Here are the scores and highlights from Thursday’s high school action involving Salem County teams
FIELD HOCKEY
SCHALICK 6, PENNSVILLE 0: The Cougars scored five goals in the first quarter and cruised to their 10th straight victory to remain undefeated. Luci Virga and Alexis Smith both had a hat trick.
WOODSTOWN 4, SALEM 0: Brae DiGregorio, Shyann Higinbotham and Megan Donelson all had a goal and an assist as the Wolverines handed Salem its first loss of the season. Hannah Hitchner scored Woodstown’s other goal and Shelby Foote recorded the shutout.
BOYS SOCCER
COLLINGSWOOD 3, PENNSVILLE 2: John Lara scored the game-winner in the 63rd minute. Maddox Efelis and Shane Puckett scored Pennsville’s two goals, both of which tied the game.
GIRLS SOCCER
CUMBERLAND 7, PENNS GROVE 1: Alee Lorito had a hat trick and Ellie Bodine scored twice for the Colts.
SCHALICK 1, GLASSBORO 0: Abby Willoughby scored in the second half off a Quinn Berger corner kick and the Cougars won on Senior Night.
GIRLS TENNIS
WILDWOOD 3, SALEM 2
Charlie Cunningham-Hackney (Wi) def. Cassidy Werkheiser, 6-2, 6-1
Cydnee Kilian (Wi) def. Tytiana Miller, 6-4, 8-6
Angela Wilber (Wi) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-0, 6-0
Heaven Jones-McCullough/Tahirah Davenport-White (S) def. Estella Robinson-Kiana D’Antuano, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
Destiny Carr-Bianca Gibson (S) def. Selin Ogden-Antoinette Cooper, 6-0, 6-2
Records: Wildwood 5-6, Salem 0-7.
PENNSVILLE 5, GLASSBORO 0
Megan Morris (P) def. Ella Killelea, 6-0, 6-0
Regan Witt (P) def. Kaylee Johnson, 7-6 (12-10), 7-5
Lily Edwards (P) def. Halle Lazarus, 6-0, 6-0
Emma Cornette-Morgan Holt (P) def. Alana Killelea-Taylor Adcock, 6-0, 6-0
Cassandra Fortenberry-Devon Sebell (P) def. Anatasia Baratta-Amani George, 6-1, 6-2
Records: Pennsville 12-0, Glassboro 4-4.
Notes: Pennsville is now off to its best start in more than 15 years. The Eagles have won 18 regular season matches in a row going back to last season.
Month: October 2024
Stone-cold keeper
Wednesday sports report: Stengel’s stop of penalty kick sparks Woodstown soccer to second-half uprising, and more
BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove 6, Gloucester Catholic 3
Pitman 5, Salem Tech 0
Schalick 3, Wildwood 2 (OT)
Woodstown 6, Pennsville 0
Glassboro at Salem
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Scoring a goal always gets a team excited, but sometimes stopping a goal can be a spark.
Woodstown goalie Ben Stengel stopped a penalty kick in the second minute of the second half to keep their game with Pennsville scoreless Wednesday and it lit a fire under his team.
The Wolverines scored three goals over the next 12 minutes to take complete control and six in the entire half to pull away from Pennsville 6-0.
“It definitely lit a spark,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said. “Ben’s save definitely was the spark plug. It energized the guys, like, wow.
“And what it did was reiterated what I told them at halftime that any little thing can happen. A ball squibs this way, spins that way, hits a patch of dirt one way, all of a sudden we could be down one-zero after we pretty much controlled the first half.”
Although the game was completed in regulation, both defenses worked overtime to keep it scoreless in the first half. Pennsville keeper Coen Rinnier turned back 10 challenging shots as most of the half was played in his defensive end. And whenever Pennsville pushed into Woodstown territory, the Wolverines’ back line was right there to turn back any threat.
But it all changed early in the second half. The Wolverines were called for contact in the box 90 seconds in – a call both coaches found questionable – and it sent Pennsville senior John Thomas to the spot for a penalty kick.
Stengel stood his ground. Thomas hit the shot straight on into the keeper, who leaned towards his left and raised his arms to keep it from catching the underside of the crossbar and batted it away. He collected the rebound, cleared it through the box and the game continued scoreless.
It was the second PK in three attempts Stengel had turned away this season.
“It helped a little bit that (Coach) Huck wanted to come out and ask about the play, so that was good; it built up the anticipation up there,” Stengel said. “He was scared to death just sitting there, his teammates were telling him where to kick, they were like pointing fingers this way so when he goes to kick I know exactly where he’s going. It was just all the nerves building up from waiting.
“I was ready to dive. I don’t know if you guys could see from where you were but there’s a little bit of a hole on the PK (spot) and he just took like a bad step and hit it weird. That’s what I was kind of waiting for. You’ve got like guess. I was ready to dive, he hits it weird, you’ve just got to react real quick and stand back up.”
Stengel said stopping the penalty kick “killed everything” in the Eagles. The Wolverines, meanwhile, kept up the pressure they exhibited in the first half only this time they were able to finish.
