CB East edges CB West, changes the expectations
DOYLESTOWN >> The Central Bucks East boys soccer team is out to change expectations.
Coming off what was by the program’s standard a subpar season, the Patriots dedicated themselves all offseason and summer to getting things back on track. Saying and doing at two different things, but there was no better stage than Wednesday’s game at archrival Central Bucks West to back up that claim.
Thanks to Liam Myers’ hustle in the box and a resilient team effort, the Patriots found a late winner to edge the Bucks 2-1 in another classic between the sister schools at War Memorial Field.
“Everyone was working hard the entire game, both our center backs had a great game, they gave us that ball and I saw it bouncing and knew I had to pounce on it,” Myers, a senior forward said. “I saw it was one minute, 30 seconds left or whatever it was and knew I just had to give it all.”
East-West is more than a game on either team’s schedule and with the added ingredients of it being both sides’ SOL Continental opener and under the lights at War Memorial, it felt like a spectacle from the opening tap. Intensity wasn’t in short supply from either team and every ball got contested with each win drawing a loud cheer from the respective bench.
Still, that much frenetic energy and players flying up and down the pitch did lead to a choppy match and only a handful of chances from the run of play. Instead, the outcome largely came down to restarts with all three goals coming via set pieces.
“There were fireworks tonight,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “Both teams worked hard. I thought in that phase, you talk about the 50/50 battle, they were a little better tonight. I think they were really, really up for this game and we were up for it as well but maybe not as much.”
East second year head coach Josh Isaacsohn knew he had the pieces to put a good side on the pitch, but it took the first offseason together to find the right fits. Isaacsohn called his group “tenacious” and praised their ability to see Wednesday’s match through to the end.
The Patriots struck first off a free kick around midfield taken by junior center back Jacob Bing-Zaremba. His cannonball service bypassed everyone and made a line straight for the goal, where it navigated congestion around the keeper to find the net with 20:38 left in the opening half.
“We were aggressive, we won our 50/50 balls, we were more physical and had more heart,” Bing-Zaremba said. “We had to keep our cool, we didn’t want to make it too big of a game and we knew we still had our entire season ahead of us.
“Everyone thought we were going to do badly again and they doubted us so we decided we were going to come out stronger than everyone else.”
The Bucks responded almost immediately with Jimi Leder drawing a foul about 25 yards out on the left side. Leder, a senior co-captain, put his service right on target but East keeper Tyler Okin wasn’t able to control the rebound, allowing West’s Ryan Horst to slip in and finish the second chance with 19:05 left.
West goalkeeper Ryan Van Pelt made a couple good stops following the equalizer and neither side could find another goal before a large cloud putting on a show of lightning flashes caused a delay that ended up as an extended halftime.
“We know them so well, they know us so well,” Szygiel said. “Bing-Zaremba had a fantastic game, Nolan Case had a fantastic game. There’s always variables thrown at you, we had lightning and it was a choppy game. We worked hard, they worked hard. There weren’t a lot of chances, it was all very choppy.”
Case, the Patriots senior central midfielder, was a force unto himself on Wednesday. A constant presence in the air, he helped turn the tide on the 50/50 and contested balls just enough in East’s favor.
“We put Nolan in there to be a game-changer,” Isaacsohn said. “We put him in there to win the head balls and change the game in the midfield and he did exactly what we asked. He’s a captain and he stepped up and acted like one today.”
Myers called the effort a great step forward out of last season’s shadow and he took it as a positive sign of things still to come. The Patriots aren’t solely reliant on their seniors, throwing plenty of juniors and a couple sophomores in the mix and their back line was stout dealing with West’s speed and connections up top.
“This preseason, we all worked really hard to get our fitness up and get touches on the ball,” Myers said. “It was a total team effort tonight. I guess it’s the preparation, all offseason we were working and we had that concentration the entire 80 minutes.”
Another foul around the middle of the park set up Bing-Zaremba for yet another booming service. He put a lot of good balls into the mix during the game, but this one found that right spot that caused enough mayhem to generate a chance.
Myers came in off the right side, pounced on the chance and buried it with a minute to play.
“I think we all knew it was trending one direction, someone was going to winning 2-1 with a late goal and tonight, they got the job done,” Szygiel said. “This is how it’s going to be all year, we have 12 of these that are probably going to be one-goal nail-biters. But, this is the drama you want and the excitement you want in high school, this is why we do this.”
CB East’s bus left a trail of jubilation as it pulled out onto Memorial Drive but Bing-Zaremba and Myers both cautioned this game couldn’t be the high point of their season. The Continental doesn’t allow for prolonged celebrations and with a result that put the rest of the conference on notice, nobody will be overlooking the Patriots the rest of the way.
“We take the momentum with us, but we can’t get too cocky and have to continue to play our game,” Bing-Zaremba said.
Now at 1-1-1, the Bucks can’t dwell too much on what could have been either with their next match on deck for Friday at Souderton. There’s another game with CB East on the schedule but also an unforgiving tide to wade through in order to reach it.
“They’re good this year, I think they were moving some pieces around and it maybe took a year to figure out but it’s a testament to how deep our league is,” Szygiel said. “Year in and year out, we talk about this being the deepest league in the state and this is a perfect example why. Any result in this league does not surprise me because we’re all so well-prepared.”
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1 1 – 2
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1 0 – 1
Goals: CBE – Jacob Bing-Zaremba, Liam Myers; CBW – Ryan Horst
