Goalkeepers shine as CB West, CB South play to draw

DOYLESTOWN >> AJ Peev wanted more.

Sure, the Central Bucks South midfielder was very happy with the way he and his teammates played Tuesday night on the road against Central Bucks West, but Peev really wanted all three available points. The Titans would have to settle for one point however, thanks to a lights-out showing by West keeper Ryan Van Pelt.

When the dust settled and 100 minutes had expired, CB South and CB West each left with a point following a 0-0 draw at War Memorial Field.

“With this being another CB school, we fought our hardest, it didn’t go our way tonight and didn’t capitalize on some chances but I thought we played better than them and deserved to win the match,” Peev said. “Not so much the result, the way we played, I thought we were really good tonight.”

Van Pelt, in his first season starting as goalkeeper, all but stood on his head to make sure the Titans didn’t get three points from the encounter. He made some routine saves and a handful of top-notch denials all throughout regulation and the overtimes.

The senior, who finished with nine saves, had two superb stonewalls in the first half as the Titans showed early they came to War Memorial looking to knock off last year’s District I champions. Midway through the first half, Van Pelt made an acrobatic diving save on a Peev header then came up with a stop on a dart by South’s Kyle Rychlak with about seven minutes before the break.

“He kept us in it, he gave our back line confidence, we were under it tonight, especially the second half, the last 20 minutes and both overtimes,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “Somewhere in the middle there we asserted ourselves a little bit, but man, credit to South. They’re really good this year, our league is good top to bottom so this is a district tune-up environment.”

Van Pelt stepped into a position vacated by four-year starter Dylan Smith but Szygiel said the only conversation they had about it was for Van Pelt to take anything he learned training with and watching Smith onto the pitch with him. With the keeper denying effort after effort, including a sliding effort on Jake Heiling late in the second half, the Bucks defense found the will to stand up against South’s pressure.

“If your goalkeeper is keeping you in it like that, then you back line has a little wind at their back,” Szygiel said. “They start thinking ‘if he’s doing that, we’re going to start blocking shots for him,’ and if these guys are blocking shots, the midfielders are thinking we’re going to get the ball forward and we’re going to find one. We just didn’t fine one tonight.”

The goalkeeping display was not limited to the CB West side of the field. South senior Gavin Campbell had a sterling first half of his own and while he wasn’t as busy throughout, his impact was still certainly felt.

Tall and rangy with a big leg, Campbell twice turned away West standout senior Jimi Leder and made his best save on a rocket by Conor O’Brien to keep it scoreless going into half. Like Van Pelt, Campbell’s heroics energized his backs and the Titans defenders played inspired.

“We did well to just stay in behind them and any ball that did come through, we cut it off before it could get there,” Campbell said. “We kept the field of play in front of us, my guys kept them out from getting behind us and we didn’t really give them any chances.”

Campbell said Tuesday was the best defensive effort the team has put out this season and the offense was certainly happy with the quality and number of chances it generated. The Titans’ coaches credited Van Pelt’s effort in their postgame breakdown and told their players not to look down on their effort because they were stopped by a Man of the Match type performance.

A clean sheet, no matter the score on the other side of the line, is always welcomed by any squad and Campbell felt the momentum building after a couple of his early stops.

“I thought it was a boost of momentum and helped us get going and transition it back to offense,” Campbell said. “That’s a big thing within this team.”

Peev, a sophomore, had a strong game attacking even if he couldn’t find a goal to go with it. The midfield struck a post in the first half, stung two other good shots on target and help keep the ball moving for a humming Titans offense.

“We had really good possession,” Peev said. “We kept the ball at our feet and it gave us a lot more chances than it seemed like they had.”

West has struggled at times scoring, but Szygiel feels like his group is about to have a breakout on that end. Bailey Moyer was all over as usual, Leder had some good looks and the Bucks are only deeper with each passing week as more guys get comfortable with expanded roles.

Peev said the Titans’ offense has gotten more fluid of late, and they showed it Tuesday by playing up the middle, out wide and hitting diagonal balls to free runners to change the point of attack.

 “We just have to capitalize on them more,” Peev said. “The number we had on target was right where wanted it tonight. We’re going to carry this through and the way we played tonight, we’re going to bring it Thursday and Friday and take that frustration of not being able to put one in to our next game and let it drive us to score.”

CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 0 0 0 – 0

CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 0 0 0 – 0

Saves: CBS – Gavin Campbell 5, CBW – Ryan Van Pelt 9