PW was) going to come out hard in the second half and we just didn’t match them,” Wisdo said. “Coach (Derek Priest) came over to us (at the start of overtime) and said ‘we know we can win this, we just got to put our minds to it and get out there and show it on the field.’”

With five minutes left until full time, UD’s Ryan Huggins capitalized on a fast break play as he finally broke the scoring drought in the contest.

Plenty of teams would have folded giving up a go-ahead goal so late in the contest, but the Colonials went to work. Gavin Hendrick collected a loose ball off a corner kick and tied the game up with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation.

“Towards the end of the game everybody is tired and I’ll give credit to my kids they came back with a little something extra,” Heaton said.

As time hit just around the halfway point of the first overtime the Cardinals got on a fast break. Quinn Middleton started the run — he looked to be trying to pass the ball to Huggins, however, a PW defender deflected the ball right to Wisdo, who ended the game with basically a slam dunk shot.

“Everybody out here wants to win but I think our team has something special,” Wisco said. “(Jake) Chinn won a ball out of the back, played it to me, I played it to Quinn. Quinn had a great ball to Ryan (Huggins), it was intercepted and it was basically a tap-in for me. I didn’t do much it was mostly my team.”