Eagles trio ‘on’

Tuesday roundup: Pennsville boys erupt for three rapid-fire goals to get first W of the season, Penns Grove coach gets first win, Schalick goes to 4-0; Salem, Penns Grove, Salem girls play to draws

WEDNESDAY’S SCOREBOARD
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville 5, Clayton 0
Penns Grove 6, Salem 2
Schalick 3, Gloucester Catholic 0
Woodstown 7, Salem Tech 0

GIRLS SOCCER
Pennsville 2, Clayton 2
Salem 3, Penns Grove 3
Schalick 4, Gloucester Catholic 1
Woodstown 6, Salem Tech 0

GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville 5, Salem 0
Schalick 5, Glassboro 0

By Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – One minute the game is scoreless and the next time Pennsville boys soccer coach Derek Foglein looked his team had a three-goal lead. Things can happen that quickly when you have the kind of strikers the Eagles have.

After a slow opening 10 minutes, the Eagles erupted for three goals in the 10 minutes before the first half water break and went on to beat rebuilding Clayton 5-0 for their first win of the season.

Shane Puckett and Jake Isaac both scored twice in the first half and Dylan Waller scored in the second.

“I felt like I blinked and we were up 3-0; it was like three in a matter of five minutes,” Foglein said. “It’s definitely not typical, but when you look at Stone (Mumink), Shane and Jake, they have the quality, they have the talent and they have the offensive vision from working together for a few years, and they’ve got speed, too. If they’re on, they’re on and just like that a game can really turn positively for us.

“I know we have quality offensive pieces. With those front three, that’s really where our offense is going to be from and they were quality today. They worked hard on the ball. They worked hard off the ball. They connected passes and (when you do that) you find yourself in spaces and they found their spaces and they finished. So that was really awesome.”

Puckett scored his two goals around Isaac’s first counter in that rapid-fire stretch. Isaac notched his second goal shortly after the water break. Puckett, Isaac and Mumink each had two assists.

The Eagles (1-2) already had control of the game, but turned up the defense in the second half and the back line helped keeper Coen Rinnier nail down the shutout.

PENNS GROVE 6, SALEM 2: After two gut-wrenching overtime losses to open the season, the Red Devils got goals from five different players to give new coach Mano Massari his first victory.

Junior Sebastian Hernandez scored twice to lead the charge. Captains Ashton Harris and Joey Schultz, Edward Swank and Jayden Merga had the other goals.

“It was really good to get the win; not for me, but for the guys, they deserve it,” Massari said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but a win is a win and we’ll take it.”

As with any new coach and a new team, it took a little time to adjust the pieces. Massari moved junior Frankie Juarez Reynosa to center midfield and the offense blossomed. The six goals were the most the Red Devils have scored in a game since beating Gloucester 7-1 in their final regular-season game last year. Juarez Reynosa had two assists.

“After the first two losses I needed to move some guys around and it really helped open the offense up; Frankie being a huge reason for that,” Massari said. “He started the first two games as a striker but wasn’t getting the ball enough, so I dropped him to a center midfielder and he really controlled the game. He really excelled in that position.”