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
Category: PENNS GROVE
Closing on history
Schalick bounces back from season’s first loss, moves Mannella to 299, Ibarra leads Woodstown past Pitman
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville 4, Gloucester Catholic 1
Salem Tech 6, Salem 0
Schalick 5, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 3, Pitman 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick 5, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 2, Pennsville 0
Salem Tech at Salem
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Joe Mannella moved another step closer to making some Salem County soccer history Monday, but truth be told he was much happier with the way his Schalick soccer team responded to its first loss of the season.
The Cougars handed their coach career win No. 299 Monday with a dominating 5-0 win over Penns Grove. Mannella came become the first soccer coach in Salem County to reach 300 career wins Wednesday at Wildwood.
The milestone and celebration would have happened Monday had the Cougars (6-1) taken care of business Saturday in Cinnaminson. Instead, they fell 2-1 in their most physical match of the season and Mannella was keenly interested in seeing how they would respond their next time out.
They responded by playing most of the game in the offensive end, turning back every Penns Grove advance and getting goals from five separate players .
“I couldn’t have been happier (with their response),” Mannella said as he watched his Cougars of the future in the JV game. “I thought about it the whole weekend. Not that we lost and not that we played bad, it’s just when the pressure gets on and when things aren’t going your way you see little cracks in the armor.
“I told them after the game I should know by now because all last year when things weren’t going our way they rose to the occasion. They did today. Everybody did what we talked about, everybody executed the game plan. I couldn’t be happier with the way we played today.”
Each of the last eight games in the series have been decided by shutout, with Schalick winning six, including the last three. Five of the Cougars’ wins this season have been by shutout.
The Cougars got goals from Anthony Sepers (19:36), Luke Price (36:52), Seth Fisher (54:13), freshman Connor Jackson (68:26) and Nolan O’Toole (71:42).
Sepers opened the scoring when he collected a ball in the upper left corner of the penalty area, pushed it forward a couple yards, then fired a volley over Penns Grove keeper Dwayne Guzman’s outstretched arm and into the upper right corner of the goal.
Price took a through ball from Oscar Hernandez in the box and beat the keeper with 3:08 left in the first half to give the Cougars a 2-0 halftime lead. It was his first goal since sustaining a broken wrist and growth plate when he was knocked down in the box five minutes into the Pitman match last Thursday. He played with a black cast that probably will stay on the rest of the season.
“It’s just all heart,” Price said. “I wanted to get right back at the game. It’s a disadvantage, but at the same time you’ve got to use it and bring your best.
“We got away from our game (Saturday), we just got away from it, but this is a great bounce back. We needed to respond. We played our game and had so many chances.”
The Cougars really turned up the pressure in the second half.
Jackson’s goal was the first of his career and added to a family legacy. He split two defenders and moved in on the net. He almost lost the ball in the box, but gathered it back in and had a wide open net to accept his shot. It gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
Jackson’s father is a former Schalick player and Mannella’s younger first cousin. His uncle, Kevin, is the Cougars’ all-time leading goal scorer (100).
They all are among the many who have contributed to Mannella’s 22-year run towards 300 wins.
“I’d trade it all for a state title, even a sectional title,” he said. “When you’re here over 20 years and you coach all these good players you’re going to accumulate numbers, so you don’t want it to be a hollow – it hasn’t been – but moreso if we don’t come out of this season doing what we’re capable of, I’ll probably be disappointed.”
WOODSTOWN 3, PITMAN 1: Adrian Ibarra broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the first half, then added an insurance goal in the second to help the Wolverines (6-2) to their fourth straight win. It was Ibarra’s second two-goal game in a row. Ben Stengel made four saves in the Woodstown goal and also assisted on Ibarra’s first goal.
The Wolverines have won their last 10 in a row when Ibarra scores a goal. They are 18-4-1 over the last four seasons when he scores.
The game had major playoff seeding implications. The teams were Nos. 7 and 8 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings entering the game.
The win leaves Woodstown coach Darren Huck eight shy of 300 for his coaching career.
PENNSVILLE 4, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: Shane Puckett scored twice in the first 14 minutes of the match and got the assist on the Eagles’ next goal. John Thomas and Sam Hassler scored later in the half to give the Eagles a 4-0 halftime lead. Maddox Efelis had a pair of assists
SALEM TECH 6, SALEM 0: Aiden Bobo and Alexander Robi scored two goals apiece and Graham Fields recorded a goal and two first-half assists as the Chargers (2-6) won back-to-back games for the first time in program history. The six goals are also a program record, topping the five they put on Gloucester Catholic in their last win.
