Matt Brozyna’s first-half goal decided one of the best boys high school soccer matchups of the season thus far, breaking open a game that had it all: intensity, skill, creative moments, tough defending, and solid goalkeeping. In a game that very well could be a precursor to a late meeting in either the district or state competition, North prevailed by scoring first and shutting down a high-powered Abington offense not accustomed to being held scoreless.
Coming into the game, Abington (7-1-3, 6-1-1 SOL), the defending PIAA 4A champions, had only lost twice in the last two seasons, both to the same team. Their last regular season loss came in the 2025 season opener against Haverford, who also beat the Ghosts in the District 1 final. Since then, Abington has been unbeaten in 14 games and had only conceded six goals while scoring forty-eight. Abington currently leads the SOL Liberty division.
Council Rock North (6-1-3, 5-0-3) has emerged in recent weeks as one of the areas hottest teams after knocking off Pennsbury, CB South, and now Abington since their 1-0 win over rival CR South. Their only blemish came in a 2-1 loss to St. Joe’s Prep early in the season, and since then the SOL Patriot leaders have climbed into the top-five in district’s power rankings and could move higher by next week.
The game had constant action at both ends. Abington and North asserted their physical presence with Abington’s Sean Westmoreland going against North’s David Morais through the midfield. Meanwhile, Brozyna and Abington’s Jaza Vasquez drew constant double teams, using their creativity and skill to crack the game open at any moment. Defensively, Abington’s Kyle Kretschman and North’s Chase Murphy anchored two backlines unwilling to give an inch on any of the dangerous free kicks or long throw ins.
Two minutes into the game, Abington created the first chance when Brennan Ewer dribbled toward the end line on the right side and sent across through the goalmouth that North keeper Elias Berman pushed away just before Abington’s Samuel Arruda could tap it into the net. Six minutes later, Vasquez had his first surging run through multiple North defenders, but his final touch got stuck in the high grass, and Berman made the save at the near post. Minutes later, Ewer had a clean strike on target after a long throw in that Andrew French headed away in front of goal.
At the other end, Shane Murphy had North’s first good chance when he spun away from an Abington defender before getting hauled down just outside the penalty area, setting up a direct free kick that Brozyna blasted into the wall. Slowly, Vasquez began to find more of the ball, and he went straight at the North defenders, often more than one, but North’s Jude Reynolds was up to the challenge and won his share of duels.
Abington began to use more of their physicality on corners and long throws midway through the half. In the 16thminute, Kretschman’s header off a corner just missed wide, and three minutes later, Carter Shannon’s long throw fell to Vasquez, whose pass toward the penalty spot got cleared away before Morais blocked Stanley Waite’s rip from outside the box.
Just as Abington looked to be the team closer to finding the mark, Brozyna stunned the hosts in the 25th minute with a goal slightly against the run of play. Following a turnover in the midfield, North’s Jason Foulke fed Brozyna through the heart of the Abington defense. Brozyna took on a defender then sent a shot past keeper Dom Veitz to the far corner to put Rock up 1-0. Brozyna now has five goals in his last three games
“It feels incredible,” Brozyna said after the win. “We’ve been waiting for this game the whole season, and to be able to come out and beat them, it’s what we’ve worked for.”
Brozyna said he was proud with the way his team continued to battle against a tough opponent. “We’ve got grit, and we just have a winning mentality. No one gave up. Everyone gave it their all.”
After the goal, Abington responded with a great chance of their own when Westmoreland found space down the right side, sending a cross to Kai Coyle O’Sullivan at the penalty spot, but O’Sullivan’s redirection missed wide. Six minutes later, Brozyna broke through down the right side of Abington’s defense and snapped a shot that Veitz stopped at the near post with a sprawling save. At the other end, Abington’s Arruda ran onto Ewer’s flick at the top of the box but skied his shot after receiving some pressure from Murphy. Another Shannon long throw skirted through the box into Berman’s hands late in the half, and the teams went into the break with North holding onto their lead.
