DOWNINGTOWN >> Downingtown West had its chances in Tuesday’s District 1 4A boys soccer opener at DiSerafino Stadium.

But the visitors from Abington converted on their two biggest chances of the game, and it was enough to lift the Galloping Ghosts to a 2-0 win and end the Whippets’ season.

“I thought this was a game of two halves,” said West coach John Hatt. “We had our opportunities, but we didn’t take advantage. If we had pushed through and gotten something on the board in the first half, (Abington) might have pressed and maybe it would be a different result.”

West pressured Abington through much of the first half stalemate, but shots went off the post, went high, or were simply turned away by Abington keeper Nicholas Brownholz. The zeroes on the scoreboard, however, remained throughout a first half that featured a bizarre stoppage when West keeper James Meals literally kicked the cover off the ball.

“We had some scary moments in the first half where they got behind our defense and created some chances,” said Abington coach Randy Garber.  “But other than that, I thought we were sound. We made a couple adjustments, knowing that this was a good team that could score some goals, we dropped another person back and told our keeper not to come out unless he was sure he was going to win the ball.”

The Ghosts’ first goal came a little over seven minutes into the second half when they successfully drew Meals from goal. Sophomore midfielder Sean Touey had gotten behind the defense, took the ball, and lofted a shot over Meals and in to the net for the first score. It was Touey’s 22nd goal on the season.

“That was something we’ve been working on all year where we try to put the ball out on the wing, and then I just slipped behind the center back,” said Touey. “The wind cut us a break, because the ball just floated over the center back and I got a good touch on it. The goalie was coming out, and I think he got a finger on it, but it went in.”

But the Ghosts couldn’t afford to be complacent and just sit on a lead; a sure recipe for disaster.

“It’s always in the back of your mind that you could have just gotten the game winner,” said Touey. “But you can’t think that way. You can’t just assume a one goal lead is enough, because it could be gone just like that in high school soccer. You have to keep up the pressure and put that final nail in the coffin.”

The coffin was hammered shut with just 5:56 to play, when Juan Castillo made it a 2-0 game.

“As we were coming down field and I saw the ball coming to me, I knew I had a good chance,” said Castillo.  “I took my shot and it kind of went through I few people so I was at least a little lucky, but one of my teammates made a great run through to pull another player off me and helped open things up. Next game is against Conestoga, the top seed, so it’s going to be a tough game, but I think we’re all ready for it.”

The Ghosts will once again be on the road to face the Pioneers, with the game scheduled for Thursday evening under the lights at 7 p.m.

“It’s always great to get that first game under your belt,” said Garber.  “I always tell the kids that the first one is always the toughest, whether you’re home or on the road, so it’s great to get the win.”

For the Whippets, the season comes to a close.

“As a coach, all you can ask for is a a group of kids that works hard,” said Hatt.  “That certainly describes this group of kids.  Today is disappointing, but the kids we bring back next year will just keep working hard to improve.”

EAST MARLBOROUGH >> In the second of two marathon sessions of high school soccer on Tuesday evening at Unionville, the host Indians advanced in round one of the boys District 1 tournament with a razor-thin 1-0 triumph over 19th-seeded Boyertown that ended on penalty kicks. An earlier first round girls clash also ended on PKs.

Following a scoreless 80 minutes of regulation plus two 15-minute overtimes, Unionville won it 3-0 on penalty kicks, and did so with its third-string keeper in goal, freshman Alex Dolce. Regular starter, Matt Nitz, suffered a pregame injury and his backup, Garrett Pepper, exited with an injury in the second half.

“But Alex is a good goalie and he stepped up big for us,” said Unionville head coach Rich Garber. “Our mentality of the next guy up is kind of what we’ve been doing all season.”

Seeded 14th, the Indians (12-5-2 overall) advance to Thursday’s second round matchup with No. 3 Council Rock North. Boyertown’s season ends with a 13-8 mark.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Boyertown head coach Scott Didyoung. “We had some opportunities that we squandered.

“In the last seven or eight years, we’ve lost our first round district match either in overtime or on PKs. It’s a string we just can’t seem to get over the hump. It’s really too many to count.”

In a close battle that featured multiple saves by non-goaltenders on both sides and several shots that came precariously close only to bounce off the cross bar, the Indians seemed to gain some momentum on the two overtime sessions. And it showed on the PKs.

Initial goals by Unionville’s Michael Hewes and Eric Greer put the Bears in trouble right from the start after Ben Wise and Owen Kulig each missed the net on Boyertown’s first two penalty kick efforts.  Immediately after Dolce denied Nikhil Verma, Indians’ defender Kyle Garvy ended it.

“I knew their third guy (Verma) there best guy and when Alex stoned him, that’s when I started to think we could pull this one out,” Unionville head coach Rich Garber said.

Early in double overtime, a Greer laser hit the Boyertown crossbar. And in the first OT, Boyertown got a big save from defender Owen Kulig on a shot by Hewes.

Amazingly, the overtimes almost didn’t happen. With less than 10 seconds in regulation, Unionville’s Mark Echevarria nearly ended it dramatically when his long, looping shot from about 40-yards out caught Boyertown’s Connor McKeown out of position. The shot went over the goaltender’s head but bounced squarely off the cross bar.

“It’s rough that we had all of those crossbar hits, but I’m glad we stuck to it and kept going,” Greer said. “When you get close like that, it actually pumps you up, but you have to forget about it and get back into the game.”

The best scoring chance in the opening 60 minutes of action came midway through the second half, when Unionville’s Hunter Firment sent a centering pass to Greer, and he lofted it to Evan Bennis. And even though his header had beaten McKeown, it was turned away by alert defender Erik Recke.

Not to be outdone, the Indians returned the favor in the final two minutes of regulation when the Bears’ Jimmy Towers appeared to beat Indians keeper Garrett Pepper, only to have defender Garrett Hammaker make the save.

“I thought our defense was solid all night,” Garber said.

“I told our guys to have fun with it. Enjoy it. I think they did.”

Unionville 1, Boyertown 0, wins 3-0 on penalty kicks
Boyertown    0 0 0 0 – 0
Unionville     0 0 0 0 – 0
Goalie saves: McKeown (B) 5. Pepper (U) 1. Dolce (U) 2.

UPPER MORELAND >> Statistically, Marple Newtown controlled its District 1-AAA first round game at Upper Moreland.

Observationally, the game was much more even, as both the ninth-seeded Tigers and host No. 8 Golden Bears were in each other’s end and looking to threaten. The difference came in the defenses.

Marple Newtown’s back line stifled Upper Moreland and the Tigers got a pair of excellent goals to claim a 2-0 win and a date with top seed Holy Ghost Prep on Thursday.

“We told them to keep pressing, I thought we created chances when we stepped up and forced turnovers with our defense,” Marple Newtown coach Jared Harris said. “We told our forwards to step up, pressure the backs and when they got their chances, finish them. We knew they were coming.”

Marple Newtown put a total of 12 shots on net while holding Upper Moreland to just three. Still the Bears looked a better team early but couldn’t seem to generate anything on target.

Senior Randy Meehl put in a high energy showing, but was often isolated or unable to connect with his teammates inside the attacking third. That was just what the Tigers wanted.

“We talked to our defense about stepping up as a unit,” Harris said. “It started with our defenders stepping and keeping a high line. All 11 of our guys stepped up and put pressure on and we capitalized off the turnovers we created.”

In the first half, Upper Moreland was just as stout though and goalkeeper Ryan Varela made a couple of excellent saves, two on Marple Newtown attacking mid Adam Azad. Varela and second half keeper Brennan Coleman were very good for UM and Coleman wasn’t at fault for either goal.

Switching keepers has been Upper Moreland’s thing all season. Both are seniors and have done well and Bears coach Dan Mannella didn’t want to change things up.

“Both our goalies played really well today,” Mannella said. “I always think about goalkeepers. Those guys have been splitting a lot of time and I don’t think it’s fair to give one guy a full game in the only playoff game of their career so that’s why I made the switch at halftime.”

The Tigers were confident at the half they were going to score given the chances they were getting.

Marple Newtown finally broke through in the 51st minute off a quick restart. Upper Moreland’s defense was slow to react when Raj Lohat fed the ball to Adam Azab, who dribbled past the defense and put a quality finish past Coleman.

Azab was a force all game for theTigers, starting off as an attacking mid then shifting to a more protective holding role in the late minutes to hold the lead.

“He’s been that all year for us,” Harris said. “He generates our attack, when we need to use him, he helps keep us organized on defense with a lead. That’s something he’s done all year and it was a good finish on his end to put us up 1-0.”

The Tigers stretched the lead in the 69th minute when left back Marco Mesoraca cut in off the left flank and chipped the ball from outside the 18-yard box for a quality finish. It was a fitting reward for a defender to score given the way the entire unit played.

Stephen Bradley, Mike Smith and Richie Hannig all did well in getting in the way of Upper Moreland passes and not letting the Bears who did press forward have anyone to use as an outlet or drop off.

“Richie especially did a great job,” Harris said. “He’s been an anchor back there, not letting anything in behind him, winning tackles and cleaning up in the back.”

Marple Newtown hopes to ride the momentum into its matchup with Holy Ghost Prep on Thursday.