Girls games
WOODSTOWN 2, PENNSVILLE 0: Ryann Foote and Emma Perry scored goals for the Wolverines (5-3-1) and Ellie Wygand recorded the shutout.
SCHALICK 5, PENNS GROVE 0: Freshman Olivia Vanacker had the first two-goal game of her career to lead the Cougars (6-2). Abby Willoughby, Cali Fisler and Joel Winnberg netted the other Schalick goals. Freshman Jessica Fantini recorded her first shutout.
This week’s schedule
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 5; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted
MONDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Hammonton at Schalick
Woodstown at Cumberland
BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Schalick
Pennsville at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman at Woodstown
Salem at Salem Tech
GIRLS SOCCER
Salem Tech at Salem
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Pennsville
GIRLS TENNIS
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Audubon at Glassboro
Salem at Lower Cape May, 3 p.m.
Palmyra at Gateway
Wildwood at Haddon Twp.
West Deptford at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Buena at Schalick, 3 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Timber Creek at Salem Tech
TUESDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville at Clayton
Salem at St. Joseph Academy
Schalick at Gloucester City
Woodstown at Glassboro
CROSS COUNTRY
Pennsville, Penns Grove, Salem, Schalick, Woodstown at Salem Tech, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Cumberland at Penns Grove
GIRLS TENNIS
Cumberland at Schalick
Pennsville at Woodstown
WEDNESDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Glassboro at Salem
Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman at Salem Tech
Schalick at Wildwood
Woodstown at Pennsville
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester Catholic at Penns Grove
Pitman at Woodstown
Salem at Glassboro
Salem Tech at Pennsville
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Pennsville
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Clearview
THURSDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Collingswood at Pennsville
GIRLS SOCCER
Glassboro at Schalick, 6 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick at Pennsville
Woodstown at Salem
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville at Glassboro
Wildwood at Salem
FRIDAY
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Camden Catholic
Deptford at Glassboro
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Pleasantville at Woodstown
Sterling at Collingswood
West Deptford at Haddonfield
Woodbury at Gateway
BOYS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Salem Tech
Penns Grove at Cumberland
Sterling at Schalick
GIRLS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Cumberland
SATURDAY
FOOTBALL
Schalick at Paulsboro, 10:30 a.m.
Clayton at Overbrook, 11 a.m.
Middle Twp. at Salem, noon
BOYS SOCCER
Northern Burlington at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
Schalick, Woodstown at Shore Coaches Invitational, Holmdel, 10 a.m.
Cover photo by Heather Papiano
Woodstown gets leg up
Woodstown kicker Jake Ware keeps Wolverines in front until they get a TD late in the fourth quarter to put away Penns Grove; Pennsville misses chance to get back in Patriot race; Schalick, Salem go head to head Saturday
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – In the football land where yards were hard to come by, a player with a big leg is king.
Woodstown kicker Jake Ware was the biggest element for the longest time for the Wolverines Friday night.
The senior kicked an extra point that gave his team its halftime margin and nailed a not-so-routine field goal in the third quarter before Bryce Belinfanti put it away with his second touchdown of the game late in the fourth and the Wolverines turned back Penns Grove 17-6 to remain undefeated (4-0).
“Coming into this game I knew it was going to be tough, but once I saw how the first half was going I knew it was going to come down to a pretty close game and the kicks were going to be crucial,” Ware said. “You saw in the first half we were leading by one and getting that field goal in there helped us separate our lead a little bit more and build some momentum.”
“Having Jake is a huge weapon for us,” Wolverines coach Frank Trautz said. “I’ve said that since the beginning of the season. He just gives us a dynamic that can win us football games. That (field goal) was a huge kick and it was not a short kick. It’s a big-time kick in a big-time moment and he delivered. And I have complete confidence he will.”
Yards were at a premium in the rare Friday night game at Jim Devonshire Field. Penns Grove got the best of it in the second quarter behind Karon Ceaser, putting together two time-consuming possessions for 124 total yards.
The first one, which would have answered Woodstown’s first touchdown, ended in a costly fumble in the red zone — one of three turnovers they had in the game. The other did produce their touchdown in the final minute of the quarter, but the Red Devils failed on the extra point to leave it 7-6 at halftime.
Each drive had a big run – a 36-yarder by Karon Ceasar on the first play of the first and a 26-yarder by Tre Brown midway through the second.
