By Alex Frazier
National ConferenceTwo years ago William Tennent posted one of the best seasons in team history. The Panthers won the conference championship, placed second in districts and advanced to the state quarterfinals.
That was then; this is now.
Coach James Barry has had to integrate six or seven freshman into the lineup, which has proven somewhat difficult in the early going.
Six games into the season, the Panthers are 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the National Conference.
“It’s been the kind of start I expected,” said Barry. “We’ve been a bit inconsistent. Sometimes tactically we’re not on the same page yet. We do have a lot of quality and a lot of experience from last year. Sometimes when you try and bring in three or four different players, it takes a while to click.”
This week was one of the toughest on a young new squad as the Panthers faced Council Rock North, Pennsbury and Neshaminy.
They lost to both Council Rock and Pennsbury 5-1, but came back on Thursday to hand Neshaminy its first league loss of the season, 2-1.
Only two seniors return from last year’s team, one of them being captain and forward Laura Carroll.
On her VE club team, Carroll has played mostly center midfield, but she has always been a forward on her high school team. She’s a bit frustrated because she has yet to score a goal.
“As forward that’s a big part of it and what you’re judged on a lot,” she said, “but I like to contribute wherever I can, and if that’s where they need me, that’s where I’ll play.”
As captain, she has been working as an example for the younger players.
“You feel more responsibility as a leader being one of only two seniors,” said Carroll. “Having such a young team, it leads you to be more of a role model than usual, you would think. Some games I feel we have 11 of the best players in the league, but not always a great team. We don’t always come together all the time. We’re working on chemistry a lot.”
Carroll is undecided whether she will continue to play next year at Johns Hopkins, which she chose for the academics. She plans on majoring in psychology.
“I took an AP psych class last year, and I just loved it,” she said.
Being a Division Three school, she will still have the opportunity to walk on if she decides to.
“It would be hard to stop playing soccer altogether,” she said.
But before the potential end of her career, she hopes that her team will make a good run at season’s end, just like it did when she was a sophomore.
“We have the potential,” said Carroll. “If you look at everyone individually, it’s there. I definitely know that later on in the season we’ll access that potential. Right now we’re working on coming together.”
Last year, Tennent was seeded eighth in districts, sneaked past North Penn on penalty kicks in the first round and then lost to C.B. South in the quarterfinals, 3-0.
“As the season progresses, we’ll continue to get stronger and stronger,” said Barry. “Some key players will be coming back from injury. We hope to have a strong push when it comes to the playoffs.”
The potential to go farther is definitely there, especially if sophomore Angelina Liddy returns to the lineup after breaking her tibia before the season started.
“She was definitely one of the top three performers last year as a freshman,” said Barry. “She’s a good technical player as well as being physical. We’ve missed her so far this year.”
The Panthers will also be bolstered by the return of freshman midfielder Madison Massaro, who played well in her first three games before tearing her quadriceps. She should be back before Liddy.
“She’s put on some great performances for us,” said Barry. “She should be back next week and will lift us a lot. She’s very aggressive and fast and a good strong player. She gives us an option to vary how we play.”
Continental Conference
Hatboro-Horsham may not have a winning record so far this year, but they are playing good soccer. The Hatters have actually only played three games and are 1-2.
Both were one-goal losses to C.B. South and C.B. East this week, the latter in double overtime.
“They’re very good,” said coach Ben Winderman. “South, we really hung with them. East, we dominated play, played very very well, but it was just one of those soccer games we didn’t score.”
The Hatters are a very young squad this year as they play up to eight freshmen (six started against C.B. East).
“I’m super pleased,” said Winderman. “We’re beyond young, but they’re excellent players and their attitude is great.”
Winderman noted the strength of the team was at defense. Hatboro has given up only two goals in four games so far.
Sophomore Kellie McGoldrick is the team’s centerback.
“She is just a real complete player,” said Winderman, “great on the ball, real good reader of the game. She can control the tempo of the game. She distributes real well.”
Senior Amariah Baker provides maturity to the defense.
“She’s a real rugged, bruising defender,” said Winderman. “She’s a good ball winner and a competitive spirit.”
The other two defenders are freshmen.
The only other senior starter is Christina Porletti, who plays up top. Although she has yet to hit the net, she assisted on all three goals in a 3-0 win over Souderton.
“She’s our leader,” said Winderman. “She is a real, real skilled, savvy player. She’s wonderful in terms of being a good influence on the younger players. They all look up to her. She just does everything right.”
For her part Portelli likes the responsibility of being a captain.
“It’s good,” she said. “It’s worth it because the girls look up to you and you’re a role model.”
Portelli will play soccer at West Chester next year, where she will major in health and physical education/kinesiology.