Ayden Ellis, Erich Lipovsky and Bryce Ayars scored over the next 12 minutes to make it 3-0. Before the half ended, Adrian Ibarra was credited with a pair of goals – his third straight two-goal game – and Sid Leevy scored his second goal of the year.
In defense of Rinnier, who faced 32 shots total, there wasn’t a lot he could do on several of the goals. Although it won’t be reflected on the stat line, Pennsville coach Derek Foglein called it “the best game I’ve ever seen Coen play.
“He was all over the place. He commanded his box. He slowed the game down. He did everything right. Even in the second half, you take a look at a lot of those goals, there aren’t many that are his fault. It was really one of those things where Woodstown, they didn’t execute in the first half, they executed in the second half.”
SCHALICK 3, WILDWOOD 2 (OT): Brad Foster headed home a corner kick from Jaxon Weber seven minutes into the first overtime to give the Cougars their seventh win in eight games and hand coach Joe Mannella his 300th career victory. Luke Price scored Schalick’s first two goals, both in the first half. Mannella is 300-123-28 — all at Schalick, his alma mater. (See related story).
PENNS GROVE 6, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 0: Anthony Braxton opened the scoring three minutes into the first half and the Red Devils proceeded to score six goals in the first half. Frankie Juarez Reynoso had two, while Sebastian Hernandez, Edward Swank and Angel Perez Herrera each had one.
PITMAN 5, SALEM TECH 0: Elijah Crispin, who recently returned to the Panthers’ soccer team, scored his first two goals of the season. Crispin had nine goals and 11 assists last year.
Glassboro at Salem
GIRLS SOCCER
WOODSTOWN 3, PITMAN 0: Talia Battavio scored two goals, raising her career total to 55, and Sophie Wells scored once for Woodstown. The Wolverines are unbeaten in their last four games and all three wins in the stretch have been shutouts. Ellie Wygand made five saves in the latest shutout.
Gloucester Catholic 5, Penns Grove 0
Salem at Glassboro
Salem Tech at Pennsville
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville matched its best start in four seasons when it swept Overbrook in straight sets, 5-0. The Eagles’ 11-0 start matches the start of the 2021 team.
PENNSVILLE 5, OVERBROOK 0
Megan Morris (P) def. Keira Riess, 6-2, 6-1
Regan Witt (P) def. Nesrine Fosso, 6-1, 6-3
Lily Edwards (P) def. Sophia Burgos, 6-0, 6-0
Emma Cornette-Morgan Holt (P) def. Jennifer Giovanni-Hillary Cao, 6-0, 6-2
Naomi Hess-Isabell Schrenker (P) def. Madison Rikard-Gianna Hardy, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Pennsville 11-0, Overbrook 1-10.
Golden goal for milestone
Foster’s overtime header lifts Schalick over Wildwood to give Mannella his 300th career coaching victory – a Salem County soccer first
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WILDWOOD – Joe Mannella had been anticipating the event for weeks now, not that he was counting down the days or anything, and when the moment finally arrived Wednesday with all its celebration he almost couldn’t find the words.
Brad Foster headed home a corner kick from Jaxon Weber seven minutes into the first overtime Wednesday to give Schalick to a 3-2 victory over Wildwood and hand its head coach his 300th career coaching victory.
Mannella, in his 22nd season, is the first soccer coach in Salem County history and 59th in the state to record 300 boys-only varsity victories.
“It’s an overtime goal, it’s golden goal, so the kids are all celebrating,” Mannella said. “A couple ran over to me right away, but most of them just celebrated with each other. I just kind of sat there almost like I was watching the ending of a good movie. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Not everybody gets to live this.
“From being able to coach where you were born and grew up and went to school and played yourself, I can’t imagine doing it any other way. There are so many things in this world that don’t go your way, I couldn’t have written a better script. I feel very fortunate to live this fairy tale.”
Mannella came into the season needing seven wins for the milestone. The Cougars (7-1) put him on the verge with a 5-0 win over Penns Grove Monday.
When Foster banged home the game-winner, the players raced to the corner flag and celebrated. They had something for their coach. They gave him a traditional ice bucket bath – he anticipated it and brought an extra change of clothes – sprayed him with silly string and presented him with balloons and a commemorative “300 Wins” soccer ball.
“It was a nice feeling seeing Coach get his big 300, especially since not a lot of coaches have that big number,” Foster said. “It’ll be a great memory.”
Tributes poured in after Mannella reached the milestone. His phone was full of text messages from former players, current teachers and family members. Among the well-wishers was good friend Darren Huck, the Woodstown coach. Huck is in line to become the next Salem County coach to reach 300, needing seven to hit the milestone after his team’s win at Pennsville Wednesday.
“He is Schalick soccer,” Huck said after learning of the Cougars’ result after his team’s game. “When you think of Schalick soccer you think of him. As a player and now a coach he’s had tremendous success.
“Good coaches know the game, good coaches know how to handle multiple personalties on a team and that type of thing, but he has it all. He knows his players, he has a system in place. Kudos to him.”