Upper Moreland on the other hand, will likely have to rebuild some next year with a heavily-senior laden roster. The Bears have made some strides in Mannella’s two years, winning seven games this season and six a year ago. Prior to Mannella taking over as coach last year, UM had gone winless in 2014, so a playoff appearance was a nice way to send off the seniors.

“It’s probably what I expected,” Mannella said. “I would have hoped we would have won an extra game or two, but from two years ago when they won zero to last year, we were in a little bit of a rebuilding phase. Hopefully we can do better next year, but it’s going to be difficult.”

Mannella has 15 seniors overall and seven of them starters, plus an eighth being the second goalkeeper.

“Our boys fought, they kept in, we had some chances but they just didn’t finish,” Mannella said. “Soccer is a game that can be even or lopsided one way or the other. You can’t win if you can’t score.”

MARPLE NEWTOWN 0 2 – 2
UPPER MORELAND 0 0 – 0
Goals: MN – Adam Azab (Raj Lohat) 51’, Marco Mesoraca 69’. Shots: MN 12, UM 3. Corners: MN 6, UM 3. Saves: MN – Josh Starr 3, UM – Ryan Varela 7, Brennan Coleman 3

UPPER DUBLIN >> Taking penalties is a fluid situation for the Upper Dublin boys soccer team.

“What we do is whoever’s feeling the most confident takes the PK,” the Cardinals’ Anthony Wisdo said. “And I was feeling confident there cause I got fouled so that’s why I took the PK.”

Late in an even first half of Tuesday night’s District 1-AAAA first round matchup between ninth-seeded UD and visiting No. 24 Penncrest, Wisdo left no doubt he was the rest player to step up to the spot.

After being taken down in the box chasing a ball sent in the air towards the goal, the senior forward calmly converted the penalty for the opening tally at 5:18, blasting a shot into the right side of the net as Lions goalkeeper Keiran Wilmot guessed the other way.

“Every player should finish from 12 yards out,” Wisdo said.

Wisdo was not done on the night – assisted on the Cardinals’ second goal less than eight minutes into the second half than collecting a brace with under five minutes left as Upper Dublin advanced with a 3-0 victory.

“They’re a very good team. They have a very good league. I think that’s why they were such a low seed,” Wisdo said. “But the first half I think we came out a little edgy. We were very scared, we were anxious. But I think in the second half after the PK we came out of the first half 1-0, we calmed down, played the soccer that we know we can play and I think we out-possessed them.”

Upper Dublin advances to second round of the district postseason for a second straight season with the Suburban One League American Conference champions visiting No. 9 Central Bucks East Thursday.

“I think we need to come out like we did the second half this game,” Wisdo said. “And I think we possess we’re going to have a good run at them. I don’t know really much about East this year, I know that they’re a very, very good side, but I think that our players are very good themselves, so I think we’ll have a good time.

Penncrest was back in the district playoffs for the first time since 2014, when it was upset by West Chester East in the first round.

“We had a school-record team two seasons ago, then we had a five win team last year and to bounce back with an 11-win, an 11-6-1 record this year with only losing five seniors was great,” Penncrest coach Paul Norris said. “They were just a really resilient bunch. Just a shame to see it end.”

The Lions, the lowest seeded in the 4A field, kept the pressure on the Upper Dublin defense for good chunks of the first half and came close to pulling level at a goal each early in the second half. A ball played forward deflected of a Cardinal and behind the backline for an all-alone Shea Morgan, but UD keeper Jason Stone reached out and denied the shot.

“We had several great opportunities and they were just off the mark,” Norris said. “We had them on their heels and we had just that one mental mistake in the box and they get that penalty shot. That’s the sadness and the beauty of the game. It’s just one little thing leads to something else that leads to something else (that) leads to something else and then you get a crazy outcome.”

Shortly after Stone’s save, the Cardinals made it 2-0 on a free kick that Wisdo sent into the box towards a group of Cardinals charging towards the right post and Max Adams was the one who headed it into the back of the net at 32:23.

“Max got injured the play before and he was limping and I was like ‘Come on man, get up. Get yourself a goal,’” Wisdo said. “He was on the back post, I usually aim for Adams and (Jake) Chinn and they were there, Adams put it in.”

The Cardinals kept pushing for a third goal and came close before Wisdo’s second. Jerry Barstol had shot cleared off the goal line by a Penncrest defender while Jose Palomeque effort was just deflected wide by the hand of Wilmot.

Trying to pull back to within a goal, Penncrest forced a handful of corners in the second half, but couldn’t put a ball past Stone. The Cards keeper also used his feet to denied Sam Brown a chance.

Upper Dublin went up 3-0 with 4:39 left as Barstol cut inside before sending a pass into the middle for Wisdo, who slid a shot past Wilmot.

Ninth-seeded Marple Newtown was buoyed by a tremendous defensive effort and goals by Adam Azab and Marco Mesoraca, as the Tigers blanked No. 8 Upper Moreland, 2-0, Tuesday in District 1 Class 3A first-round boys soccer.
MN advances to the second round Thursday to face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep.

“We told them to keep pressing, I thought we created chances when we stepped up and forced turnovers with our defense,” Marple Newtown coach Jared Harris said. “We told our forwards to step up, pressure the backs and when they got their chances, finish them. We knew they were coming.”

Stephen Bradley, Mike Smith and Richie Hannig all did well in getting in the way of Upper Moreland passes.

“Richie especially did a great job,” Harris said. “He’s been an anchor back there, not letting anything in behind him, winning tackles and cleaning up in the back.”

Josh Starr made three saves in posting the shutout.

In the District 1 Class 4A first round:

Wissahickon 2, Garnet Valley 0 >> The Trojans spent a lot of time in the offensive zone where they used aggressive passes and shot selection to pressure the Garnet Valley defense.

Upper Dublin 3, Penncrest 0 >> Anthony Wisdo had two goals and an assist to power the Cardinals.

Wisdo converted a penalty kick late in the first half to put Upper Dublin in front. UD went up 2-0 in the second half when Max Adams headed in a Wisdo free kick, and Wisdo collected his second goal with 4:39 left.

C.B. West 2, Haverford 1 >> Cam Morse accounted for the Fords’ only goal.

In the Inter-Ac League:

Haverford School 1, Springside Chestnut Hill 0 >> Evan Scott scored on a penalty kick in the waning seconds of regulation to propel the Fords (4-9-4) to their first league win. Will Bartus registered the shutout.

Penn Charter 2, Episcopal Academy 0 >> Matt Freese and AJ Marcucci had three saves apiece for the Churchmen (12-5-3), who couldn’t solve PC goalie Jay Jennings (six saves).

LANSDOWNE >> Goodwill Agbaadem tightened his gloves and stood on the goal line in the lengthening shadows of Ardmore Avenue Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.

As Dan McFarland backpedaled, lining up his penalty kick in the fourth round of the shootout, Agbaadem didn’t know for sure if the Downingtown East defender would go left or right, high or low. But the Penn Wood goalkeeper knew for certain that McFarland’s mind would be as focused on the goalie’s reaction as on his own delivery.

“After all those saves,” the junior goalie said, “I was in their heads.”

Agbaadem batted away McFarland’s shot — just as he did Alex Dove’s spot kick in the first overtime period — as No. 15 Penn Wood advanced past the No. 18 Cougars, 4-2 on penalty kicks, in the opening round of the District 1 4A boys soccer tournament.

McFarland stopped!! Penn Wood wins! pic.twitter.com/U6wxyzGtGG

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 25, 2016

Penn Wood goalie Goodwill Agbaadem was magical in overtime and during the penalty kick shootout, enabling the Patriots to advance to the second round of the District 1 Class 4A playoffs. (Digital First Media/Anne Neborak)

The result, following a 1-1 draw through two overtimes, gave the Patriots’ their second playoff win in program history. The other came in 2007, in the program’s first home playoff game.

This time, Agbaadem played the starring role.

It started in the dying moments of regulation when he instinctively reached up to corral a shot by Yousif Taki, a calm save despite the Downingtown forward being in all alone with a chance to end the game on his boot, but his finish was lacking.

Agbaadem was forced into action 12 minutes into the first extra session when a handball was called on the Penn Wood line after a chaotic scramble in the box. Dove stepped to the spot and tried to beat Agbaadem right down the middle, but the keeper didn’t guess, waited out the shooter and kicked out to his left leg as he dove right, delivering a devastating blow to the Cougars’ psyche.

“I was focused, because this is our last chance,” Agbaadem said. “I was like, I’ve got to do this for my team, I’ve got to step up for my team. I’ve got to do this, and I did it.”

“When I see him make that PK stop, I was like, we’ve got a chance of winning the game,” said defender Frankie Knuckles, who played a huge role in covering ground on the backline and delivered a composed shootout penalty. “So it makes my other teammates confident in the game, makes them just have enough energy.”

Knuckles delivered those quotes from a folding chair at midfield, with his right thumb and right wrist heavily taped, souvenirs from a punishing encounter. Penn Wood (15-4) was forced to chase the game from the opening minutes, allowing a cheap opening goal in the fourth minute when AJ Carreiro hit a looping side volley of a bouncing Mitch Gill throw-in that eluded the Pats’ defense.