She had a tough decision to make between soccer and field hockey. The former she has been playing for most of her life, the latter she started playing in high school after the hockey coach saw her playing in gym class and recruited her. She could have played hockey at East Stroudsburg.
“I really did come to love field hockey,” she said. “It was a hard decision. I made plenty of pros and cons lists, but I loved soccer so much I couldn’t imagine not playing it. It’s my life.”
With such a young team, the Hatters are bound to improve progressively over the season, hopefully in time to make a run in the playoffs.
“We’re going to be good in the next few years,” said Winderman. “This year we’re going to keep on getting better.”
American Conference
For the past two years Upper Dublin has reigned supreme in the conference, and this year doesn’t appear to be much different. As of Tuesday, the Flying Cardinals were 6-0 with wins over league foes, Cheltenham, Springfield, Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh.
With a mediocre league schedule, Upper Dublin has had to schedule tough non-league games to prepare itself for the playoffs.
The highlight of the season was a come-from-behind win over Council Rock North - which knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs last year - in the season debut. The Cards trailed 2-0 at the half and rallied to score three goals in the second half. A second non-league game against Souderton, which finished fourth in the district last year, also resulted in a 4-3 win.
“Things are going well,” said coach John Topper. “We got off to a good start. It’s always nice to get some wins out of the league.”
The future also looks bright for the Cardinals as they boast just one senior on the team this year—Larissa Nysch.
This is nothing to new to Nysch, who has been the only player in her class on the field for the past four years.
“I haven’t had a really strong class,” she said. “I don’t really feel like the only senior. I feel around the same age as the juniors. I’m close with all the juniors. I don’t really see the grade being different when you’re on the field.”
Not only being the lone senior but also being captain has thrust Nysch into a leadership position.
“Being the only senior is huge leadership,” she said. “I’d like to think that a lot of the girls look up to me. You always have to set a good example and do the right things and always work really hard. Especially this year when it’s so easy to slack in school, I feel like on the field that’s where I have to work the hardest because there are so many people looking up to you.”
Nysch has been a forward for most of her life, but this year she has been playing center midfield.
“I like it a lot more because when you play up top there is so much pressure,” she said. “Over the past couple of years, I’ve been getting marked pretty heavily, so I like having all the space in center mid and being able to work with the forwards and giving them through balls. I have more time on the ball.”
Ironically, Nysch is scoring more from her new position. She has scored eight goals so far, which surprises her.
“I didn’t think I would,” she said. “My coach said he wanted to see more assist from me than goals.”
In Wednesday’s game against Plymouth Whitemarsh, Nysch singlehandedly defeated the Colonials. She gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead on a penalty kick and two head balls before the Colonials came back to make it a game with a pair of goals.
“She’s been doing a great job,” said Topper. “She’s a very skilled player, but she’s also developed into being a ball winner as well.”
Next year Nysch earned a scholarship to play Division One soccer at Stony Brook (Long Island, NY).
In addition to Nysch, Emily Marvill has been contributing up top. She has scored a goal in every game except PW.
“She’s been doing a phenomenal job,” said Topper.
Freshman midfielder Courtney Boudwin has seen a lot of varsity time and has scored a few goals of her own.
“We’re very athletic,” said Topper. “Our offense has been scoring at least 2-3 goals a game, which usually gets you good results.”
Upper Dublin has two non-league games against defending district champion Pennridge and Hatboro-Horsham to steel itself for the playoffs.
“We’re probably as strong or stronger than we were last year,” said Topper. “Even though we only have one senior, we have a lot of younger girls that have at least one year experience at the varsity level. As long as we can stay healthy, we’re looking to compete for the title again and hopefully move a little farther into the playoffs this year.”
SOL Top 5
1. Neshaminy
2. Central Bucks West
3. Council Rock South
4. Central Bucks South
5. Upper Dublin
Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Poll
1. Neshaminy (1)
2. Hershey (3)
3. Hempfield (3)
4. Central Bucks West (1)
5. Manheim Twp. (3)
6. Central Bucks South (1)
7. Penn Manor (3)
8. Mechanicsburg (3)
9. Dallastown (3)
10.Daniel Boone (3)
NSCAA Region One Rankings
(April 13)
Rank School W-L-T
1. Neshaminy (Langhorne, Pa,) 4-0-0
2. Hershey (Hershey, Pa.) 7-0-0
2. Padua Academy (Wilmington, Del.) 4-0-0
4. Hempfield (Landisville, Pa.) 5-0-1
5. Central Bucks West (Doylestown, Pa.) 1-0-0
6. Manheim Twp. (Lancaster, Pa.) 6-0-0
7. Central Bucks South 4-1-0
8. Daniel Boone (Birdsboro, Pa.) 3-0-0
9. Mechanicsburg (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) 4-1-0
10. Penn Manor (Millersville, Pa.) 5-2-0
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