Abington came out in the second half immediately applying more pressure in North’s end and when Shannon launched another long throw toward the back post that Berman snatched out of the air. A minute later, Abington had their best chance of the game when Owen Gesing dribbled around the outside on the left and crossed a ball that slipped through Berman’s hands, falling right to Vasquez at the six. Vasquez pushed his volley wide, and North escaped one of the rare defensive slip-ups of the game.
Four minutes later, North nearly added a second when Tej Patel found Brozyna at the top of the box on a counter. Brozyna beat one defender with a double-tap then side-footed his shot toward the lower corner, but Veitz made a terrific diving save to keep the ball out and keep North’s lead at one. Three minutes later, at the other end, Arruda took a long-distance strike that skimmed the grass and forced Berman to make a diving save.
Midway through the half, Abington made a stronger push for the equalizer, but every North tackle and aerial win sparked a celebration from the North sidelines as victory grew within reach. Vazquez created an opportunity all by himself down the left side after beating a North defender with a flick over the top then dribbling a second defender before whipping a low shot that Berman saved.
In the game’s final twenty minutes, Abington continued to exert a ton of pressure in the North end, but the North defense did an excellent job at keeping Abington’s skilled players out wide while defending their aerial attacks with numbers. And as frustration from the Abington side continued to mount, the players on the North side started to defend with an invincibility that took them all the way to the final whistle, claiming the important league win over the defending state champions.
After the game, both coaches praised the performance of Brozyna, who was a game-changer all night.
“If we have Matt on the field, it’s a whole different thing,” North coach Joe Stackhouse said. “Even if Matt doesn’t score, a goal, he’s just so dangerous and creates so much space for everybody else. And because they’ve got to watch him and double team him, next thing you know, we have somebody else.”
Stackhouse said that as teams begin to focus more on stopping Brozyna, other players have stepped in and contributed in the attack, scoring goals. And with a limited time to prepare for such a big game, he made sure his team was ready to defend Abington’s strengths.
“We spent an hour yesterday working on head balls, and I think that shows. I told them you can’t get into an air game. You can’t give away set pieces. You can’t give away throw ins. I think that really helped in terms of everybody understood what their responsibilities were going to be. Chase Murphy and Andrew French have locked down just about every team we’ve played recently.”
Stackhouse also said the first goal made a difference in the game.
“Abington was much better in the second, but I think we came out and set the pace to the game. That was one of the things I told them. If we get into a horse race, we’ve got to win it.”
North continues their difficult run of non-division games when they face Archbishop Wood Saturday night and Springfield (Montco) next Tuesday. Wood is currently second in the Philadelphia Catholic League, and Springfield leads the SOL Freedom. Abington beat Springfield in the district semifinals last year.
Despite not being on the losing end often, Abington coach Isaac Pitkow took the result in stride. “We talk about all the times when we play against a good team like that, you have to expect that you might go down,” he said after the game. “The response from the team was pretty good. We created a lot of chances, and we talked about a bunch that we probably should have finished.”
Pitkow said his defense played well, especially his keeper, Veitz, but that the difference comes down to finishing against a good team like North. And for a team with high expectations after lifting the state trophy last fall, the loss might have shown his club that there’s more work to be done.
“We didn’t hit a lot of adversity last year,” Pitkow said, referencing the time between the team’s losses last season and the response toward their state championship run. “On one hand, we’re comparing ourselves to last year, and we have a high bar because we have all these guys coming back. We think we’re as good, if not better. It’s just the mindset of we know how good we are. We know we’re going to have some games where we’re challenged.”
Abington was ranked third in the most recent district power rankings, behind Conestoga and Lower Merion, while North was ranked fifth, just behind Downingtown West. If their places hold, none of the top teams would see each other until at least the district quarterfinals.
“I think when we get down to the top five to ten teams in the district and even the state, both of us are going to be there,” Pitkow said.
Abington has another big SOL crossover game Monday night when they host CB South, who leads the Colonial division. South beat Springfield Wednesday.