Agbaadem stops Dove!!!!! Oh my pic.twitter.com/6I92rTLgKT

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 25, 2016

But until Taki’s squandered look in the 80th, they produced little to trouble Agbaadem, who made half of his eight saves from the 79th minute on. The psychological recovery for the Cougars (9-6-4) was perhaps the toughest to get over after Dove was denied.

“We had other chances,” captain Dave Reimold said of his conversation with Gove after the miss.

Penn Wood had the better of play for the balance of the first half and early in the second. They finally cashed in when James Nmah cleaned up a rebound on a corner kick in the 54th. Habib Toure delivered a forceful header of Eric Kamara’s service that was repelled off the line by East’s Matt Kehr, but Nmah was quickest to the rebound and slotted it home.

Goodwill Agbaadem stones Yusif Taki at the buzzer. To OT, Penn Wood and Downingtown East, 1-1 pic.twitter.com/xYmsLF4B2W

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 25, 2016

James Nmah and older brother Andrew did most of the creating for Penn Wood, as they have all year, peppering goalie Dan Good with 14 shots, a couple of which were unsteadily caught on the bumpy pitch.

Penn Wood defenders Eric Kamara, left, and Abdulia Barrie, right, surround Downingtown East’s Dave Reimold. (Digital First Media/Anne Neborak)

The balance shifted toward the Cougars in extra time, but the advantage in penalty kicks swung toward a much more confident Penn Wood side. Just ask Andrew Nmah.

“When I step to the spot, I know I’m going to make that shot,” he said. “And I believe in my team that they’re going to follow up and do the same thing. I trust and I believe in my goalie and I know he’s going to make that save.”

Nmah took care of business, with Penn Wood shooting first, though Good got a finger to it. Gill followed and, perhaps with an eye toward Agbaadem’s outsized presence, side-footed an effort flush off the crossbar. James Nmah and Reimold scored in succession, as did Carlos D’Anjollel (with Good again guessing correctly) and Bobby Weiler to put Penn Wood up 3-2 after three rounds.

Knuckles followed. And then Agbaadem bided his time, recording Weiler’s attempt down the middle, like Gove’s. And when Agbaadem guessed right, by not guessing on McFarland, he set off waves of celebration among the home fans.

“That was amazing,” Knuckles said. “When he saved that penalty, we realized that we did good on the field. We can’t believe that we played over 100 minutes, we put everything on the field and that’s what we got.”

LOWER GWYNEDD >> The name of the game for Wissahickon in Tuesday night’s District 1-AAAA playoff game against Garnet Valley was aggression.

The Trojans used an aggressive style of play in all phases of the game to knock off the Jaguars 2-0 and advance to the second round.

“We have a young team so a lot of people aren’t used to what playoff games actually are,” Wissahickon senior midfielder Joe Maiale said. “Our coach (Stuart Malcolm) made sure to let them know you got to be aggressive to start or else you’re going to be losing the whole time.”

Wissahickon came out fast and ready to go, taking the play to Garnet Valley from the opening whistle. The Trojans spent a lot of time in the offensive zone where they used aggressive passes and shot selection to pressure the Garnet Valley defense.

It wasn’t just the offensive zone where the Trojans were aggressive either as they used high pressure in the midfield where they gave the Jaguars no time or space to maneuver with the ball.

“They came out all guns blazing and out worked us for a good part of the first half,” Garnet Valley coach Jim Wallace said. “It took a while for us to adjust to speed they were playing (at).”

The midfield pressure of the Trojans led to the first goal as well-played ball by Tom HcHale allowed Maiale to get on the end of one and give Wissahickon a lead just over 18 minutes in.

“It was kind of just played around right in front of their defense and then (McHale) played a ball through and then I was right there to sprint and get it in.”

Maiale and McHale would factor in the Trojans’ second goal as well as Maiale dribbled up the left side, fed the ball to David Goldstein who then laid a beautiful cross to McHale who finished. The goal epitomized the Wissahickon performance, as the trio played a great game all night and displayed their speed on the fast break goal.

“I just got the ball and I had a lot of space at the time,” Maiale said. “I saw David making a run like he always does so I split the defenders and then David did what he does best and crossed the ball in for Tom to finish.”

While the Wissahickon style was for the most part effective the Trojans did get caught a couple times in dangerous situations in the first half as keeper Brad Schwartz made a great save to bail them out of one and defenseman Matt Om went to head a ball back to Schwartz but headed it past him but Om was able to keep the ball out as he was following,

Perhaps because of the aggressive play of Wissahickon it led to a very physical game with both teams committing more than their fair share of fouls with both teams also taking several injury stoppages.

The no.10 seed Trojans travel to Lower Merion Thursday night to take on the No.7 Aces. Wissahickon is on a roll right now after finishing second to Upper Dublin in the Suburban One League American Conference and could be poised for a little playoff run.

“Our last seven regular season games we went undefeated so we really have forward momentum going,” Maiale said. “The win in this playoff game is definitely going to keep that going if not make it stronger.”

TOWAMENCIN >> Getting some extra padding around his injured leg in the minutes leading up to game time, Austin Kratz was intent on taking the field for Dock Mennonite Academy in Wednesday evening’s District 1-A quarterfinal clash with rival Delco Christian.

“I was looking at the fans, I was looking at my teammates,” he said. “They were asking me, ‘are you playing? Are you playing?’

“I told our athletic trainer ‘I feel good. I think I can go.’”

Delco Christian’s Jamie Fitzgerald sends the ball up field before Dock Mennonite’s Brian Miller intervenes during their District 1-A quarterfinal on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)

Injured since last Tuesday, when he got hit hard in the lower leg, Kratz returned for the Pioneers and scored the game-winning goal with six minutes and 36 seconds left to play, lifting second-seeded Dock to a 1-0 victory over No. 7 Delco.

The victory advances the Pioneers to Saturday’s semifinals, where they will host the winner of the Plumstead Christian-Devon Prep match-up.

After the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie through nearly 74 minutes of play, Dock was awarded a free kick on Delco’s end of the field.

“They wanted me to take the kick and I said ‘just go for the cross’ because of how far out it was,” Kratz said. “I went near post and the kick went back post, and Kyle (Wells) shot it and it deflected off the (goalie Brody Veleber’s) hands and the ball was just sitting right in front of the goal and all I had to do was dive at it.”

The Pioneers held on from there, pushing past their rival.

“The boys that were out on the field as well as the boys that didn’t get an opportunity to play tonight — it’s important that they step in when they’re asked to,” Matt Moyer said. “I tell the boys ‘we win because we’re working hard at practice,’ and that’s from some of the J.V. guys that we bring up to the guys that get a lot of playing time.

“That’s so important for success.”

Delco Christian’s Dante Felice and Dock Mennonite’s Brian Miller battle for a head ball during their District 1-A quarterfinal on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)

Many heroes emerged for Dock, including defender Brian Miller, whose sliding save right at the goal kept a shot by Delco’s Daniel Nichols from making it a 1-0 Knights lead with 22 minutes left.

“That one made my heart beat pretty fast,” said Delco coach Rob Atkins, who — along with just about everybody in attendance — thought Nichols’ shot was headed in until Miller swooped in. “I was jumping on the sideline, thinking it was going in.

“We were sharp, focused, and had just come off of a really good win against Church Farm for our Homecoming Game, which just gave us good motivation. Dock is a phenomenal team and we knew there were quite a few forwards to watch out for. But we thought we could stick with them and we thought if we could stick with them long enough, we could sneak one in.”

Delco very nearly did, but it would be Kratz — a game-time decision — that would score the game winner.

“He’s really worked hard to get to that ball,” Moyer said, “and he was rewarded for that.”

With extra time looming, the Pioneers came through.

“I just didn’t want to go into overtime,” Kratz said. “I was so tired and I was like ‘I know we can get this, guys.’ Everyone just kept working so hard, everyone played so well this game.

“We had a lot of opportunities — I missed some, some other guys missed some, but we got it at the end and I’m just so happy for our team.”