“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage fairly well defensively, but you can’t turn the ball over against good teams,” Penns Grove coach Mark Maccarone said. “You can’t lose the turnover battle against bad teams, but you really can’t lose the turnover battle against good teams.
“Obviously things are starting to click (offensively). Last week we were missing five starters. It’s tough to win when you’re missing five starters. This week we had all of our starters back, but, again, turnovers are our killers. If we don’t have turnovers, maybe the outcome comes in our favor.”
Woodstown didn’t fare much better moving the ball in the first half. The Wolverines scored their touchdown on the first play of the second quarter when Belinfanti worked through some traffic in the backfield and then raced 44 yards to the end zone, but they only had 16 more yards and one other first down the rest of the half.
“Yards were hard,” Belinfanti said. “If I made a move somebody else was there, and then the hard yards were there, but I was getting hit hard every time.”
The Wolverines had better luck in the second half. Their defense got even stronger, holding Penns Grove to zero first downs and 22 net yards while holding their opponent out of the end zone in the second half for the third week in a row. Ceaser rushed for 83 yards in the first half, but had none in the second.
“I think we played really good,” senior defensive lineman Braden Gould-Rugenus said. “Everyone was where they were supposed to be. No one tried to do something they weren’t supposed to. We just played as a unit and together we can stop any team.
“(Ceaser) was the main threat. We had to watch him, make sure we didn’t give him any open looks. Besides that second quarter I think we stopped them really good.”
But their offense came to life. They amassed 144 net yards in the half, largely behind the running of Belinfanti.
Ware kicked a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter complicated by a bad snap to extend the lead to 10-6 and Belinfanti bounced in from the 3 with four minutes left (and Ware hit the PAT) for the final margin. Belinfanti had 107 of his 169 rushing yards and one of his two touchdowns in the second half.
“From the first half we kind of came out dry,” Belinfanti said. “We just have to step it up and not feel our opponent out; we’ve got to come out and just work, really. So at halftime we just had a gut check, really, to see who we were and it was just ground and pound from there.”
Trautz agreed with his senior running back’s terminology.
“I like the word ‘gut check,’” he said. “They’re a tough defensive line. They were tough coming in, they do a lot of tough things to pick up. We made some slight adjustments but ultimately our kids answered the bell. They came out I think with a little attitude in the second half and they were ready to go. I challenged them to come out in the second half and play Woodstown football and that’s what they did.”
Cover photo: Woodstown kicker Jake Ware connects on his 35-yard field goal that gave the Wolverines a 10-6 lead in the third quarter. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6
| WOODS (17) | PG (6) | |
| 11 | 1st Downs | 5 |
| 36-183 | Rush-yards | 23-148 |
| 2-6-0 | Passing (C-A-I) | 2-8-1 |
| 21 | Passing yds | 13 |
| 1-0 | Fum-lost | 4-2 |
| 4-33.5 | Punts-avg | 3-34.3 |
| 3-30 | Pen-yds | 3-20 |
| Woodstown | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7- | 17 |
| Penns Grove | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0- | 6 |
SCORING SUMMARY
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 44 run (Jake Ware kick), 11:47 2Q
PG-Melo Erickson 6 run (kick failed), 1:03 2Q
WO-Jake Ware 35 FG, 7:17 3Q
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 3 run (Jake Ware kick), 4:07 4Q
Bad night in a big game
CHERRY HILL – Pennsville had an opportunity to turn the WJFL Patriot Division into a bottleneck and climb back into the title chance, but Camden Catholic never gave the Eagles a chance.
The Irish jumped out to a 30-0 halftime lead and carried on to complete the shutout 44-0.
Had they won, the Eagles (2-3) would have turned the division race into a four-way tie at the top with all the contenders having one division loss. Instead, they are two games down to the division-leading Irish in the loss column.
“They are a really good football team (and) we did not play our best game today, for sure,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “We’re a better team than that.”
About the only highlight from the Pennsville perspective was freshman Kane Green had his first career interception. The Irish, meanwhile, had two quarterbacks throw for 227 yards and three touchdown and Michael Moritz rushed for two scores.
“We just were not able to get going on offense, get the ball moving, and defensively we weren’t able to get off the field on third and fourth down,” Healy said. “We didn’t get done what we had to get done tonight.
