ABINGTON — On a day where chances weren’t plentiful, Braden Delgado made his count.
The Abington senior had, by the match’s standard, plenty of time to set up and shoot with five minutes left against visiting Central Bucks South with a spot in the District 1-4A semifinals on the line. Play had been choppy all morning and it felt like a big moment.
Delgado’s late goal sent the No. 6 Ghosts past the No. 14 Titans 1-0 on Saturday morning, also securing them a state playoff bid.
“We had to match their energy on the field and win out 50/50s,” Delgado said. “We work for each other and that’s all that matters.”
South came in having pulled the upset on No. 3 seed West Chester Henderson on Thursday and feeling rightly confident. The Titans also knew Abington’s grass field wouldn’t be conducive to much technical soccer on the ground, something the team views as a strength, so they wanted to keep play frenetic.
The approach worked, neither team having much in the way of sustained spells of possession.
“Very physical, not much soccer being played today at all,” Abington coach Randy Garber said. “The ball was in the air more than it was on the ground, the ball was out of bounds more than it was on the field. It could have been a tennis match the way the ball was going from one end of the field to the other.”
CB South thought it had seized an early advantage when the ball ended up in the back of the net about five minutes into the first half. However, the Titans were called for a foul in the box, the officials immediately calling off the goal as it crossed the line.
Titans coach Kyle Pettican didn’t agree with the call, but he didn’t have anything negative to say about his team’s efforts. Early in the season, South lost a game to Central Bucks East where he felt like the Titans just got dominated physically and he wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.
The South coach thought his group had played well enough to win and was confident picking his guys on any other day. His group had asked some major questions of the Ghosts and as South now heads into the playback bracket seeking a state playoff bid, Pettican was confident they’d be able to keep their season going.
“I don’t think that they have been hit like that by any team this season,” Pettican said. “I’m very impressed with my boys and that’s the beauty of sport in the fact that on any given day, it doesn’t matter how well you play, whoever puts the ball in the back of the net wins the game.”
Indeed, Abington’s defensive group was under a good bit of pressure throughout the game. The back line, anchored as usual by Jose Rosario Martinez and Daniel Oliveira in the middle, Brandon Escobar on the right and Oscar Hoffman and Kyle Sheridan rotating on the left, kept clearing the ball out.
Ghosts keeper Justin Waterfall also made three important saves, including a terrific diving effort with about 26 minutes to go in regulation.
“It was all about getting the balls in the air, it was a scrappy game and we knew it was going to be a scrappy game,” Oliveira said. “All the CB schools, they play a really scrappy game, they’re looking to lob balls in so it was all about who had it in the air, first and second balls was what it came down to.”
South played on the front foot for much of the second half, looking to flip the field off any stoppage or ball won in the midfield on the back end.
“We wanted it more, we’re at home, we got all these fans – these guys who come out here every single game – and we’ve just wanted it more from the start of the season,” Oliveira said.
Abington was able to break out as the second half rolled toward a conclusion. A high ball came down in the box between four players, two from each side, with Braeden Brownholtz able to settle in and get around for a shot that clipped another body and rolled across the field to Delgado at the other post.
The senior settled the ball as he turned over it then clipped it off his right foot just ahead of a defender and into the far panel for the winner.
“I try not to think,” Delgado said. “I just hit the ball and hope it goes in really. I was hoping it would come to me because I was going to shoot it.”
Abington will host No. 7 West Chester Rustin, a 3-1 winner over No. 15 Boyertown, in the semifinals on Halloween night next Tuesday. With their state bid secured, the Ghosts will see if they can work a little more magic on their home field to have a shot at a district title.
“We’ve been saying it’s like the stars lined up for us, man, it’s been perfect,” Oliveira said. “We got what we needed, got the upsets ahead of us so now we’ll be here.”
Abington 1, Central Bucks South 0
Central Bucks South 0 0 – 0
Abington 0 1 – 1
Goals: A – Braden Delgado (Braeden Brownholtz).
