Cholmeley-Jones double overtime goal gives Penncrest win in first home playoff game in a decade

Dante Cholmeley-Jones has been a young man on a mission this season, setting a new Penncrest single season goal-scoring record and leading the Lions to a win in their first home playoff game in a decade.

On Wednesday night, the senior scored an early goal off an assists from classmate James Mulholland, nearly connected on a winner at the end of regulation and then delivered the dramatic golden goal winner in double overtime off a Jaden Szczurowski free kick.

“It was just a good ball by Jaden, near post, dropped right to my foot and I just hit and hoped it would go in pretty much,” Cholmeley-Jones said of the game-winner.

Cholmeley-Jones scored his first of the game as fans were still finding their seats to open the game, but junior attacker Che Rowe found an equalizer before halftime to level the score at 1-1. The goals were the first from either team in the fixture this season, which ended in a scoreless draw after 100 minutes of play last month. Harriton beat Penncrest 10-0 in their Central Athletic League match in 2023.

The two teams traded blows – Noah Duffy’s impressive second half scissor kick goal was waived off with a whistle off the ball, Harriton’s keeper made a couple game-saving saves – but it was ultimately a well executed free kick that decided it.

“Dante’s been fantastic – he’s at (29) goals for the season – on and off the field he’s the overall athlete that anybody would want,” said first-year head coach Mike Gee. “He’s a hard worker, he fights for the ball and no matter what happens he’s the moral guy. Even if we went down 2-1 he’d be the one to keep the guys going and doing whatever he can to put the ball in the back of the net.”

The Lions’ win came on the heels of the girls win the night before at Penncrest, marking a banner week for the high school soccer programs. The girls’ win was their first playoff win since 2018. Neither team had hosted a playoff game in more than a decade.

“The guys definitely had the atmosphere and the enthusiasm playing at home,” Gee said, noting that it was the first home playoff game for the program since 2014. The Lions lost 1-0 to West Chester East in that game. In their last playoff appearance in 2021 they fell 2-1 to Lower Moreland.

The home game came courtesy of a 1-0 win over Radnor in league play two weeks ago. The loss only Radnor’s second of the season. Now to keep their season alive they’ll need to repeat the effort at Radnor on Monday. The top-seeded Radnor beat Bishop Shanahan at home on Wednesday.

“Beating Radnor was incredible for us because in the four years I’ve been here we haven’t beaten a team like Radnor, Lower Merion or Conestoga once and it also secured the home playoff game,” Cholmeley-Jones said. “We’re looking forward to getting to play them again.”

Monday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m.