“Obviously, this is a road bump for us, but we still have a good amount of season left; we can still do a lot of good things. We wanted a chance at the division, which is now out of our hands and going to be tough to do, but there’s still a lot to play for in terms of playoffs and seedings and all that stuff. It was a frustrating night, but I still believe in our kids and what we’re doing and can bounce back.”
| WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Glassboro (4) | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| Woodstown (1) | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| Schalick (7) | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Woodbury (13) | 1-2 | 1-3 |
| Salem (21) | 0-2 | 0-4 |
| Penns Grove (19) | 0-3 | 1-4 |
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 34, Woodbury 0
Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6
SATURDAY’S GAME
Schalick at Salem, noon
| WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Camden Catholic | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| West Deptford | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Paulsboro (6) | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Pennsville (10) | 2-2 | 2-3 |
| Collingswood | 1-2 | 2-2 |
| Audubon (14) | 0-2 | 1-2 |
| Overbrook | 0-2 | 2-2 |
FRIDAY’S GAME
Camden Catholic 44, Pennsville 0
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Collingswood at Haddon Twp., 10:30 a.m.
Overbrook at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
West Deptford at Audubon, 11 a.m.
Pennsville a 2 seed
Despite being lone undefeated team in group section, Pennsville installed as No. 2 seed in girls tennis tournament; Salem Tech’s Seiden wins South Jersey Vo Tech girls race; includes results of Thursday’s high school games involving teams from Salem County
By Riverview Sports News
The Pennsville girls tennis team, despite being the only undefeated team in South Jersey Group I, one of three statewide in Group I and one of six in all of South Jersey, was installed as the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group I girls tennis tournament Thursday. Pitman bumped the Eagles for the No. 1 spot.
The Eagles are 9-0 for the first time since 2021 when they started 11-0. They were No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings before the seeding meeting.
Woodstown, defending state semifinalist Schalick and Salem also made the field. They were seeded 6, 7 and 12, respectively, and play their first matches Sept. 30.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Sept. 30 Matches
No. 1 Pitman bye
No. 9 Audubon at No. 8 Glassboro
No. 12 Salem at No. 5 Lower Cape May
No. 13 Palmyra at No. 4 Gateway
No. 3 Haddon Twp. bye
No. 11 West Deptford at No. 6 Woodstown
No. 10 Buena at No. 7 Schalick
No. 2 Pennsville bye
Second-round matches Oct. 8
Cross country
Salem Tech’s Sarah Seiden ran 22:24.14 and won the girls race in the South Jersey Vo Tech Cross Country Championships. She was nearly 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Natalie Pandolfo of GCIT.
GCIT swept the boys and girls team titles. The girls placed five runners in their top 10, while the boys’ five counters all finished in the top 12.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville 5, Clayton 0
Penns Grove 2, Overbrook 1
Schalick 2, Pitman 0
Wildwood 9, Salem 0
Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick 4, Pennsville 0
Woodstown 2, Glassboro 2
Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech
Salem at Wildwood
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville 5, Penns Grove 0
Schalick 5, Overbrook 0
Woodstown at Cedar Creek
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Kingsway at Salem Tech
CROSS COUNTRY
South Jersey Vo Tech Championship
BOYS
GCIT 32, Medford Tech 53, Camden 63, Salem 105, Cape May 129, Westhampton 130
GIRLS
GCIT 31, Atlantic 54, Camden 72, Cape May 100, Salem 113
Devil of a wake-up call
Player-driven meeting last week shakes life into Penns Grove soccer team, Red Devils respond with big win over Pitman
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
The Penns Grove boys soccer team just scored one of its biggest wins in Mano Massari’s short tenure as head coach in a 3-1 thriller over Pitman. It may have come on a Homecomiing Tuesday night, but the seeds were actually planted five days earlier.
Roll the tape.
The Red Devils had just dropped a 4-2 loss to Wildwood for a third loss in a row that flew in the face of their high expectations. It was such an uninspired effort, the coach had the players run more than a dozen suicides in front of their waiting parents after the game.
At the end of the session, as the players were catching their breath and collecting their things, Massari reminded them there would be a mandatory meeting the next day in Room 66.
At the appointed hour, the players slowly started to gather and when they all got settled the coaches came in and locked the door. But instead of spending the next however long it was going to take reading the riot act hoping that would get their attention, Massari turned it all over to the players.
Say whatever you want, he told them, no matter your class or station. Everybody has a say. Clear the air.
The coaches stayed in the room, but remained silent observers. The meeting was all player-driven. Everybody talked – seniors, freshmen, captains, junior varsity. The Red Devils left that room a different team than when they went into it.
