Branchide’s strike sends Archbishop Wood past Hatboro-Horsham in overtime
HORSHAM >> It was a golden opportunity for Chris Branchide and he turned it into a golden goal.
Late in the first overtime on a misty Saturday night, a low cross by freshman Brendan Welsh deflected off a Hatboro-Horsham defender’s foot and fell to Branchide. It may not have been the cleanest opportunity, but it was clean enough for the Archbishop Wood senior captain to get around on a one-time chance to strike it on net.
Branchide’s hit was true, finding the back corner of the net as the Vikings edged the host Hatters 1-0 in a lively match under the lights.
“Greatest moment of my life right there,” Branchide said. “Running over to our student section, I was having a blast.”
Saturday’s win marked the ninth straight for the Vikings, who have not lost since dropping their PCL opener to La Salle on Sept. 9 and wrapped up a stretch of four matches in five days. Wood, the PIAA 3A runner-up last season, has come together in relatively short order despite graduating 14 seniors from last year’s squad and only returning a few starters.
Senior Giuseppe Propato and junior Albert Funk are among the returners with significant varsity experience and it’s no coincidence they form the middle of a Wood defense that was solid against the Hatters. In the first half, the host side definitely played on the front foot, drawing three corner kicks and senior Firdavs Mamadaliyev forcing Wood’s Julian Naumenko into a diving save.
“I thought we responded well and our defense played pretty solid,” Wood coach Hugh Kelly said. “(Hatboro-Horsham) was a handful with the three forwards, that caused some havoc just because we’re not too used to seeing that, a lot of teams we’ve faced have two up top. It was a challenge but a good learning experience for us.”
While the weather wasn’t optimal, it did little to dampen the pregame ceremony where the Hatters honored their 21 seniors. The program has seen some large senior classes before, but this is a record for coach Kyle McGrath, who was able to get all of them on the field for at least a spell on Saturday.
The 2023 class, which started out with 31 when they were freshmen, have propelled the Hatters to a strong start this fall. HH entered play No. 6 in the District 1 4A rankings and is in the mix along with Upper Dublin and Abington for an SOL Liberty title with the second half of division play set to begin next week.
“This group of seniors, there are some little cliques but they’re all pretty close and pretty tight,” McGrath said. “We had discussions with guys at the beginning of the season and they all understood that not all of them were going to be able to play because there are so many of them. They come to practice every day, work hard and support each other and that’s what we’re looking for from all those guys.
“We don’t like to make cuts, we want guys to be involved and kids want to be involved, they want to be a part of what we’re trying to do here which breeds senior classes like this.”
The Hatters stayed aggressive in the early stages of the second half. Another corner led to their best chance on a second chance ball that senior Mikey Romero hit with a ton of force but just a little high, rattling the center of the crossbar.
A strong start didn’t carry to the end of regulation as the Hatters started to play a little more rushed and didn’t have the same rhythm they showed through 50-plus minutes.
“The emotions of Senior Night, the energy was definitely high but in the second half, it wasn’t where we needed it to be,” McGrath said. “Some of it was Wood, some of it was not connecting passes and some is not getting guys on the ball who needed to see more of the ball. When you don’t take care of good chances, you get punished.”
With 25 minutes to play, Wood junior Enzo Petruzzelli forced Hatters senior Noah Schlosser into a tremendous save on a ripper of a shot that Schlosser had to palm away going to his right, getting a fortuitous deflection off the crossbar to keep the ball out.
From there, the Vikings really settled into the game and started giving the pressure back to the Hatters.
“We adjusted, kept our composure and played how we usually play,” Branchide said. “That’s nine straight, we’ve just kept it rolling. I spent the last three years on JV, I had to work to get where I am and I love these guys, so I wanted to do what I could to make sure we kept going the way we’ve been playing.”
Branchide said he feels the Vikings have found their success by moving the ball, making runs to where the ball is going and putting in a lot of work both in possession and on the defensive. The Catholic League is not one for passive teams and Wood has built a “run through it” mentality where it won’t back away from a challenge.
“We were strong in the air tonight and won a lot of head balls,” Kelly said. “We had to start from scratch but the guys have responded to the challenge very well. I’m hard on them but they’re willing to work, it sounds crazy but we’re a blue-collar team. We’re not real flashy but we come to work every day and a lot of our competition is extremely strong which helps prepare us.”
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0 0 1 – 1
HATBORO-HORSHAM 0 0 0 – 0
Goals: AW – Chris Branchide (Brendan Welsh)
