Local Sports

CHC men fall to Fords in opener

by TOM UTESCHER

When it comes to the sport of intercollegiate men’s soccer, Haverford has been at it a little longer than Chestnut Hill. The booters at the Main Line school launched their 101st season last Saturday with a 3-0 home field win over the Chestnut Hill College Griffins, whose program just came into being last year.

The out-of-conference contest was also the season opener for CHC, which competes in the North East Athletic Conference, while Haverford plays in the Centennial Conference.

During the first period the Fords controlled the ball much of the time and generated the majority of the scoring opportunities. About 90 seconds into the match CHC keeper Steve Foster recorded the first of his 11 saves as he punched the ball away from the goalmouth after it was served towards the net by Haverford.

Blue Devil booters feel title is within reach

by TOM UTESCHER

With an 8-2 record in Inter-Ac League soccer last fall, Chestnut Hill Academy fell a little short of the championship, but the Blue Devils have a lot of talented players back for the 2005 campaign and feel ready to take that last step to the title.

Head Coach Bob DiBenedetto and assistant Steve Smith return for their eighth season with the club (DiBenedetto was an assistant coach before that), which posted an overall record of 15–4 in 2004. In the Inter-Ac, Chestnut Hill got off to a slow start, then won its last seven games to finish a close second to league champ Haverford School.

Although CHA graduated several four-year varsity players, DiBenedetto still has more than a dozen seasoned varsity athletes at his disposal. The club is well-stocked with seniors, such as midfielders Mike Griffin, Jon Mitchell and Frank Spada, midfielder/back Steph Chareczko, backs Ian Holton, Bruno Petrillo and Chelsey Roebuck, and goalkeeper Taylor Rooke.

Experienced Mounties seek to reclaim tennis title

by TOM UTESCHER

Last fall Gwynedd Mercy ended a string of Catholic Academies tennis championships for Mount St. Joseph, but with their top three singles players and four other varsity veterans back for the 2005 campaign, the MSJ Magic are aiming to reclaim the title.

Guiding this effort will be new MSJ head coach Ron Mutchnik, who resides nearby in Lafayette Hill. After serving as the Principal of Enfield Elementary School for many years, Mutchnik left in 1995 and then taught for several years at Springfield Middle School before retiring in 1998.

He has coached both boys and girls tennis at Springfield High, and most recently he was the assistant boys varsity coach at Friends Central School. He had to step in as head coach in the middle of the 2004 season, and was able to lead the Phoenix to their fifth straight Friends School League championship. Bill Fleegler is back as the Mount’s assistant coach, and he’s been helping the new skipper become acquainted with the Magic court crew.