Luke Price scored the Cougars’ first two goals. He got the first on a header three minutes into the match and the game-tying goal on a run from midfield with four minutes left in the first half. NuNu Bedderi gave the Warriors the lead with two goals in between.
“It’s an amazing feeling, just that I contributed to the game also,” Price said. “We just kept fighting. We just had one goal and that was to win for Coach. Just knowing that my coach got 300 wins in his high school coaching career is a great feeling. As a player you have trust in him and you know he’s going to lead you on the right path.”
The teams played an even second half although Schalick, the South Jersey Group I power points leader, had the best of the play. Cougars goalie Evan Sepers made a spectacular save in overtime to keep the dream alive.
“A lot of guys contributed to this,” Mannella said. “They had a lot of fun. The bus ride was fun. I think they enjoyed being part of it as much as I was experiencing this. I’m looking forward to more wins with these guys.”
Fiesty Eagles find a way
Pennsville girls tennis gets early leg up in division race after beating Woodstown, extends winning streak to 16
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The Pennsville girls tennis team remained undefeated and took the early upper hand in the TCC Diamond Division race Tuesday with a 4-1 win at Woodstown, but, befitting the rivalry, it was a lot closer than the score indicated.
A lot closer.
The Eagles fought back to win super tiebreakers at second singles and first doubles after both lost the second set and fell way behind in the 10-pointer and won at first singles after holding off a threat to create another super tiebreaker.
They now have division wins over Woodstown and Schalick but have to play them each again. Their second match with Schalick was suspended by weather with the Eagles trailing 2-1 but up a set in both doubles matches. The match is scheduled to resume in late October.
While it won’t count towards in the division race, Pennsville and Schalick are scheduled to play Oct. 8 in the second round of the South Jersey Group I tournament. The winner could potentially get Woodstown in the group semifinals.
“(Getting a leg up in the division) is all it is, the way we look at it, because we’re so close to them; all three of us (Pennsville, Woodstown, Schalick) there’s not much difference,” Pennsville coach Dan LaMont said. “I don’t even think we played great tennis, we just played scrappy. We know that’s what we’ve got to do. We just put a lot of balls back, we hustled. It was as tight as two teams can be.”
The difference on this day was the Eagles’ two super tiebreaker wins.
Regan Witt defeated Camille Osborn 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 at No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Emma Cornette and Gabi Forino outlasted Alyssa Berry and Julianna Lindenmuth 6-0, 3-6, 10-8.
Witt (8-2) was down 8-4 in her tiebreaker, then won every point on the other side of the net to score her second super tiebreaker win of the season. The first doubles team was down 5-1 in their third and then won all six points on the other side of the net to take control and remain undefeated as partners (8-0).
Forino has won her last 12 doubles matches going back to last season, when she played second doubles. Cornette has won her last 15.
“It hasn’t been easy for Regan,” LaMont said. “She’s getting some good players and she just persevered. That was pretty big. The first doubles we just said let’s get to Emma’s serve. If we can get to Emma’s serve then we feel pretty good and that’s what they did.
“We just found a little gear when we had to. We kind of clamped down, locked in a little more. We’ve just got to keep on getting better and better. We can’t stop.”
With the win, the Eagles improved to 10-0 this season and extended their regular-season winning streak to 16 in a row. It’s their third best start in the last 15 years and their best since 2021 when they opened the season 11-0. The 2010 team started the year 12-0. The 2011 team had a 15-match in-season winning streak.
Lamont said his current team compared favorably to the 2021 squad.
“It’s very similar,” he said. “Just typical Pennsville girls who are going to go out there, they’re going to limit their unforced errors, they’re going to hustle. We’re not going to wow anybody with our tennis skills as you’ve seen. We’re not going to wow anybody with our overall play. Same type of team.”
PENNSVILLE 4, WOODSTOWN 1
Megan Morris (P) def. Gabby Kurds, 6-4, 7-5
Regan Witt (P) def. Camille Osborn, 6-2, 2-6, 10-8
Lily Edwards (P) def. Aubrie Rennie, 6-1, 6-0
Emma Cornette-Gabi Forino (P) def. Alyssa Berry-Julianna Lindenmuth, 6-0, 3-6, 10-8
Nathalie Neron-Noelle Neron (Wo) def. Isabell Schrenker-Naomi Hess, 6-0, 6-2
Records: Pennsville 10-0, Woodstown 8-3.
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick 2, Gloucester City 1: Caylen Taylor and Phoebe Alward scored goals and Lydia Gilligan made 12 saves as the Cougars followed up their big win over Hammonton with an equally big win on the road at Gloucester City to remain undefeated. Ava Scurry assisted on both Schalick goals.
Woodstown 3, Glassboro 0: The Wolverines broke a scoreless halftime tie with three goals in the third quarter. Zoe Lipovsky scored twice and Hanna Hitchner scored once. Shelby Foote recorded the shutout.
Pennsville 5, Clayton 1
Riverview Sports News 