October 23, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA soccer climbs over Hill
by TOM UTESCHER

In an attempt to take away the ball, Tom Gargan of CHA (#6) slide-tackles Ryan Dietrich of Hill School. For more photos, visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

This fall, victories haven’t been easy to come by for Chestnut Hill Academy’s soccer squad, but the Blue Devils conjured one up for their Homecoming crowd last Saturday, defeating visiting Hill School, 2-1, in a non-league encounter.

Junior Peter Adubato deposited both goals for CHA, which improved to 2-9-1 overall in the 2008 campaign. The Inter-Ac League tally for the locals remained at 1-2-1, a mark that included a 4-1 loss at Malvern Prep last Tuesday.

What deficiencies did the Devils address during the three days of practice between the Malvern and Hill matches?

“Just field vision,” replied CHA coach Mark Weinmann. “Being able to see where the numbers-up and the numbers-down situations are. To do it in practice is one thing, and to do it in the heat of battle’s another. We’re starting to trust each other a little more to get the ball to our feet or to find an open space.”

Early in Saturday’s match, CHA shooters found some open space, but unfortunately it was above the crossbar of the Hill goal. Adubato and sophomore Sam Lane each fired over the cage during the first 11 minutes. Adubato had another shot blocked by Hill goalie Ethan Shepperd (eight saves), who was also able to react to a follow-up attempt on the play by Blue Devils senior Max Mitchell.

At the far end, CHA sophomore goalie Judd Hayne (six saves) was tested, too, as the action ranged all up and down the field in a lively manner. On the attack, Chestnut Hill had Lane put another ball over the bar, and with 16 minutes left in the half, sophomore Ian Miller sent a nice cross inside to freshman Alex DeBerardinis, but his shot was tipped up above the cage by Hill’s Shepperd.

With 11 minutes to go, a pass by Lane found Adubato in the middle a few yards inside the 18. The junior sharpshooter took a few dribbles to the right and then fired high into the left side of the visitors goal, giving Chestnut Hill a 1-0 lead that held up until halftime.

“Peter needs to take 15 to 20 shots a game, because you’re only going to score on a certain percentage of them,” Weinmann commented. “He needs to take them because he’s got a quality shot with both his left and right foot.”

Just before the break, the visitors had a fine chance to tie the match when Hayne was briefly unable to locate a ball rolling loose in the middle of the box, but Hill’s Greg Clark shot the ball outside of the right post. The Devils’ primary concern on defense was to keep tabs on Malcolm LeBourne, a small and speedy forward who was well known to Weinmann. The coach had assigned junior Ryder Harman to guard the Hill School standout.

“Ryder’s a hustler and he was going to be our man marker all day today on LeBourne, but he got hurt in the first five minutes [of the second half] and we had to change up from there.”

In a scramble for the ball, Harman swung his leg into the spikes-up shoe of a Hill player, and he was sidelined for the rest of the day.

CHA senior Tom Gargan had a promising shot saved by Shepperd about 10 minutes after the intermission, and it would be Hill that launched the first successful salvo of the second half. LeBourne was the culprit, getting loose to receive a through-pass near the 18 and popping the ball over Hayne as the CHA keeper advanced out of the cage. The tying goal came with 25:29 left to play.

After Chestnut Hill freshman Danny Hull sent a shot wide left with 19 minutes remaining, a dangerous, long throw-in by the visitors sailed towards the CHA goalmouth, but Mitchell headed the ball away for the Devils.

Back on offense, CHA blooped a serve into the box and the ball came back off of freshman Dan Trulear and out near the 18. Adubato volleyed a shot a few feet under the crossbar on the right side, and the winning goal was on the board with 13:20 remaining.

The CHA faithful weren’t able to relax until the final whistle of this Homecoming clash. The ever active LeBourne broke into the box on the right and fired just a little outside the upper left corner of the CHA cage with six minutes to go. Then, with just 18 seconds remaining, a ball rolled near the goal line out of Hayne’s reach and Lane cleared it out at the last moment, preserving the hosts’ 2-1 advantage.

Hayne (who has only been playing in goal for two years) was praised for his toughness in net by Weinmann, who also lauded the effort of junior fullback Anthony Gacita.

“Anthony’s a rock back there,” the coach said. “He doesn’t make many mistakes, he’s fluid with both feet, and he’s got great timing.”