Tuesday night ended a long wait for two area teams. The Pennridge Rams played their first state playoff game in a quarter-century. CB East won the state tournament in 2015, but had not returned to PIAAs since.
Pennridge (17-7) opened PIAAs by beating District Two champion Abington Heights in Clarks Summit 4-1. Troy Thanel had a first half goal and Shane Velez scored twice in 3 ½ minutes to complete his hat trick.
CB East (15-7-2) had a shorter trip, to District 11 champion Parkland. The Patriots fell in penalty kicks 0-0 (4-3).
“We’ve been scouting Parkland all weekend,” said East head coach Josh Isaacsohn on Sunday. “We’ll have three or four training sessions before the game. The first couple are East focused. We balance out knowing our opponent and being ready for them with solidifying what we have to do on our end.”
In Saturday quarterfinals, Pennridge faces District One champion Lower Merion. The Rams assembled an eight-match win streak during the fall. Pennridge finished a 13-5 regular season with two tough losses to Central Bucks rivals.
“Those two experiences were a bit of motivation for them,” said Rams head coach Pete Valimont. “Our captains really made sure that everyone could flush the losses down the toilet and focus on the more important thing, which is qualifying for the state tournament.”
Seeded 11th, the Rams did not allow a regulation goal in their first four district games. Pennridge won the first three of those matches, finishing fourth in the district playoff.
The 2020 and 2021 teams came as close to qualifying as a team could without qualifying. Pennridge went to the district finals in 2020, in a fluke COVID year where only the champion advanced to states. The Rams lost the final playback to North Penn in 2021 after having beaten the Knights in the regular season.
This year, “I think the expectation was high. The coaching staff knew what we had in our talent,” Valimont said. “Shane is getting a lot of attention and rightfully so. When you have a horse like that and all of the other players around him, you have to take advantage of that.”
In preseason All-American Velez and Jared Hess, the Rams have two double-digit goal scorers. “Jared is your strong workhorse. He is the defending PIAA triple jump winner so he can fly through the air and win head balls,” Valimont assessed. “His speed is second to none.
“Shane does everything,” Valimont continued. “From the back to attacking center mid all the way up to forward. If you are going to man mark him and give him all of the attention, then you are going to leave Jared open and that is a tough Batman and Robin to defend.”
Defensively, Ram clean sheets aren’t unique to the playoffs. Eight of their last 11 regular season wins were shutouts. Valimont credits “experience and trust” as the keys to the defense.
“Having CJ (Dimmick) in the back is a huge plus for us. He has experienced just about everything a high school player will get to experience. (Defenders) Tommy McKinney, Andrew Parlee, Jhoa Hernandez and Roman Arcade – three seniors who know each other’s tendencies,” Valimont said. “Everyone is playing four in the back with a goalie so we’re doing those basic systems. But they know when to defend, when to block shots and if we give up a shot, we have CJ back there.”
Pennridge’s SOL Colonial rival, CB East, took the fifth of sixth PIAA District One slots with Friday’s 2-1 win at No. 10 Spring-Ford. The No. 13 Patriots had a quirky district tournament, playing four straight 1-0 games. Fortunately for East, they won three of them.
“I think the defense has been the calling card all year. We have incredible goalkeeping with Jase Sotack and Dan Marino going back and forth in goal. To have that much competition at the goalkeeping position has been a blessing,” explained Isaacsohn. “Our back guys – Luke Christmas, Josh Daniels, Dylan Walker, Andrew Walloff and Wesley Meyers – have been rock stars back there.
“Every minute that’s gone by, I feel like they’ve gotten better,” Isaacsohn continued. “Better organizationally, better passing and implementing our game plan. That allows us to be a bit more offensive.”
East started 5-3 but entered states having won or tied 12 of its last 15 games. “My big mantra to the boys has been: what do we take out of this? I think the big lesson learned was to take one game at a time and don’t let extraneous factors get in the way of what our goals and accomplishments need to be.
“I think we had a lot of guys instantly mature,” Isaacsohn noted. “Soccer-wise, the center defensive position, we really sealed that up. That led us into a good spot.”
Faith moves on – In Class A, Faith Christian (18-3) began its pursuit for a third straight berth in the PIAA final. Faith thumped district champion Tacony Academy Charter in Quakertown 14-0 in the first round. Ryan Clymer’s charges improved to 5-1 in state first-round games. Faith takes on District Three champion Tulpehocken, a stiffer opponent, in the quarterfinal.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