Top Photo: Delco Christian’s Dante Felice battles Dock Mennonite’s Brian Miller for possession during their District 1-A quarterfinal on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)

TREVOSE >> Roman Catholic and Father Judge were in the midst of another vintage Roman Catholic and Father Judge soccer game.
It wasn’t the case of the first team to get a chance winning the game, but it did feel like a lone goal would decide the outcome. Closing in on 17 minutes to play in the second half, three Roman players each faced a decision to make.
Three players, three choices, three steps in the movement that ended up deciding the game.
Roman’s Aidan Meissler had the finishing touch, putting away Jared Dillon’s cross off a feed from Jared Fielding to lift the Cahilites to a 1-0 win Wednesday night at the United German Hungarians Club. Roman, the defending PCL champion, returns to the final where it will face La Salle on Saturday.
“It’s always a competition with us and Judge, it’s a rivalry we’ve had the past however many year,” Fielding, a junior outside midfielder, said. “It always feels like a championship game when we play each other. It feels good to get the win and to do it here in the semis.”
Like usual when the two teams play, it was fast, intense and physical. Roman freshman goalkeeper Kevin Tobin was excellent all game, but especially in the first half while the teams traded chances and also traded tackles in the midfield.
Good wide play is a luxury at the high school level, but it is one Roman has. Fielding said the key in the second half was the Cahilites getting the ball on the flanks and avoiding the congested central midfield the Crusaders favor.
“Judge has some great players,” Meissler said. “You have to stay in front of them and keep moving and pray that they don’t do something crazy. They play a lot of side-to-side and possession, we could let them do their thing but not let them get on the counter.”
Dillon, a sophomore but also a big body up top, drew plenty of attention from Judge’s defense. The forward was usually double or triple-teamed and wasn’t shy about mixing it up with his defenders.
Judge had plenty of quality players on the field too, with Sean McCormick, Nico Martinez, Marcelo Ibarra, Davis Habilaj and Adam Nork all having some good moments in attack. With most of those guys working in the middle, Roman felt getting the ball outside would lead to success on its side.
So, the sequence started with Fielding on the right side, where he faced the first choice.
“I knew I could have gone to goal with it, but I saw my left winger cutting in straight so I thought he’s putting this away if we cross it over,” Fielding said. “Our center mids create a lot of open balls and chances for us. They dump it or play smart balls to us and then we play through or use diagonal balls.”
Fielding decided to pass instead of carry the ball, finding Dillon in the 18-yard box. Here, Dillon had another choice of whether to shoot or make another pass.
“I thought it would be the better ball (to pass) and he would have a better chance of scoring,” Dillon said. “I figured I would give it to him. Usually, I’ll take those but this game I played it safe.
“The coaches don’t like it when you hit it with the outside, but I hit it with the outside of the foot into the corner and put it back across.”
Dillon’s cross was perfectly in line for Meissler, who was making a late run into the box and got the ball, burying it with 17:12 to play.
Meissler started the game in more of a defensive role but during a spell of rest on the bench, the coaching staff told him to press up the field and attack the goal. Once Dillon received Fielding’s pass, Meissler had to decided whether he was going to go or wait for the forward’s next move.
“I didn’t want to make (assistant coach) Jerry (Brindisi) mad, so I saw Jared get the ball and as soon as any forward gets the ball, I have to run,” Meissler said. “You get into that box and finish the ball and Jared played me a perfect ball and I just put it away.”
The senior was on the left wing during the buildup and in talking with Brindisi, they saw that the attention Dillon was drawing, along with a compacted backline from the Crusaders, left a lot of space on the flanks.
Roman’s defense did the rest behind an inspired effort from senior Artie Dolan in the middle. Senior Seth Stangler, freshman Kieran Donnelly and junior Nate Lindner also all played well in front of Tobin.
Saturday’s final, to be played at the South Philly Supersite, pits two teams that have a history in recent years. Roman knocked La Salle out last year in the semifinals, scoring with 45 seconds left in overtime and the teams drew 2-2 in their meeting during the regular season.
“They play down the flanks like we do, we almost play the same way,” Fielding said. “They look for certain targets, especially their left wing. We’ll have to try and shut down their outside balls and players.”

TREVOSE >> After two years of seeing their season end in the PCL semifinals, La Salle got over the hump.
However, the Explorers needed 30 extra minutes and then a penalty kick shootout to finally do it. A yeoman’s effort on both sides lifted La Salle over Archbishop Wood 3-0 in the penalty shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw Wednesday night at the United German Hungarians Club.
The teams met early in the PCL season, with La Salle taking a 1-0 win. Wood came in a very different team than the one that was on that field back in September. The Vikings closed the season on a tear and were dominant in their quarterfinal win over Archbishop Ryan.
“The first time we played them and the last month of the season, they haven’t given up much,” La Salle coach Tom McCaffrey said. “I thought in that 4-5-6 area in the table they were the team that was going to be the toughest out with how stingy they’ve been.”
Tempo dominated the first half with both sides trading runs and build-ups, switching the ball and connecting passes. Wood’s RJ Liszewski had the first shot of the game five minutes in but it didn’t trouble Brett Werner.
Werner, a big and aggressive junior, was good off his line in the first half and snared a few balls out of the air with Wood players buzzing around.
La Salle was able to stem every threat in the first half defensively and looked to settle in offensively.
“They came out with a rejuvenated passion for what they were doing and they grinded on us and made it really, really difficult to do anything,” McCaffrey said. “We just tried to keep creating chances. This time of year, it’s all about cashing in on clear-cut chances when you have them.”
Winger Spencer Patton was very active, as usual, and drew a lot of attention from Wood. Zach Hogan, JP Pluck, Mike D’Angelo and right back Joe Brigidi provided some good moments going forward as well.
The Explorers had a couple good but not great free kicks in the opening 20 minutes so when they got one about 45 yards out in the 23rd minute, they changed it up. Patton came up to take it and delivered a good service into the box.
The ball hit off a Wood player into the air where James Hughes rose up to meet it. Hughes knocked it in with 17:14 left in the first half.
La Salle pressed for a second, but Wood’s defense and keeper Joe Cimino held firm. After taking it from the Explorers, the Vikings started to take the game over in the second half.
“We knew we didn’t want to go to a shootout so we threw more people forward and we played to win and didn’t play not to lose the last 20 minutes,” Liszewski said. “We tried to take it to them.”
Hughes left the game with about 27 minutes left with a cut on his left ear bleeding. Once the defender went out, Wood seized momentum and really started to pressure the Explorers.
With the Vikings hammering away, a goal felt inevitable and it finally came with 17:23 left. Liszewski flicked a ball to Cody Taylor on the left side of the 18 and Taylor did the rest, getting Werner off his line and slotting home.
“That gave us a lot of momentum going through the game,” Liszewski said. “It showed us we could play with them and up until that point it was just ‘ok, we can stick with them.’ We saw we could take it to them and had a chance to take this game.”
Hughes came back after the goal and helped solidify the defense.
La Salle had a prime chance to regain control when D’Angelo had a free kick on the right flank. He hit a great ball that Cimino made a tremendous diving save on. Cimino was stellar all night, making seven stops and fearlessly going up to punch away balls against La Salle’s bigger players.
“He came off the line, he boxed a couple and we struggled a little bit matching up with them in the height department,” Wood coach Hugh Kelly said. “He came up big a couple times and saves us. But their goalie made some nice saves too.”
The second overtime saw a wild sequence starting with a La Salle corner that had not one but two headers cleared off the line by Wood defenders. That second clear started a counter with Taylor shooting at a wide open net only for a La Salle player to get a boot on and clear it.
A follow-up was saved by Werner and the chaos settled.
La Salle shot first in the shootout, with Patton gamely stepping up through cramping to take the first. Cimino made a really good save on it, but Werner had his teammate’s back.
The towering Explorer faced down Liszewski and got the stop to keep it level after a round.
“He’s insane and being 6-foot-4 helps in PKs,” McCaffrey said. “He was athletic all night, taking balls out of the box, quick off his line, jumping over kids to win aerial balls. He did everything we needed him to do.”
La Salle scored its next three PKs, the last by David Steinbach providing the winner after Wood missed then stung the crossbar.
Wood’s season is not over and the Vikings will play for the District 12 AAA title next Thursday. Liszewski said while they played well Wednesday, the result gives him motivation to press harder in regulation and not have to face a shootout again.
La Salle will play for the PCL title Saturday evening in South Philly. After gutting out a semifinal win, they’re determined to finish things out.
“Our seniors didn’t want to go home tonight,” McCaffrey said. “They had a job to do and they wanted to get it done to have a look and a taste of what a championship game is like. They just dug deep. When you looked at each of them coming off even as they were dead tired and dragging, they came off the field saying was time to dig, go further and play for that next 80 minutes of a title game.”

DOYLESTOWN >> The Central Bucks East and Upper Dublin boys soccer teams were separated by just one spot in the District 1 Class-AAAA playoff seedings. On the field, it wasn’t nearly as close.

The No. 8 seeded Patriots beat the No. 9 seeded Cardinals, 4-0, Thursday afternoon at Central Bucks East High School in the second round of the district playoffs.

It did not take long for East to show its dominance. The Patriots scored three goals between the sixth minute and the 13th minute to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

“That’s huge — we come out and they’re just deflated from the first 10 minutes of the game,” East’s Liam Creedon said. “They just have no energy for the rest of the game. Getting that lead is just huge.”

The first goal was scored by Tomasz Ogonowski. Eric Quigley crossed a beautiful pass from the left side of the field and Ogonowski one-timed it home from the right.

Just 71 seconds later, the Patriots were at it again. This time Creedon just chipped the ball past the keeper from the left side for the 2-0 advantage.

Six minutes after that, Quigley scored a goal of his own. Coming up the right side, he used a soft touch to beat a defender and left the goalie with no chance to stop him from making it a 3-0 game.

The Patriots made it 4-0 in the 27th minute. Keegan Cannon corralled the ball in the box after a throw in and buried it home for the final goal of the game.

“Obviously they are a very good team,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Priest said. “But we shot ourselves in the foot a bit, made a few silly mistakes and against a team this good you just can’t afford to do that. We gave them four chances, they scored four goals.”

