October 25, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

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.

Two minutes later, Penn Charter nearly struck first when Ryan Broderick fielded a cross and was one-on-one with GFS goalkeeper Zach Porges, but his volley sailed over the net.

PC did a good job keeping GFS at bay throughout the first 40 minutes. The Tigers earned no corner kicks in the first half and all GFS attackers were marked at all times.

With six minutes remaining in the first half, the Tigers found a way to penetrate the stiff Penn Charter defense when Brendan Turner made a good throw-in to Muwwakkil who was making a run down the left sideline. Muwwakkil gathered the ball, made a couple quick jukes and jives to get by one defender, which drew the Quakers keeper off his line. Muwwakkil then sent a perfect cross to Sanchez who was waiting at the doorstep and tapped the ball into the open net to give the Tigers a lead that they would not lose.

The intensity was wrenched up a notch in the second half and neither team wanted to give in. Both teams stepped up the physical play as four yellow cards were handed out in the last 40 minutes - three to the host Tigers.

As it did in the first half, Penn Charter controlled the pace and flow of the game in the second half. In the beginning of the game, the Quakers could not generate quality opportunities, but they were in full-fledged attack mode and continued to put relentless pressure on the Tiger defense.

In an eight-minute span in the second half, the Quakers handled the ball and put a ferocious number of shots on the Tigers. Porges remained composed and the Tigers finally cleared the ball out of their zone to end the threat.

“We finally cleared the ball out,” Zipin said. “Once we cleared it, our goalie got a chance to see what was in front of him.”

GFS had very few counter-attack opportunities, but right after the PC threat, Sam Mercuris passed the ball to Sanchez down the right sideline who sent a perfect cross to Gemberling-Johnson whose volley flew over the net.

At the 16 minute mark, in a seemingly questionable decision, Zipin substituted his goalie in favor of Zach Fernberger. Though Porges and Fernberger have split time all year, it seemed like an interesting time and place for a substitution.

“I wanted Zach (Fernberger) to know what it is like in an intense, pressure-packed game,” Zipin said. “It had nothing to do with how our other Zach was playing.”

Fernberger was immediately tested when Connor Gorman got a step on two GFS defenders and got off a decent shot, but Fernberger was there for the save.

GFS found a way to outlast the Quakers for the rest of the game and preserved the victory.

“This was a really good win for us,” Zipin said. “It was a great test against a great team and our guys played very well.”

Both teams return to action this week, with GFS hosting its semi-final playoff game on Saturday at 4:45 and Penn Charter hosting Episcopal at 3:45 on Friday.