Hatboro-Horsham finds a needed goal to top Wissahickon
LOWER GWYNEDD >> The first goal can be the most difficult.
The Hatboro-Horsham boys soccer team felt, for the most part, that it had played pretty well in its first two games of the season. But a soccer team has to put the ball in the back of the net to win and that Hatters hadn’t done that entering Friday’s contest at Wissahickon.
They finally got their goal when senior co-captain Vince Buccafuri finished off a header in the second half and the Hatters rode it to a 1-0 win over the Trojans on a rain-washed afternoon.
“We needed to find the back of the net so it felt pretty good,” the senior defender said. “I think we just wanted it a little more than the other team. We were a little more aggressive and just determined to find the back of the net.”
BOYS SOCCER 24:52 second half: @HHHattersSoccer 1, Wissahickon 0
Free kick leads to header for Vince Buccafuri in the six pic.twitter.com/Q3v83OxIeY— Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3) September 6, 2019
Friday’s match was contested in a near-constant rain and pretty physical, which isn’t a surprise for two conference teams looking for their first SOL American wins. Wissahickon had to make a couple lineup adjustments but the Trojans were more worried about getting their connections back on track.
After a solid showing in the preseason, especially after graduating 15 seniors and most of their starting lineup, it hasn’t carried over into the regular season so far. At times on Friday, the forwards and midfield just couldn’t get on the same page and the Trojans looked to play a lot of long balls opposed to building through possession.
“We struggled again to get anything going and do the sort of things we wanted to do,” Wiss coach Stuart Malcolm said. “We wanted to get the ball and play soccer in their half and instead we’re just sitting back. A lot of players have to start learning to do the things on the field that are going to give us opportunities to score.”
For most of the match, chances came through set pieces with both teams’ back lines taking advantage of how the game was being called to play a physical, disruptive style. While the Hatters had more chances, the hosts had the most dangerous opportunity in the opening stanza.
A sequence caught the Hatters with an open net and Wiss forward Jake Slackman fired a shot on target. Hatters back Zach Joachim, making his first start of the season, was there to block the effort and clear it off the goal line.
“If that goes in, with the way we’ve been scoring, it’s probably a different game,” Hatters coach Kyle McGrath said. “To have that kind of determination and commitment to make sure the ball doesn’t go into your own goal was awesome to see.”
The missed opportunity certainly loomed large later in the game, but having such a good chance wasted with just a couple minutes left in the first half was emblematic of the struggles Malcolm has seen early in the season.
“They’re young but I’ve had young players before and they need to recognize what they need to do,” Malcolm said. “You lose a game to 1-0 and we easily could have scored to make it 1-0 ourselves, we have a great chance with the goalie on the ground and kick it straight at the defender. It’s frustrating, but they have to decide what they want and how they’re going to compete.”
Trojans defender Emmanuel McFarlene, a freshman who had a very good match, got some revenge early in the second half when he blocked a shot by the Hatters’ Enrico Romano in the box.
Hatboro-Horsham’s issue offensively wasn’t getting set pieces, but making something of them. The Hatters either settled for a lofted ball that the Trojans could contest or just didn’t make the right reads on their first handful of attempts.
Sensing the team needed something different, McGrath decreed that senior Matty Harmon send in the next ball, which came via a free kick on the left flank with about 25 minutes to play.
“If you don’t put shots on target, you don’t give yourself a good opportunity to score,” McGrath said. “I know he can strike a ball very well and he did it on that free kick.”
Harmon’s service found Caleb Hudson at the far post, who headed the ball back into the box where Buccafuri was waiting right in front to head it home.
“We wanted to move off the ball a little better and communicate, we had too many people trying to do it by themselves,” Buccafuri said. “I was expecting to screen the keeper in case (Harmon) went for net but I was in the right place at the right time.”
Wissahickon faces PCL power Roman Catholic on Saturday night while the Hatters are off through the weekend. The SOL American looks to be quite competitive this year and the Hatters felt like Friday could be a launchpad for them after putting that first goal away.”
“We still have a lot we can learn from here, but I think we’re going good,” Buccafuri, drenched after 80 minutes in the rain, said. “It was a nice day for a first win. It’s good to go into the weekend with that.”
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 1 – 1
WISSAHICKON 0 0 – 0
Goals: HH – Vince Buccafuri (Caleb Hudson, Matty Harmon)
