Mercury Roundup: Spring-Ford boys soccer clinches PAC playoff place

Boys Soccer

The Pioneer Athletic Conference boys soccer playoff picture is chaotic.

Except for one piece: Spring-Ford has plans next Tuesday.

The Rams clinched a place in the PAC Final Four on Monday courtesy a 5-0 victory over Pope John Paul II in a rescheduled crossover game.

Sal Ibarra, Brandon Duke, Aiden Hudon, Christian Wuertz and Tommy Bodenschatz were on the mark for Spring-Ford, which improved to 7-0-1 PAC Liberty, 10-0-1 PAC and 12-1-2 overall. With 31 standings points in PAC play, the Rams clinched at least a wild card. They can clinch the Liberty Division and playoff top seed with any non-loss this week in its contests against Owen J. Roberts (Tuesday) and Perkiomen Valley (Thursday).

The PAC playoffs will be staged Tuesday, Oct. 16 at Owen J. Roberts with the boys semifinals going on simultaneously at 7 p.m., following the girls semifinals at 5 p.m.

Colin Trainor, Marcel Francis and Colton Pollock were on assists as Spring-Ford led 3-0 at halftime and out-shot PJP 10-2. Liam Hungate had two saves in SF goal; John Wagner had five stops for PJP.

Boyertown 3, Methacton 1 >> It took 13 days, but the Boyertown boys soccer team finally defeated Methacton.

In a game that began Sept. 26 but was postponed due to lightning, the Bears got goals from Colin Brisbois, Nick Willson and Chris Davis for a 3-1 victory in Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division play Monday afternoon.

Dimitrije Randjelovic and Jacob Groff were credited with assists as the Bears improved to 3-4-1 in the Liberty, 6-4-1 PAC and 8-5-2 overall, staying in contention for a PAC playoff place though results will have to break their way in a crowded race this week with Perkiomen Valley (7-0-4), Owen J. Roberts (7-4), Phoenixville (7-3-1) and Upper Perkiomen (6-4) comprising the chase pack for wild card spots for next week’s PAC Final Four

Methacton (2-4-2, 5-4-2, 7-6-2) got a goal from Trevor Rambo, assisted by Luca Numerato.

Perkiomen Valley 9, Pottstown 0 >> Brian Love and Albert Pickles each scored twice in the first 11 minutes as the Vikings cruised to a PAC crossover win. AJ Hansen, Declan Loughney, Naseem Abdel, Cole Campbell (1 assist) and Alex Chamorro (1 assist) also scored goals while Josh Sabio had two assists.

At 4-0-4, 7-0-4, 9-0-5, the Vikings can clinch a PAC playoff place with a win in either league contest this week, Tuesday at Boyertown or Thursday vs. Spring-Ford.

Pottsgrove 3, St. Joseph’s Prep 1 >> The Falcons picked up a non-league win while getting two goals from Ethan Pace.

Pottsgrove scored twice in the opening 40 minutes, Collin Deckert (assisted by Shane Gleason) and Pace (assisted by Ryan Curnew) on target in the final 10 minutes of the half.
Pace, on an assist from Kevin Mendez, sealed it 10 minutes into the second half, while SJP managed a consolation goal from Drew Krumenacker with just 2:36 remaining. Luke Kaiser had four saves while Pottsgrove out-shot its PCL opposition 11-5.

Phoenixville 4, Marple Newtown 1 >> JT Stevens netted a hat trick and Kender Perez also scored in the Phantoms’ non-league win. Assists were from Dom Sposato (2), and Ryan Cowan while Phoenixville led in shots 11-4. Gavin Perillo made three saves.

Phoenixville (6-1-1, 7-3-1, 9-4-2) meets Upper Perkiomen (5-2, 6-4, 9-6) Tuesday at Upper Perk in a game that will go a long way to determining the champion of the PAC Frontier Division.

Upper Bucks Christian 6, West-Mont Christian 1 >> The Wings fell in Atlantic Coast Christian Conference play.