The Upper Dublin offense managed just one shot on goal all game and two other chances that came early in the second half. A big reason for that was the play of East’s defenders.

“I focus on (defense),” East coach Jeremiah White said. “That’s sort of the school I come from having played, especially in France. I think that’s number one — everything starts from the back. You try and keep it organized and have the players stay focused and do the job.”

“They were very well-organized,” Priest said of the East defense. “They have great players. (Kiel Kittleson) I thought had a great game for them. A lot of our problem was we were trying to kick it long down the middle for one guy against their whole back four. I kept telling them all of our success this year has come from getting the ball out wide so we could get players up to support and we just didn’t do that today.”

East will face the winner of No. 1 Conestoga and No. 16 Abington Saturday, either home or away depending on the winner. White is familiar with at least one player on top-seeded Conestoga.

“The goalkeeper for Conestoga plays for my club team,” White said. “I know a couple of the other players. They’re a really good team. It’s going to be a really difficult game. This is what you look forward to — playing the best teams. They’re obviously one of the top teams in the country. If they win, we look forward to the opportunity to play them.”

The loss brings the SOL American champion Cardinals season to an end.

“If we lost today I could accept that,” Priest said. “But the first 20 minutes of the game, I felt frustrated for those guys the season ends with a 4-0 defeat. But overall, at the beginning of every year my number one goal is to win the conference. We’ll take that.”

LOWER MERION >> Wissahickon entered Thursday’s District-One AAAA boys soccer second round game with momentum on its side. The Trojans were winners of seven straight regular season contests to close out their season and a had convincing 3-0 victory in its first round game against Garnet Valley Monday.

But Wissahickon’s luck ran out Thursday afternoon as its season ended with a 3-1 loss to Lower Merion.

“(It felt like) there were three shots and three goals,” Wissahickon coach Stuart Malcolm said. “It was probably a few more than that but that’s what it looked like and all credit to them for finishing them.”

The margin on the scoreboard is definitely an instance in which the score can be misleading. Neither team got an abundance of quality looks at the others’ net, however it was the Aces that capitalized on some loose balls around the Trojans net and was able to convert. Two of the Lower Merion goals, the first two, came off the foot of Andreas Blobel.

On the back end for Lower Merion, it was rock solid. The Aces gave the Trojans no room to operate offensively as Wissahickon managed only two shots on goal, one those being a Tom McHale goal coming late in the game.

“They were a dangerous team, our guys responded and played together as a strong unit,” Lower Merion coach Niko Severini said. “I think it was good effort overall. Not just with the goals we scored but the defense we were able to bring to the table.”

As the second half bore on the game became more chippy and physical with some heavy challenges coming from both sides. The Aces, playing with a lead, handled the rough play.

“We stressed to keep head-level and keep cool,” Severini said. “Playoff soccer gets heated, playoff sports, in general, gets heated and it was two team going at it really trying to get the win and that’s what happens with playoff soccer.”

After rebounding from a tough start and with a young and growing team, Wissahickon should be poised for another good start to the season next year. The Trojans were happy to their 2016 season end with a playoff appearance.

“We tied our first game and lost three of the next five,” Malcolm said. “We were 1-3-1 and we looked like a team that was going to struggle to make the playoffs. Apart from losing to Neshaminy with a penalty kick in the last minute that was the only defeat we had since that (tough) start. We got five or six sophomores out there so its young side and they learned how to win as the season went on.

“If someone had told me after the Hatboro-Horsham game, the first one that we lost, that we got the 10 seed and we come to Lower Merion and lost in the second round of the playoffs I’d be quite happy to be in that situation.”

For the Aces, they find themselves one win away from a state playoff berth as they get set to take on the winner of the second-seeded West Chester Henderson and No.15 Penn Wood in the quarterfinals Saturday.

“We have been taking it one game at a time. We’ll regroup and work on some things tomorrow and be ready for the next one,” Severini said.

TOWAMENCIN >> Mike Kohler saw a crease, and that’s all he needed.

“I just saw a little seam and tried to get through it as quick as I could,” the North Penn senior said of his second goal Thursday night, where he shed three defenders and was able to knock a shot past Kennett keeper Moises Almanza. “The ball just bounced my way and I was able to get a touch on it and get it around the keeper.”

Kohler’s pair of goals and a defensive effort led by Noah Kwortnik powered fifth-seeded North Penn to a rainy 2-0 victory over No. 21 Kennett in a District 1-AAAA second round playoff game at NP.

North Penn’s Jack Johnston and Kennett’s James Tuley fight for possession during their District 1-AAAA second round game on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)

The win advances the Knights to a Saturday quarterfinal showdown at No. 4 Pennsbury, which defeated No. 13 Central Bucks West 7-2 Thursday.

“We definitely experienced hardships this season and it feels good to get a win, get off on the right foot,” Kohler said of the Knights, who had a first-round bye and began districts with a solid performance on Thursday. “The first goal is always huge. We can play well with a lead so once we get the first goal we’re in gear and we’re ready to go.”

Kohler’s first goal came just seven minutes into the contest, giving the Knights an early edge over the Blue Demons. After Kohler doubled the lead to 2-0 midway through the first half, North Penn kept on producing scoring chances the rest of the way while containing Kennett’s speed on the outside.

“They’re a good team,” Knights coach Paul Duddy said of the Blue Demons, a team on the rise that will graduate just three seniors. “They had great team speed and a couple outside players that were very quick. (Dan Kunzij and Josh Ramagano) were very quick. Usually we match up speed-wise with anybody but they gave us some problems.”

Enter Kwortnik, the backbone of the defense.

“Noah in the back — as always, he wins 80 percent of the balls in the air and he is just as steady as it goes,” Duddy said.

Bobby Dean got the shutout in goal for the Knights, who improved to 16-3-0 on the season. They’ll take on the Falcons Saturday with a chance to lock up a spot in states.

It was a tremendous run for Kennett (10-7-2), which earned an upset win over Spring-Ford in the first round and played an impressive 80 minutes of soccer in Round Two.

“I was proud of the kids. They played with a lot of heart,” Kennett coach Mike Barr said of his team. “North Penn got on top of us right away and we had a few injuries going in. The season had some ups and downs but we ended on a positive note, getting to districts and winning the Ches-Mont (League).

“We’ll learn and grow from what happened tonight and we should have a good team next year.”

Kennett also got some outstanding saves from Almanza throughout the night, making the two goals by Kohler — especially the second one — that much more impressive.

“He’s pretty incredible,” Duddy said of the senior. “He’s a special player.”

Top Photo: North Penn’s Mike Kohler celebrates scoring against Kennett during their District 1-AAAA second round game on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)

Tredyffrin – With the score 0-0 in the waning minutes of Conestoga’s PIAA District One 4A second-round playoff game against Abington Thursday evening, the Pioneers’ perfect record was in jeopardy.
The score was tied 0-0, and No. 1 seed Conestoga was struggling to score in the rainy conditions. Then, with about 10 minutes to play, an Abington shot on goal hit the crossbar.
“If that ball had been a couple of inches lower, it could have gone in, Abington goes up 1-0 and then they lay back and play defense,” said Conestoga head coach David Zimmerman. “That could have been the game right there.”
Just a few minutes later, Conestoga senior forward Mason Miller took matters into his own hands, nailing a scoring shot from about 25 yards out with 6:11 to play that gave the Pioneers a 1-0 win against 17th seed Abington.

To view a photo gallery of the Conestoga-Abington game click here
Conestoga (19-0) advances to the third round of Districts to play eighth seed Central Bucks East Saturday.
Miller described his game-winning goal: “We did a 1-2 touch pass through the middle, [Conestoga senior midfielder] Blaise Milanek split two defenders, and saw me open. When he sent me the ball, I took my shot and saw it go into the lower left corner of the goal.”
Conestoga has played in rainy conditions earlier this season – against Ridley, they won 6-0 Sept. 29 in wet weather – and on Thursday evening, they got acclimated to the wet conditions in the second half, according to Miller.
“The rain made it more difficult to keep the ball on the ground and do our 1-2 touch passing, but I think in the second half, we got [accustomed] to the conditions, and started to play our style more,” said Miller.
Zimmerman said, “In the second half, I think we did a better job of keeping the ball in Abington’s zone. We were playing into the wind in the first half. Blaise Milanek did a great job winning balls for us in the second half.”
Conestoga’s 1-0 win Thursday was its eighth one-goal victory of the season – and three of those victories were by a 1-0 score.
Zimmerman said, “Our back line did a good job tonight. [Junior defender] Mike McCarthy anchored the back line for us, played 80 minutes and was very steady back there. Abington put pressure on us, but we limited their chances.”
For Abington, which had defeated No. 16 seed Downingtown West 2-0 Tuesday to advance to Thursday’s contest, it was a valiant effort by the Ghosts’ defense, and junior goalie Nicholas Brownholtz made a number of nice saves to keep the game scoreless until the waning minutes.
Abington head coach Randy Garber said, “We did a nice job tonight – Conestoga’s a very talented team, and they kept possession. Our whole defense played a good game tonight, and it was unfortunate for us that their one goal was on a great individual effort, where he got a good look at the ball from the center of the park.
“We didn’t get the ball in the offensive third enough tonight, but we’re a young team. I think we’ll [improve] next year.”

