Central Bucks East upends Unionville

CB East’s Evan Vare scored four second-half goals as the Patriots upset top-seeded Unionville, 4-1, in District 1 Class AAA boys soccer playoff action on Thursday.

SOUDERTON » Thursday night’s District 1 Class AAA boys soccer semifinal between top-seeded Unionville and No. 4 Central Bucks East appeared to be close in the beginning. However, that all changed when the Patriots’ Evan Vare exploded for four goals in the second half, en route to a 4-1 upset over the Indians at Souderton High School.

CB East will face Great Valley for the championship on Saturday at Souderton at 4 p.m.

After a scoreless first half, Vare made his presence known, scoring his twice less than two minutes apart. On the first goal, Vare showed excellent skill volleying the ball past Unionville’s goalkeeper Henry Shafer. The second, Vare caught the defense sleeping and made them pay for it.

Once Vare poured in on, the top seed struggled to stop Central Bucks East’s momentum.

“Once they scored the first goal it seemed like our heads started getting down,” Unionville’s coach Rich Garber said. “The second goal, you just trying to bounce back. And then the next two are bang, bang, and then the goals all start to run together.”

The Indians avoided the shutout when Alex Andersen scored with 20 minutes left. He was able to win a battle six-yards away from the net, and slipped it past East goalkeeper Austin Prime.

The silver lining for Unionville is they will have a chance to atone in the PIAA playoffs.

“The only okay thing about losing this game is, we have games to play after this. If we played like this and lost on Tuesday, then our season would be over. I guess I would rather lose now then lose in the next couple of weeks,” Garber said.

After suffering the first defeat of the season, Thursday’s game could serve as a reminder that the Indians must play a complete 80 minutes.

“I think tonight was a really good wake up call. I really thought there were stretches where our team did play well. The good part is we live to fight another day,” Garber said.

The Indians will face Wissahickon in the thirdplace consolation game at Souderton at 2 p.m.