“It was a reality check for the team,” Massari said after the win over Pitman. “We sat down in the classroom. I shut the door. I locked the door. And I told them we’re not coming out until we figure this out together.
“I let them talk. I let them handle it. Say what was going wrong, what people need to do better, what’s working, what’s not working. I wanted them to take the reins and hold each other accountable. Watching them handle it like men and figuring it out, it was beautiful to watch.
“We went out to practice after the meeting and we were flabbergasted at how well it went. Usually it’s hard to get these kids to have face-to-face communication, it’s all text and stuff these days, but that’s what you need to do as a team and they did it. Since then we’ve had great practices, intense practices and it translated on the field today.”
Tuesday was the Red Devils’ first game since the meeting and the first real test of whether all they talked about registered. They fell behind in the first 10 minutes on a penalty kick by Jake Bowen-Ashwin, but they weren’t discouraged. In fact, it made them even more determined.
Senior Jayden Murga Santos, who missed the first three games in concussion protocol, tied the match with his second goal in as many games. It remained tied until freshman Juan Ortiz scored the goal of the game with less than 10 minutes left in the half, taking a sliding shot on a charging goalie and burying it in the side panel .
Senior captain Frankie Juarez Reynoso usually sets up the Red Devils goals, but he found the back of the net in the second half for a big insurance goal. And keeper Dwayne Guzman kept the Panthers out of the goal to make it all stand.
“I told them we’re playing for ourselves; everyone’s playing for themselves,” Massari said. “I said an open hand is weaker than a fist and we’ve got to start playing like a fist. Really, just telling them the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.
“Let me tell you, they took that to heart, they really did. They’ve been working together as a team. Man, it translated on the field today. It was awesome to see them play for each other, play hard for each other, celebrate together. It’s hard watching these guys lose, lose together, they take it to heart. Man, it is euphoric watching them win together. It’s awesome, absolutely awesome.
“Something’s clicking after that meeting we had. I can’t express enough how important that meeting was for this team. That’s the turning point.”
The Red Devils are back at it Thursday at Overbrook, starting a stretch of five straight (and seven of the next eight) road matches.
Big scorer Bedderi
Algerian import scores 4 more goals in Wildwood’s soccer win over Pennsville; includes results, details of Tuesday games involving Salem County high school teams
BOYS SOCCER
Clayton 3, Salem Tech 0
Penns Grove 3, Pitman 1
Salem 1, Gloucester Catholic 0
Schalick 8, Glassboro 0
Woodstown 1, Overbrook 0
Wildwood 6, Pennsville 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Clayton 7, Salem Tech 0
Gloucester Catholic 7, Salem 0
Pennsville 2, Penns Grove 0
Schalick 2, Glassboro 0
Woodstown 3, Overbrook 0
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown 5, Salem 0
Glassboro at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman 5, Schalick 0
FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville 4, Bridgeton 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – You know you’ve got to be living right when a generational talent lands on your doorstep to add to an already generational team.
That’s just how Wildwood soccer coach Sal Zamperri must have felt this summer when Noureddine Bedderi decided to stay in the States, enroll in school and sign on to the Warriors’ soccer team.
“Nunu” has scored at least one goal in six of Wildwood’s first seven games. He scored a career-high four Tuesday – two in each half – as the Warriors overwhelmed Pennsville 6-1 and had several good chances for more.
“Nunu’s a great player, but I would say as a whole we kind of had a generational thing,” Zamperri said. “Nunu’s a new face for us and he just happened upon us and we got lucky with that, but as a class, this senior group that we have I would call generational as a group.
“But Nunu is a fantastic player and we are very fortunate to have come upon him via one of our boys.”
Bedderi had been working in a bike shop right off the boardwalk during the summer and went back to his native Algeria when the Jersey Shore tourist season ended. This year he stayed in town and the Warriors have reaped the benefit.
His impact was felt almost immediately, scoring his first goal in the third minute of the Warriors’ season opener and he hasn’t stopped scoring since. His four goals against the Eagles gave him 12 this season. Their leading scorer last year only had 13 goals.
“I’m really happy about today and there’s more to come this season,” Bedderi said with Warriors center back Ahmed Djellal, his cousin, serving as interpreter. “Over here, I have a lot more motivation to play at the game and I want to go far here. I just want to play.”
The match was arguably the Eagles’ biggest of the season. A win would have kept them in the hunt to win the Tri-County Classic Division crown. Instead, they didn’t answer the bell, giving up two quick goals and falling behind 4-0 in the first 11 minutes.