Daniel Boone’s Cooper Duffie stretches for the ball at Cedar Crest High School in South Lebanon on Thursday, October 27, 2016. KIRK NEIDERMYER | PA Prep Live

LEBANON >> Never is a long time.

Daniel Boone erased “never” from its boys’ soccer history Thursday night at Cedar Crest High School, when the Blazers scored four goals in the opening 20 minutes to defeat Manheim Central 4-1 in a District 3 Class AAA quarterfinal.

Daniel Boone (13-7) had never qualified for a district semifinal prior to Thursday night’s result in the 28-year history of the varsity soccer program. With the victory over the Barons also came the program’s first PIAA berth. The top four finishers in AAA from D-3 qualify — Boone assured itself that milestone by running Manheim Central ragged for the first 20 and all but clinching that reality as the first half drew to close.

Daniel Boone’s Ayoub Mouhou scores a goal in the first half at Cedar Crest High School in South Lebanon on Thursday, October 27, 2016. KIRK NEIDERMYER | PA Prep Live

Boone will face unbeaten behemoth Lower Dauphin (22-0) — 4-0 winners over Greencastle-Antrim — in the AAA semifinal on Monday, at a site and time to be determined. But that’s next week. For the moment, it was a time of celebration on the Crest sidelines for a history-making achievement.

“It feels great,” Boone head coach Matt Kade said. “We knew with the new classifications we could compete with teams our size. We gave ourselves a strong schedule to give ourselves a high seed this year and we knew we were capable of making a run.”

Kade was referring to a playoff run, but what his Blazers did during that pivotal first 20 minutes was make consistently strong runs through the Barons’ central defense. Midfielder Greg Blume played a sublime match by perfectly weighting several thru balls to forwards Ayoub Mouhou and Jaimie Burns, the latter of whom came into Thursday’s match with 24 goals. The Moroccan-born Mouhou tallied a brace in the opening 10 minutes before Burns joined him in that department. And that was that.

A saturated artificial track at Cedar Crest on a soggy night was beneficial to his playmaking success, Blume said.

Daniel Boone’s Matt Glady controls the ball from Manheim Central’s Jason Andrews at Cedar Crest High School in South Lebanon on Thursday, October 27, 2016. KIRK NEIDERMYER | PA Prep Live

“The rain helped,” Blume said. “You can put less spin on the ball. It’s gonna carry. You can kick it softer, you can aim it better. You can find targets all day in the rain.

“Once we got a rhythm, we were really feeling it and playing to our full potential and we just kept going.”

Blume picked up three markers before departing in the 68^th minute after bruising his left knee. It was wrapped in ice after the game, but Blume said he “absolutely” will play in Monday’s semifinal against LD.

Mouhou, who emigrated from Morocco this summer, got Boone on the board just 2:14 into the match with an unassisted solid strike from 20 yards out, left to right, that beat Manheim Central keeper Mason Nissley cleanly to the lower far post. Seven minutes later, Mouhou doubled his output with a second goal, this one from 15 yards away, right to left.

“My team, we were hyped for this game,” Mouhou said. “We wanted to go to states. And we’re going to states now.

“The key was possession. We kept the ball for like, 30 minutes (in the first half). We got shots and we scored.”

Burn’s made it 3-0 at 16:30 on Blume’s second assist, then polished off a superb opening 20 with a fourth tally at 19:55, on his middie’s third helper. After that the Blazers pulled back a bit, relaxing what had been an aggressive high line.

Manheim Central finally got on the board with 6:46 to play when Kale Landis drove home a rebound off an initial diving save by Boone keeper Stephen Williams to ruin the clean sheet, but it came far too late.

The night belonged to history.

RADNOR >> As the referees took roll call of the five penalty-kick shooters at midfield Thursday night, Ben Toomey and Mitchell Coll had a moment for chit-chat near the goal.

There was some small talk, a couple of “crazy game, huh?”s … and from Toomey, the admission that oh by the way, he’d be the fifth and final PK taker.

Then the Radnor goalie went out and made sure his boot wouldn’t be needed.

Post strikes by Phoenixville shooters bookended a sensational Toomey save in PKs, as No. 2 seed Radnor advanced, 3-0, after the teams’ District 1 Class 3A quarterfinal finished tied at 1 after extra time.

Toomey’s hero turn followed a miraculous finish with the host Raiders, down to 10 men for most of the second half, scoring with 12 seconds left in regulation, defender Phil Regan getting the final touch in a chaotic scramble.

Radnor equalizer in the final minute! 12 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/sk1B564aUt

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 28, 2016

After that goal pinballed across the line through a tangle of humanity, Toomey served as one of the leading voices in a regrouping huddle. The Raiders had battled for 28 minutes without the services of Jack Miller after two soft yellow cards summed to a red. But they weren’t home free yet.

“It was crazy, but we knew the game wasn’t over,” the senior goalkeeper said. “We knew we had to get it done. Down a man, down a goal, that was the most incredible moment of my life. But when I got back in the huddle, I was like, ‘it’s not over. That was incredible, but we need to keep fighting.’”

The win is the first for Radnor (11-7-1) in districts since 2008 and the first for coach Joe Caruolo in his fifth season at the helm. Radnor advances to take on No. 3 Bishop Shanahan next Wednesday for a berth in the PIAA Tournament. No. 7 Phoenixville (9-8-1) is eliminated.

Toomey finished the job in the shootout, which required just three rounds thanks to some ghastly Phantoms finishing. Taking a cue from practice technique, he had his back turned when his shooters delivered their attempts — perfect conversions by Andrew Boujoukos, Miles Maesaka and Bobby Kirsch — perhaps not conducive to scouting but effective in the superstition category.

Carboy off the post!!! Radnor wins the shootout, 3-0 pic.twitter.com/O6ay6dKr43

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 28, 2016

In between, Toomey guessed correctly as Andre Souza blasted a shot off the post to Toomey’s right. The goalie then dove right to get both gloves to Greg Flamma’s attempt. And when Jared Carboy rattled the left upright, the celebration, part two, was on for the Raiders and the sizeable student contingent that braved downpour conditions for much of a chilly evening.

“We call him ‘Brick Wall Toomey,’ because he’s so reliable,” defender Cal Congleton said. “He’s the best keeper I’ve ever played with. We were confident he was going to save one, and we got lucky that they hit the post twice, and we won.”

A little luck asserted itself to Regan’s goal. The ball started on Toomey’s boot in the opposite box with 30 seconds to play. His punt, aided by the stiff wind at the Raiders’ back in the second half, covered most of the field, was flicked on once, then again by Jackson Birtwistle near the penalty spot. Some combination of a touch by a Phoenixville defender, a high bounce, a nick by Regan’s boot and not enough contact from Coll’s gloves shepherded the ball over the line with 12 seconds showing.

“I knew that was the last time I was going to get a chance to make a play in my (soccer) life,” Regan said. “And I just stuck my foot in there, fell on the ground and next thing I knew the ball’s in the goal. …

“It was just all heart and desire. That ball went in the goal because of heart and desire. There was no skill on that goal.”

The tally cancelled out a strike by Phil Meszaros in the 55th minute, a stellar finish from the top of the 18 set up by Flamma.

Kirsch scores. 3-0 Radnor. pic.twitter.com/Yw2Iu0FWTA

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 28, 2016

Seven minutes earlier, Flamma was on the receiving end of a Miller’s second bookable offense. The Radnor forward, like in his first yellow, won the ball but took out a piece of an opponent on the follow through. Both were borderline calls, particularly for a player carrying a yellow. But with the PIAA’s system of rotating referees and the moving target of what constitutes a caution, Miller didn’t benefit from a ref’s customary discretion.

“We kind of accepted that they had a higher chance of scoring a goal, and they ended up scoring,” Congleton said. “But we knew that we would have to work our butts off even harder as a defense.”

“We just had to keep up the energy that we had,” Meszaros said of the man-power adjustment. “We had a lot of energy, and once that happened, we had to take it home. It’s a heartbreaking defeat.”

Coll saves an own goal, saves the game. 11 into OT. pic.twitter.com/Wn6GrfixrM

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 28, 2016

The balance of play leveled out in extra-time, with both teams earning chances. Coll, who made seven saves, produced a fine diving save to tip a Maesaka shot over the bar, then got his fingertips to deny an own goal by Danny Jackson in the first session. Cal Hanson squandered a chance in the final minute of the first overtime, then Toomey dove to deny a Meszaros drive that skittered along the soggy turf.

Then Toomey got the final say, without even needing to line up his PK.

“I knew Ben was fully capable of making that save because he’s the best goalie I’ve ever seen in my life,” Regan said. “I was not shocked at all when he made that save. As soon as he made that save, I knew it was pretty much set in stone. We had that game.”

Also in the Class 3A tournament:

Holy Ghost Prep 3, Marple Newtown 1 >> Luke Ciavardelli opened the scoring with just under 22 minutes left to play, but the No. 9 seed Tigers’ upset bid was dashed when the top-seeded Firebirds scored the go-ahead goal just over a minute from time.

