October 25, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Sports

GFS Tigers outlast Quakers in 1-0 duel
by JUSTIN GOLDMAN

In a game when the ball spent almost as much time in the air as it did on the ground, headers made the field look like a prairie dog reserve. Pictured above, from left, are PC’s Connor Gorman, GFS’ Chris Allen, Tom West and another PC player. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photos by J.  J. Pack Jr.)

Both Germantown Friends School and Penn Charter had difficult weeks of soccer. Both teams had two games during the week before they squared off against each other at GFS’s A.A. Smith Field on Saturday afternoon. After a physical 1-1 against Chestnut Hill Academy the previous day, the Quakers rolled up their sleeves for a tough matchup with GFS the next afternoon.

The third game of the week for each team proved to be a classic with both teams battling until the end. A goal from Manolo Sanchez off a beautiful assist from Abdus-Salaam Muwwakkil with six minutes to go in the first half proved to be the difference and propelled the Tigers to a 1-0 victory.

“I knew that they had a really tough game the day before,” said GFS Head Coach Matt Zipin. “They are a really good team, but having two tough opponents back to back like that is hard for anyone.”

Even though Penn Charter endured that square off with CHA the day before, it was the aggressor early on and controlled the ball inside the GFS zone for most of the first half.

Despite the Quakers control of the pace and flow of the game, it was the Tigers who generated the first real scoring opportunity when Ben Gemberling-Johnson of Wyndmoor put a free kick from 25 yards out into the side netting of the goal to give the Tigers what they thought would be a1-0 advantage. However, the goal was taken off the board because the kick was an indirect kick, which needs to touch another player before finding the net. On the field, it was somewhat confusing because everyone thought the kick was direct.

Mount tennis slips up in semifinal
by TOM UTESCHER

In a strange, protracted semifinal match that played out over three days last week, defending champion Mount St. Joseph Academy bowed out of the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies tennis playoffs in a 2-3 loss to Merion Mercy Academy.

Undefeated Devils roll to 7th straight win
by JUSTIN GOLDMAN

CHA’s Rashad Campbell. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

What was supposed to be a clash of two storied Inter-Ac football programs turned into a rout when Chestnut Hill Academy asserted its dominance at Penn Charter last Friday afternoon. CHA used a familiar formula of hard hitting defense and a steady running attack to race out to a 28-0 lead in the fourth quarter of  Friday’s contest. Only a late touchdown from the Quakers’ Kashif Smith with 2:50 to play kept the Blue Devils from their second straight shutout and fourth overall this season.

The Blue Devils remain undefeated overall with a 7-0 record and a 2-0 record in league play. The Quakers drop to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Inter-Ac.

Though the score ended up lopsided, neither team could muster up much offensively in the early going with both quarterbacks struggling to find a rhythm in the passing game. The lack of offense put pressure on the defenses to make plays.

CHC women’s tennis devours Wolves
by Tom Utescher

After slipping two notches below the .500 mark at the start of the month, Chestnut Hill College’s women’s tennis team posted its second straight shutout victory last Monday afternoon.

CHA cross country goes 3-2 in league meets
by TOM UTESCHER

Laying down a near-record pace on Germantown Academy’s 3.1-mile course, CHA senior Ned Cunningham led visiting Chestnut Hill Academy to a 15-50 victory over the host Patriots last Tuesday, helping the Blue Devils finish their slate of Inter-Ac dual meets with a winning 3-2 record.

PC prevails at Springside Homecoming
by TOM UTESCHER

Due to last Friday’s weather conditions, Springside School hosted a sort of half-a-Homecoming last Friday afternoon, with rain washing out the planned cross country and tennis contests, while field hockey and soccer proceeded as scheduled against league rivals from Penn Charter.

CHC men’s soccer falls to Holy Family
by TOM UTESCHER

CHC senior Jeff Lewin takes control of the ball over Holy Family University’s Ed Szambelak. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

The visiting Tigers of Holy Family College built upon a 1-0 halftime lead  at Chestnut Hill College last Thursday, returning to Northeast Philly with a 3-0 victory and a 6-2 record within the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

For the host Griffins, who got 13 saves from freshman goalie Duhan Malali, the setback leveled off their record both for the month of October (3-3), and the season overall (7-7-2). CHC, which just moved to NCAA Division II and joined the CACC this year, slipped to 1-6 in conference play.

“We just played a team that was fitter than us and stronger than us,” first-year coach Seamus O’Connor said after the match. “When you’ve got those two things, it makes for a long day.”

The Griffins will finish out their regular-season schedule with three road games, so Thursday’s match marked the final home field appearance for CHC captain Jeff Lewin and fellow seniors Mike Kuch, Mike Ritter, and Brandan Saylor.

CHA, PC battle wind, each other to a tie
by JUSTIN GOLDMAN

The intensity on the field last Friday afternoon mirrored the typical type of intensity for any two dueling Inter-Ac soccer foes. Both Chestnut Hill Academy and Penn Charter refused to give an inch en route to their 1-1 tie. The tie keeps both teams right where they were in the standings with CHA holding down the second spot and Penn Charter in third.