Schalick wins its season opener, but all other county soccer teams come up short
SALEM COUNTY SCORES
Thursday’s games
BOYS
Glassboro 1, Penns Grove 0 (OT)
Overbook 2, Pennsville 1
Pitman 6, Salem 1
Schalick 4, Woodstown 2
GIRLS
Spartan Kickoff Tournament
at Deptford
Timber Creek 7, Woodstown 1
Deptford 2, Pitman 1
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO – Mano Massari admitted he was a little bummed when the schedule came out and he saw who the young Penns Grove soccer team he had inherited as the new head coach had to face in the opener.
It was the team that knocked the Red Devils out of the playoffs in double overtime last year and has become a veritable thorn in their side the last couple years.
The Red Devils suffered another tough loss at the hands of new nemesis Glassboro Thursday, 1-0 in overtime, but for the first time in a long time Massari didn’t feel crummy about a loss.
“My team just gave me new life with this group of guys,” Massari said. “It’s unbelievable what I saw them do on the field today with the heavyweight Glassboro is.
“We lost three-quarters of our team last year and we were taking it to them the entire game. We just couldn’t finish. I have a new life and fire in me and so do these boys. It’s unbelievable. I can’t wait to see them (Glassboro) in Penns Grove in a couple weeks.”
Every time the teams have gotten together the last couple years it’s been a dogfight. Last year they split two one-goal games and had a 1-1 tie. Seven of their last nine meetings have been one-goal games or draws and they’re 4-4-1 in the stretch.
The only goal in Thursday’s season opener came about five minutes into overtime when Atakan Ozdemir collected a 25-yard free kick in the box and before the Red Devils could adjust found the back of the net for his golden goal.
Sophomore keeper Dwayne Guzman did a nice job keeping the Bulldogs off the board until then. Massari called him “the best keeper I’ve seen coaching Penns Grove within the last 8-10 years.” He also was excited about the play of new outside backs Ricardo Vichi Torres, a freshman, and Eddie Tino, a junior first-year player, both of whom solidified their positions “for the foreseeable future.”.
“If this is at the end of the year it’d be very different, but because this is the first game, I don’t want to sound corny, I’m fired up,” Massari said. “The guys were bummed out but I think everyone has a fire in their belly now. They saw the beast inside of them and they’ve just got to pull it out.
“I really don’t think I’ve been this excited after a loss in a long time. When we got the schedule there was a little bit of a frustration level that we opened the season with Glassboro because I was kind of throwing my kids into the fire there, but now I’m thrilled we have them because know I know for sure we have it.”
Glassboro 1, Penns Grove 0
| Penns Grove (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 – | 0 |
| Glassboro (1-0) | 0 | 0 | 1 – | 1 |
GOALS: 1. Atakan Ozdemir, G.
OVERBROOK 2, PENNSVILLE 1: The Rams won only four games last season, didn’t win their first until Game 5, lost to Pennsville late in the season last year and you’ve got to go beyond 2010 to find the last time they won a season opener, but they put all that behind them by taking down the Eagles on the road.
David Ayala-Revas looped in a 25-yard free kick in the first half and Angel Mejia-Castro scored from the top of the box in the second to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. Pennsville’s Stone Mumink was dragged down on a breakaway and put away a red-card penalty kick to make it a one-goal game with 15 minutes left, but the Eagles couldn’t get the equalizer.
“The reality is obviously this is a game we wish we would’ve won,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “Opening at home, you always want to go get those wins, but I do think there’s a lot of good positives.
“Our over-the-top ball is where knew we were going to be strong and that’s where we got our (goal). Stone and Shane (Puckett) are phenomenal strikers, so once we get them more involved in the game I think it’s going to be really positive.”
Overbrook 2, Pennsville 1
| Overbrook (1-0) | 1 | 1 – | 2 |
| Pennsville (0-1) | 0 | 1 – | 1 |
GOALS: 1. David Ayala Revis, O; 2. Angel Mejia, O; 3. Stone Mumink, P (PK).
SCHALICK 4, WOODSTOWN 2: The Cougars erupted for three second-half goals to pull away from a 1-1 halftime tie and win their season opener.
Anthony Sepers scored the go-ahead goal on an assist from Donimic Bassano, then Bassano scored to extend the lead. The Wolverines made it a one-goal game again before Bradford Foster put the game away.
Schalick 4, Woodstown 2
| Woodstown (0-1) | 1 | 1 – | 2 |
| Schalick (1-0) | 1 | 3 – | 4 |
GOALS: 1. Luke Price, S; 2. Adrian Ibarra, W; 3. Anthony Sepers (Dominic Bassano), S; 4. Dominic Bassano, S; 5. Woodstown; 6. Bradford Foster, S.
PITMAN 6, SALEM 1: Charlie Duffield and Jake Bowen-Ashwin scored goals one minute apart early in the first half to give Pitman control of the match. Jose Vilalplando got Salem on the board early in the second half.
Pitman 6, Salem 1
| Salem (0-1) | 0 | 1 – | 1 |
| Pitman (1-0) | 4 | 2 – | 6 |
GOALS: 1. Charlie Duffield (Jake Bowen-Ashwin), P, 5:00; 2. Jake Bowen-Ashwin (Maddox Marker), P, 6:00; 3. Jaiden Ammons (Trevor Leach), P, 24:00; 4. Charlie Duffield (Maddox Marker), P, 29:00; 5. Jose Vilalplando (unassisted), S, 44:00; 6. Jaiden Ammons (unassisted), P, 60:00; 7. Cole Kelly (Jake Bowen-Ashwin), P, 68:00.
GIRLS
TIMBER CREEK 7, WOODSTOWN 1: The Wolverines young team got a rude welcome to varsity soccer in the first half of their opener of Deptford’s Spartan Kickoff, but the whole experience gave them a baseline off which to work for the rest of the season.
Woodstown started six underclassmen in the game – five sophomores and a freshman – and fell behind 4-0 at halftime. It was 5-0 before Lia Covely converted a pass from Bailey Arnold Peters in the 58th minute for the Wolverines’ goal.
Ava Stowell had three of Timber Creek’s first five goals for her third straight Spartan Kickoff hat trick. Adiat Dickson had a goal in each half.
The Wolverines had a couple other scoring chances by Talia Battavio and Gianna Pearlingi in the second half and had four corner kicks total, but couldn’t finish them. Keeper Ellie Wygand was peppered throughout the night and came up with 12 saves.
“We do have a very young team,” Woodstown coach Kieran Keyser said. “It was a good game to open up with because their a non-division game and it gave us an avenue to what we need to work on the rest of the season.
“It gave us the opportunity to see girls in new positions. It gave us the opportunity to see what mistakes we’re making and how to correct them. You want to move on and learn from losses like this. Yes, you want to forget them in a sense, but it’s a learning opportunity for our younger players and for me as a coach.”.
The Wolverines will play Pitman in Friday’s 5:30 p.m. consolation match. The Panthers fell to host Deptford 2-1.
Timber Creek 7, Woodstown 1
| Timber Creek (1-0) | 4 | 3 – | 7 |
| Woodstown (0-1) | 0 | 1 – | 1 |
GOALS: 1. Adiat Dickson (Ava Stowell), TC; 2. Ava Stowall (unassisted), TC; 3. Billie Frazier (unassisted), TC; 4. Ava Stowell (Karissa Coleman), TC; 5. Ava Stowell (Billie Frazier), TC; 6. Lia Covely (Bailey Arnold-Peters), W; 7. Adiat Dickson (unassisted), TC; 8. Sophie Willingmyre (Madison Freedman), TC
Riverview Sports News 