Pottsgrove 2, Interboro 0 >> Germann Larmond scored both goals for the No. 4 seed Falcons, as the No. 5 Bucs fought hard but couldn’t come through with a goal.

In the Class 4A tournament:

W.C. Henderson 5, Penn Wood 0 >> The No. 15 seed Patriots had no answers for the No. 2 Warriors, who got a pair of goals from Kevin Kieffer in the rout.

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Ever the showman.

Germann Larmond wasn’t about to let the Pottsgrove boys soccer team’s home finale go without putting on a performance for the home fans.

“For some reason, I feel when we’re here at home, this atmosphere, we get very comfortable,” the Falcons senior forward said. “I think we got started very early and just kept the ball rolling.”

Larmond made the Falcons’ faithful roar once in each half while the Pottsgrove defense put on an organized display to turn away Interboro, 2-0, in a District 1-AAA quarterfinal Thursday night at Pottsgrove.

Photo Gallery: Interboro vs. Pottsgrove

Larmond, who had his way down the right side for much of the night, scored in the ninth minute as he cut centrally on to his favored left foot and struck a far-post shot into the side-netting for the early lead before he sealed the win in the final minute with an easy score thanks to a layoff from Nate Yuchimiuk when Brian Interiano passed out of pressure as the Bucs’ chased the game late.

No. 4 seed Pottsgrove (15-5-1), the reigning District 1-AA champion, advances to face No. 1 seed Holy Ghost Prep – a 3-1 winner over Marple Newtown Thursday – in a semifinal that doubles as a PIAA tournament qualifier.

Pottsgrove’s Tyler Rolando (3) plays the ball along the sideline against the pressure of Interboro’s Joey Pitts during their 1-AAA boys soccer playoff game Thursday. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

Interboro concluded its season 10-8-1, but not without putting on a display that tested the Falcons.

“We fell off toward the end of the season which hurt us coming in, but it didn’t show today,” head coach Nick Dostellio said. “They came out and fought hard and I’m very proud of them. They fought hard for 80 minutes and it was one of those games where it wasn’t meant for us.”

Interboro wasn’t without scoring chances thanks to senior Diego Lopez and junior Guillermo Ramirez. Lopez forced Pottsgrove goalkeeper Liam Abdalla into a difficult low save midway through the first half and chipped wide on a breakaway that looked certain to be the leveler.

Ramirez had Interboro’s closest moment early in the second half when he spun from his back to goal and struck a left-footed shot that hit the crossbar in the 43rd minute.

“That ball off the crossbar, nine times out of 10 that’s a goal. (Ramirez) has done a great job all year. Diego missing that breakaway in the first half, so we had our opportunities,” Dostellio said.

They weren’t so plentiful though thanks for the man-marking display Tyler Rolando did on Lopez.

“We were anticipating him to be that good,” Larmond said. “Tyler is probably our best defender and he gave Tyler a run for his money. He’s a brilliant player.”

Rolando wasn’t alone as the back line of Nik Curnew, Nick Makoid and Pat O’Brien were up to the task while getting support from midfielders Will Kaiser, Mike Sereny and Jacobs Spotts.

“I feel confident in the four back there with me and I know that when we communicate there’s not much that’s going to get past us,” senior Curnew said. “With the help of our midfield getting back, I don’t see anybody scoring on us.”

The Falcons got in a handful of blocks that forced Abdalla into just two saves while Interboro keeper Brandon Weldon made six.

Pottsgrove has struggled aerially in past seasons, but the Falcons owned the air game Thursday, the Bucs never really threatening on set pieces.

“There’s times in the season where we’ve struggled with that a little bit so we stress it at practice and work on it more. I think we’ve definitely gotten better,” Curnew said.

The Falcons dodged Bucs’ center back Dom Scrivano’s headed effort with under five minutes to play before Larmond gave the crowd one last outburst with 30 seconds to play.

Yuchimiuk to Larmond for the dagger! pic.twitter.com/VgtrZ30qND

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) October 28, 2016

Showtime >> Larmond, the younger brother of past Pottsgrove standout and current West Virginia sophomore forward Rushawn Larmond, isn’t just about performing on the field either.

He’s a budding hip hop artist, too, with his best friends forming the group ‘NGP’ – Never Gettin’ Played – they have an album coming Nov. 1, on big bro’s birthday.

“Coming Tuesday, it’s my brother’s birthday. I feel like it’s a nice present for him,” Larmond said. “Me and my best friends, we’ve been doing it for a year now. We’re coming big time.”

Pottsgrove’s Mike Sereny (2) and Interboro’s Brian Barker battle for the ball in the midfield Thursday. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

Get Prep-ped >> Pottsgrove gets a rematch with Holy Ghost Prep, the team they defeated to win the 1-AA championship a year ago.

“Last year, that was a scrap,” Curnew said. “I think we have more weapons this year, our defense is more experienced so I think we’re ready.”

The game is set for Nov. 2 in the afternoon at Holy Ghost Prep with the district moving away from neutral sites for the semifinal games.

Buc-king the trend >> Interboro acquitted itself well in its first year in Class AAA.

“Our two playoff games in the past five years, we’ve gotten pretty blown out so it was good to come here and fight hard. Unfortunately the result wasn’t for us but I’m extremely proud,” Dostellio said.

Interboro will graduate Lopez, Weldon and fellow seniors Josh Little, Brian Barker, Vinny Mormando, Scotty Menendorp, Brendan Shanahan and Joey Pitts.

“We’ll be young next year,” Dostellio said. “I’m looking forward to it. We’ve got some guys coming up. It may be a rebuilding year but we have some pieces in between that can make something happen.”

Pottsgrove’s Nate Yuchimiuk tackles Interboro’s Noah Keily in the midfield Thursday. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)

With six goals in his team’s first four games this season, Sam Brown announced his presence to the Central League. As the season progressed, the Loyola commit chose to more often pull the strings, setting up teammates and earning the Lions a District 1 Class 4A playoff berth.

The end result was 11 goals, 10 assists and the honor as the Central League MVP for the Penncrest senior, as voted by league coaches.

None of Delco’s nine Central League teams earned more than one selection to the first team. Undefeated Conestoga deservedly earned three first-team picks and five among the first two teams, while Lower Merion also claimed three-first team bids.

Joining Brown on the first team is Garnet Valley’s Matt Moore, Haverford’s Sean Cannon and Radnor’s Jack Miller.

Note: All-Central teams are chosen by league coaches. The Daily Times has no input on the proceedings whatsoever.

MVP: Sam Brown, Penncrest

First Team

Nick Jennings, Conestoga
Chris Donovan, Conestoga
Matt Moore, Garnet Valley
Alex Kedes, Harriton
Sean Cannon, Haverford
Tim O’Hare, Lower Merion
Sam Brown, Penncrest
Jack Miller, Radnor
Blaise Milanek, Conestoga
Ryan Tillman, Lower Merion
Sabastian Jenkins, Lower Merion

Second Team

Harrison Hotham, Strath Haven
Adam Azab, Marple Newtown
Mohamed Camara , Upper Darby
Gabe Harms, Conestoga
Andrew Weir, Garnet Valley
Josh Cunningham, Haverford
David Novacich, Lower Merion
Ryan Peter, Radnor
Shea Morgan, Penncrest
Mason Miller, Conestoga
Ben Toomey, Radnor

Honorable Mention

Conestoga: Mike McCarthy, Will Klein
Garnet Valley: Michael Buchy, Jacob Schwien
Harriton: Emil Andersen, Evan Tracy
Haverford: Cam Morse, Wilson Dodds
Lower Merion: Max Shapiro, Thomas Podrasky
Marple Newtown: Richie Hannig, Eamonn Clinton, Rajbir Lohat
Penncrest: Christian Evans, Max Brown, Alex Boudazin
Radnor: Cal Congleton, Ben Verbofsky
Ridley: Brendan Higgins, Kyran Baker
Springfield: Ron Miller, Thomas McCaffery
Strath Haven: Jeremy Baker, Josh Mason
Upper Darby: Daniel Willie, Scott Devlin

YARDLEY – After allowing Central Bucks West to knot the score at 2-all midway through the first period of its District 1 Class 4A second-round matchup, Pennsbury looked like it was going to go into halftime holding the slimmest of margins at 3-2.

Falcons midfielder Obi Onuoha would have none of that, however. The 11th-grader for Pennsbury (16-3) – one of three Falcons to score twice in the contest – took a feed from senior Zach LoBasso in the closing seconds of the period, deked right and poked the ball into the far left side of the net to send Pennsbury into the intermission with a 2-goal edge.

On the strength of two goals apiece from Onuoha, LoBasso and senior John Griffin, the fourth-seeded Falcons cruised to a 7-2 triumph over 13th-seeded CB West Thursday afternoon (Oct. 27) in the rain at Macclesfield.

“It’s playoffs,” exclaimed Pennsbury head coach Tom Stoddart.

“Everyone wants a piece of the action and obviously, my attacking big three just had a huge day today.”

The Falcons advance to face No. 5 North Penn in a District 1 quarterfinal slated for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Pennsbury. The winner of the quarterfinal earns a berth in states.

For the Bucks – who topped Haverford 2-1 to reach the Round of 16, their season ends at 10-8-2.