Golf

District 1 Championships >> Day One of the District One Boys Golf Championships got underway on Monday morning and gave way to some difficult misty conditions at Turtle Creek Golf Course.
Eight players from the Pioneer Athletic Conference survived the opening-round cut in the Class AAA division at 5-over 77. Central Bucks West’s Jezzeny sits in first at 4-under 68 while Holy Ghost Prep’s Liam Hart and Matt Fleming are tied for second at 3-under.

Among them were recent PAC Individual Champion Josh Ryan and Spring-Ford’s Luke Watson, both of whom finished in a seven-way tie for eighth place at 1-over. Norristown senior Caleb Ryan and Spring-Ford’s Nate Pierce both sit tied for 15th overall at 2-over while Methacton teammates Dylan Lasecki and Nick Martin along with Spring-Ford’s Axel Kalbach were 3-over. Owen J. Roberts’ Ryan Glenn sits at 4-over.

Field hockey

Upper Perkiomen 5, Dock Mennonite 0 >> Luci Carpenter had two goals and an assist to help Upper Perk pull away from Dock in a non-league outing.
Also scoring for UP (7-3, 8-7) was Abriana Gatto, Kylene Gooch and Margo May while AiYi Young had two assists.

Kennett 7, Pope John Paul II 1 >> Sydney Thureen had two goals and Emma Schwarz three assists for Kennett in a non-league win over PJP. Nina Mariano had PJP’s long goal while Elizabeth Lynn made 10 saves.

Girls tennis

Hill School 3, Friends Central 3 >> Elena Zhang closed on a six-game winning streak to win her No. 1 singles match over Skye Victor, 8-3, and give Hill a tie in the match. Joyce Sun and No. 2 singles and the No. 2 doubles team of Marina Mendez and Mofe Akinyanmi were also victorious.

Girls volleyball

Perkiomen Valley 3, Owen J. Roberts 2 >> The Vikings came back to edge the Wildcats in a five-setter, 25-12, 23-25, 21-25, 25-12, 15-11. PV leaders on senior night were: Grace Herbein (36 assists, 23 digs), Sarah Straub (19 kills, 13 digs), Liz Caruso (13 digs), Kylie Harris (8 kills, 13 digs) and Lilly Jonello (4 kills). OJR leaders were Michelle Frank (2 kills, 3 blocks, 23 digs), Mikayla Johnson (2 aces, 8 kills, 13 digs), Gabi Tamburro (8 kills, 9 digs), Michelle Mayk (5 kills, 7 blocks and 2 digs) and Jordyn Chambers (2 aces, 25 assists and 15 digs).

Boyertown 3, Pottsgrove 0 >> The Bears cruised in straight sets, 25-3, 25-5 and 25-17. Leaders for the Bears were Emily Wolfe (4 aces, 4 kills and 2 blocks), Savannah Derstine (9 digs), Logan Black (6 digs, 2 kills), Allie Garris (9 digs and 2 assists) and Taylor Jones (6 digs, 6 assists and 14 aces). The Bears record is now 16-3 overall and 9-2 in league play.

Phoenixville 3, Norristown 0 >> The Phantoms swept, 25-17, 25-18, 25-18. Phoenixville leaders were Keara Hennessey (5 aces, 4 kills, 19 assists, 11 digs), Kayla Grammerstorf (12 kills, 10 digs), Malu Salin Matos (5 aces, 3 kills, 4 digs) and Romina Broglia (4 kills, 4 digs)

Pope John Paul II 3, Villa Maria 0 >> The Golden Panthers swept, 26-24, 25-16, 25-20 in a non-league outing. Leaders were Maddie Mulcahey (8 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces, 11 service points), Sarah Ward (8 kills), Hannah Tulli (5 kills), Chelsea Harvey (5 kills, 5 digs, 18 assists, 10 service points), Mikaela Monroe (4 kills), Lexi McMonagle (10 assists and 2 aces),
Simone Sparano (24 digs, 4 aces) and Tea Pasuale (7 digs).

Upper Bucks Christian 3, West-Mont Christian 0 >> The Wings fell 25-19, 25-7, 25-8.

Water polo

The Upper Perkiomen water polo teams lost to Gov. Mifflin Monday. In girls action, GM won 12-8; boys saw the Mustangs win 16-9.