Patriot teams dominate on GA-PC Day
by TOM UTESCHER
The football and boys soccer contests were the only games that counted in the official Inter-Ac League standings, but school pride was on the line all across the board last Saturday as visiting Penn Charter took on Germantown Academy in all eight varsity fall sports.
As always, the highlight of the annual GA-PC day agenda was the longstanding football rivalry between the Patriots and Quakers, who have met on the gridiron every year since 1887. That was a good thing for Penn Charter, because it was the lone event won by the Quakers last weekend. The Pats prevailed in field hockey, tennis, water polo, boys and girls cross country and boys and girls soccer to easily secure the GA-PC Competition Cup, 7-1. Here's a rundown of the results.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY - GA placed third in the Inter-Ac championships and first amongst the Division II teams (third overall) at the State Independent School Meet this fall. Taking the first four places on Saturday, the Patriots overwhelmed Penn Charter, 17-40. Winner Stuart Udis traversed the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes and one second, and was followed by teammates Yeremiah Shemuale, Don Smith, and Elliott Rhodes.
Matt Gannon and Will Pappas captured fifth and sixth place, respectively, for Penn Charter, the Inter-Ac's fifth-place team for 2004. Max Stein and Russ Dinkins placed seventh and ninth for Germantown, and Dylan Isaacson and Max Feldman landed eighth and tenth overall for the Quakers.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY- A one-two-three finish in Saturday's race fueled a 20-35 victory for GA, which won the State Independent School championship for the second time in three years and also captured the Girls Inter-Ac title.
Eighth-grader J.D. Whitman led the field to the wire in 21 minutes and 20 seconds, while Jenna Washabaugh nailed down second place and Niki Finelli took third. A sixth-place showing by Carolyn Burnett and an eighth-place effort by Christina Mack rounded out the Patriots' winning total.
The PC Quakers, fifth in the team standings at this year's Inter-Ac meet, were led in last weekend's event by Julianne Skinner and Rachel Dowling, who finished fourth and fifth. Also in the top ten for Charter were Jen Solin (seventh), Jess Yorko (ninth) and Amy Tausch (tenth).
FIELD HOCKEY - Inter-Ac co-champ Penn Charter edged GA 2-1 during the regular season, then the fourth-place Patriots returned the favor (1-0) in the league tournament and went on to win the final. Germantown prevailed in the third meeting, 2-1, after taking a 1-0 halftime lead on an Emily Goodwin goal assisted by Tess Genuardi.
Nine minutes into the second half, Margaretha Ehret set up scorer Marghi Walters to tie the game for the Quakers, but GA broke the deadlock less than 90 seconds later. Caitlin McGovern, who would be named the MVP, dodged a PC back inside the circle and lifted a shot into the cage. Annie McKenna made nine saves in goal for Charter, while Mary Cate Cassidy (five saves) and Meredith Dean (one save) shared time in the Patriots' cage.
FOOTBALL - Looking to finish undefeated in the Inter-Ac to win the championship outright, the Patriots appeared to be on their way as Alex Holcombe broke through the Quakers for a 30-yard touchdown run with 3:22 remaining in the first period. PC responded with a drive that bridged the first and second quarters and ended with a five-yard spurt to paydirt by Paul Sweeney.
Charter was soon driving again, and after Ryan Nanni plunged across the goal line from a yard out, the final score of 14-7 was on the board for halftime. The outcome resulted in a three-way tie for the championship between GA, PC, and Episcopal Academy, which defeated Haverford on the same afternoon to also finish 3-1 in the league. The award which recognizes the outstanding player of the GA-PC clash, the Joseph Geis Trophy, went to the Quakers' Sweeney.
BOYS SOCCER - Going into the game, defending Inter-Ac champ GA knew that even with a win it could finish no higher than third this year. That didn't stop the Pats (5-3-2 in league games) from laying a 3-0 defeat on Penn Charter, which struggled to an 0-8-2 finish.
GA striker Nick Sih, who missed most of the league campaign after being injured in the Inter-Ac opener at Penn Charter, returned to action to score the first Germantown goal on Saturday. Kevin Ruppel, who was later named MVP of the contest, assisted on Sih's first-half goal, then dribbled through the Charter defense and upped the count to 2-0 nine minutes into the second stanza. With 15 minutes left Mike Riciuti headed in Chris Herting's corner kick for the final marker of the day. In goal, GA starter Dave Simolike made seven stops and reliever Dean Tye had two, while David Hilton went the distance for PC to book seven saves.
GIRLS SOCCER - GA claimed its third victory over the Quakers this season, 2-1, but needed an overtime extension to do it. The Patriots clinched the Inter-Ac championship for the 15th straight year by knocking off PC in the regular season finale. In the league tournament, Germantown edged the fourth-seeded Quakes, 2-1 in the semifinals, then lost the championship game to Shipley.
In the first half on Saturday, PC's Bridget McDougal was jousting for possession with a GA defender when the ball popped loose and was stuffed into the cage by the Quakers' Maurie Smith. A breakaway by Colleen Magarity early in the second half pulled GA even, and the bout went into overtime at 1-1. Just 49 seconds had ticked away when Germantown got loose on the break once more, and Kris Guynn drove to the box, pulled PC's Clare Ronan (ten saves) out of the cage, and dodged around her to score. Taylor Test made eight stops in goal for GA, and Guynn was crowned game MVP.
GIRLS TENNIS - After enduring a winless Inter-Ac campaign, the Germantown racquetwomen ended their year on an upnote by getting past PC on Saturday, 4-3. The Quakers had topped the Patriots by that same score during the regular season, and Charter tied for third place in the league.
Last weekend, the visitors secured victories at the three top singles spots thanks to Jordyn Shaffer (6-3, 6-2), Kiera Murasko-Blank (6-3, 7-6), and Shannon Harrington (0-6, 7-6, 6-4). The fourth singles bout belonged to Germantown's Katie Auerbach (6-0, 7-5), and the Patriots captured all of the doubles matches, as well.
The Pats' premier pair consisted of Katie Allenson and Brittany Gigliotti (who won 6-3, 6-1), while Alyce Fernley and Alaina Lackman won the number two match (6-0, 6-3) and Alison Doloway and Meera Shah took the third doubles tilt (6-2, 6-1).
WATER POLO - Germantown had already earned the Inter-Ac and State Independent School championships, but on Saturday the visiting Quakers gave the Patriot pool boys all they could handle. At one point, Charter held a 9-6 advantage thanks to Nick Brown and Chris Garrison, who each rang up a hat trick in the match.
GA's Tripp Weber also scored three times, helping the Patriots stay in the running, and the home team's late rally culminated in an Alex Bond goal with 30 seconds remaining that allowed the Pats to eke out an 11-10 victory.