“We just ran out of gas,” said CB West head coach Stefan Szygiel. “We struggled to contain their forwards and we knew that was going to be the matchup – our defenders versus their front four.

“They just had too much firepower and they had one of those days – they were just finishing.

“We struggled to pick up the runs – anytime you get that many goals hung on you, obviously, you had a rough day.”

The Falcons went up early in this one on goals by Griffin and LoBasso in the first eight minutes. The Bucks answered with goals by senior Nick Doyle and sophomore Luke Fehrman, who scored less than six minutes apart in the first period. But LoBasso put Pennsbury back on top with a goal in the 26th minute then put a ball through to Onuoha in the final minute of the first half.

The goal by Onuoha – who also scored in the second half – proved to be a game-changer.

“I thought it was big,” said Onuoha. “We always like to find each other and I thought it changed the momentum of the game – gave us more control.”

The higher seed, the Falcons were the host team. And Pennsbury chose to open the tournament on the turf at Macclesfield in Yardley. That was just fine with the Falcons.

“Most of us grew up playing on this field at YMS (Yardley-Makefield Soccer) so this is home for us,” said Onuoha, a former midfielder for YMS Fusion. “We’re just used to playing here, we feel comfortable and I think it showed in the result.”

The Falcons’ Big Three combined on six of the seven goals by Pennsbury and Onouha sent a corner kick that was capped off by freshman Joe Ficarotta 16 minutes into the second half to put the Falcons up 5-2.

For the game, both LoBasso and Onuoha netted a pair of goals and two assists, while Griffin added two goals and one assist.

“All three of us are close to unstoppable when we’re all playing our game,” said Onuoha. “We love finding each other and we love working off of each other.

“It’s a great opportunity to play with two players like them.”

The Falcons closed out the scoring on a goal by Griffin on a breakaway in the 67th minute and another by Onuoha, off a perfect pass from Griffin in the 74th minute.

According to Stoddart, some recent adjustments to Pennsbury’s offense have ignited the game coming from Griffin.

“Some of the changes we’ve made have allowed him to isolate himself on the outside,” said Stoddart. “You saw how dangerous he can be today.”

“John is a possession type player and when he’s on, he can unbalance a defense really quickly.”

Even Stoddart had to admit the goal in the 40th minute by Onuoha was the team’s biggest in this game.

“It was great to get back to that 2-goal cushion,” the coach said.

“We opened it up so early, it was kind of like we didn’t quite know what to do with (the lead).

“They are a dangerous team that kept us under pressure the whole day so that goal was huge.”

As much as the Falcon coach enjoyed seeing his team score seven goals in a district playoff, he said it was important to come back and play lockdown defense after CB West tied things up in the 23rd minute.

“We haven’t given up more than two goals all season and today was going to be a big test after they were putting us under so much pressure early on,” explained Stoddart.

“We really settled in and played well from the back through the front and then we were just really dangerous up high.”

Pennsbury won’t have this good of a time Saturday vs. SOL Continental Conference Champ North Penn. The Knights have just three losses and they were all 1-0 games vs. defending PIAA state 4A champ CB East, CB West, and 2016 Philadelphia Catholic League finalist LaSalle.

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

DISTRICT 1 CLASS AAAA BOYS SOCCER

Pennsbury 7, Central Bucks West 2

(Oct. 27 at Macclesfield)

CB WEST 2 0 – 2

PENNSBURY 4 3 – 7

FIRST-HALF GOALS: P — John Griffin, from LoBasso, 5th minute; Zach LoBasso, 8th minute; LoBasso 26th minute, from Obi Onuoha, Onuoha from LoBasso, 40th minute; CBW — Nick Doyle 17th minute; Luke Fehrman (CBW) from Doyle, 23rd minute.

SECOND-HALF GOALS: P — Joe Ficarotta from Onuoha, 56th minute, Griffin 67th minute, Onuoha (P) from Griffin, 74th minute; CBW — none.

SHOTS: Pennsbury — 18; CB West — 12.

SAVES: Nate Slotnick (P) 8; Dylan Smith (CBW) 4.

LANGHORNE – Battling PAC-10 rival Owen J. Roberts in a scoreless District 1 Class 4A second-round duel that almost surely looked like it would remain that way at the intermission, Neshaminy junior Jack McCourt went in on the Wildcats’ goal on a breakaway in the last 10 seconds of the period.

One of the leading scorers for the sixth-seeded Skins, McCourt drilled his shot, burying it in the back of the net with 8.6 seconds left in the first half. OJR sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Walker dove to his right and just missed making a key save. Had he done so, Neshaminy junior Chase Rider would have been right there with the rebound.

Rider did exactly that in the second half, following up a rebound of a shot by McCourt and burying his own shot to give the Skins a much-needed insurance goal in the 53rd minute of play.

“It’s a slippery field out here so rebounds can happen anytime,” said Rider. “That’s all we do – just following shots.”

The plays by Rider and McCourt ensured Neshaminy (14-5) a berth in a District 1 quarterfinal set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 vs. No. 3 seed Council Rock North, a 3-2 winner over No. 14 Unionville. Whoever wins the quarterfinal earns a berth in states. The loser heads to a playback round.

For the Wildcats, the loss to the Skins ends their season at 11-7-3. Owen-Jay defeated No. 11 Hatboro-Horsham 4-1 to advance to the Round of 16 matchup at Neshaminy. OJR senior Brandon Ott tallied twice in the playoff opener with the Hatters while junior Austin Koury and sophomore Taurean Lee added a goal each.

While the Skins finished in third place in the Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference behind league champ CR North and second-place Pennsbury, Neshaminy might be the hottest team in the tournament.

A mid-season realignment – from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 – that gives the Skins an extra player up top, helped the team win nine of its last 11 in the regular season.

“We’ve had a lot of success with (the realignment), especially in the midfield,” stated Rider. “Dan (Grinrod) has been doing a great job in there for us. (Kevin) Sheenan and Vince (Hosephros) – Vince coming off the bench and giving us minutes in that spot – it’s been great.”

It was Hosephros who sent McCourt in all alone on the OJR goal in the last 10 seconds of the first half. At the time, the strike by McCourt was a game-changer.

“It just brings our confidence up and for them, it just makes them work harder in the second half,” explained Rider.

A steady drizzle turned into a steady downpour in the second half, though that didn’t dissuade the Skins from piling on.

“We wanted to keep pressing in the second half, especially when the rain picked up,” explained Rider. “It was even more slick for the defense so when we started pressing, they started to make more mistakes because of the wet field.

“That helped us out defensively because they kept turning the ball over to us from the press.”

Rider had another and maybe even two chances to score in the final four minutes, clanking one ball off the crossbar and another off the right side post on back-to-back volleys.

Keeping the foot on the gas was the plan in the second half, said Rider.

“We always want to keep pressing them because press means mistakes can happen at any time,” said Rider. “If we keep pressing and going to goal, mistakes can happen and we can keep scoring.”

As for Neshaminy’s next opponent in districts CR North, the Skins lost 3-1 to the Rock in September and also lost 1-0 on a penalty kick in a mid-October matchup that clinched the division crown for the Indians. Before North topped Unionville in districts and it was known who the Skins would face in the D-1 quarters, Chase welcomed the opportunity to face the Rock again.

“We play them twice a year so let’s make it a third,” said Rider. “We haven’t played our best game against them yet so they don’t know what they have coming to them.”

For Neshaminy, it is the first time it has advanced to the D-1 quarters since 2012. Last year, the Skins lost on penalty kicks to Lower Merion in a first-round district playoff, despite a 2-0 lead over the Aces with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

Rock North advanced to the quarterfinal, despite facing a 2-1 second-half deficit in a second-round matchup vs. No. 14 seed Unionville Thursday night, Oct. 27 at Walt Snyder Stadium. Newtown’s Indians topped the Ches-Mont American Conference Champion from Kennett Square on second-period goals by senior Nick Guarna – who tallied on a penalty kick – and senior Dennis Karpovitch, who poked home a rebound of a shot by senior Tyler Becker for the game-winner. CR North senior Nikita Ilin also scored for the Rock while Mark Echevarria and Sam Price tallied for Unionville.

The season ends for the Ches-Mont American champs at 12-6-2. Unionville won a first-round District 1 matchup, beating Boyertown 1-0 on penalty kicks. Michael Hewes, Eric Greer and Kyle Garvey tallied PKs for the Indians and freshman goalkeeper Alex Dolce – in for backup keeper Garrett Pepper who was injured in the second half – helped preserve the shutout.

DISTRICT 1 CLASS AAAA BOYS SOCCER (second round)

Neshaminy 2, Owen J. Roberts 0

(Oct. 27 at Neshaminy)

OWEN J. ROBERTS 0 0 – 0

NESHAMINY 1 1 – 2

FIRST-HALF GOALS: N — Jack McCourt from Vince Hosephros, 40th minute; OJR — none.

SECOND-HALF GOALS: N — Chase Rider, unassisted, 53rd minute; OJR — none.

SHOTS: N — 13, OJR — 10.

SAVES: N — Val Scarsellatto 4; OJR — Ryan Walker 4.

RECORDS: Neshaminy (14-5); OJR (11-7-3).