“The reality is we knew coming in that they jumped on us in the first one and we had to be ready to go; we were down 4-0 in the first 12 minutes of the game,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “We knew No. 9 (Bedderi) was a player. We had multiple conversations about it. He had four goals and an assist today.
“Those were the things we talked. We didn’t execute on the things we talked about, so we have to get better. We’ve still got a long season ahead of us. We have to keep getting better.”
Maddox Efelis scored the Eagles’ lone goal on a free kick with 4:07 left in the first half. It was his first goal of the season. He has scored one each of the last three seasons.
Wildwood 6, Pennsville 1
| Wildwood (5-2) | 4 | 2- | 6 |
| Pennsville (3-4) | 1 | 0- | 1 |
GOALS: WI-Gavin Burns (Nunu Bedderi), 2:28; WI-R.J. Blanda (unassisted), 4:05; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Gavin Burns), 7:48; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Gavin Burns), 10:56; P-Maddox Efelis (unassisted), 35:43; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Kelan Miller), 47:57; WI-Nunu Bedderi (unassisted), 60:32.
SCHALICK 8, GLASSBORO 0: Steve Chomo had a hat trick and Anthony Sepers scored twice as the Cougars rolled to their fourth straight win and moved coach Joe Mannella within three of 300 career victories. Nolan O’Toole, Luke Price and Louis Sepers had the other three goals.
PENNS GROVE 3, PITMAN 1: Freshman Juan Ortiz broke a 1-1 tie with a sliding goal of the game with just under 10 minutes left in the first half and Frankie Juarez Reynoso buried an insurance goal in the second half to lift the Red Devils out of a three-game losing streak. Pitman opened the scoring on a penalty kick, but Jayden Murga Santos tied it five minutes later. (See related story)
SALEM 1, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 0: Josthen Jimenez scored in overtime off a Jon Bower corner kick for the Rams’ first win of the season. It was the Rams’ first goal of the season after three straight shutouts and Eric Fizur’s first win as head coach.
WOODSTOWN 1, OVERBROOK 0: Blake Bialecki broke a scoreless tie when he converted a pass from Adrian Ibarra in the second half to lift the Wolverines to their second 1-0 win in a row. Ben Stengel made five saves to record his second straight shutout.
Before the game, the parents of the Woodstown program recognized coach Darren Huck for 25 years as head coach. They erected a banner behind the bench that Huck saw for the first time when he arrived at the field and presented him a plaque after the game. Now in his 26th season, Huck has 290 career wins – all at Woodstown.
Girls soccer
SCHALICK 2, GLASSBORO 0: Olivia Devoe and Abby Willoughby scored second-half goals and Eve Berger posted the shutout as the Cougars (4-1) won their fourth in a row.
WOODSTOWN 3, OVERBROOK 0: Talia Battavio scored two goals and Gina Murry scored once for the Wolverines (4-3). Ellie Wygand posted her second shutout of the season. Battavio now has 53 career goals.
PENNSVILLE 2, PENNS GROVE 0: The Eagles (2-5) won their second game in a row.
Field hockey
PENNSVILLE 4, BRIDGETON 0: Sophia Marandola scored two goals and Laura Tamberella and Kylie Harris each scored once as the Eagles (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak. The Eagles scored a goal in each quarter. Kelsey Cook made seven saves for the shutout.
Girls tennis
WOODSTOWN 5, SALEM 0
Gabby Kurpis (Wo) def. Cassidy Werkheiser, 6-2, 6-1
Camille Osborn (Wo) def. Tytiana Miller, 6-0, 6-0
Aubrie Rennie (Wo) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-0, 6-2
Julianna Lindenmuth-Leah Waterman (Wo) def. Heaven Jones McCullough-Destiny Carr, 6-0, 6-1
Melissa Hassler-EvaLouise Thomsen (Wo) def. Tahirah Davenport White-Biance Gibson, 6-2, 6-2.
Records: Woodstown 6-2, Salem 0-5.
Cover photo: Noureddine (Nunu) Bedderi (9) scored four goals in Wildwood’s 6-1 win over Pennsville Tuesday.
This week’s schedule
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 23-28; all games 4 p.m. unless noted, all football games 7 p.m. unless noted
MONDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Paulsboro at Pennsville (Foglein Bowl)
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennsville at Paulsboro
FIELD HOCKEY
Clayton at Salem
Pennsville at Woodstown
Schalick at Overbrook
GIRLS TENNIS
Pitman at Woodstown
Schalick at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
Cumberland at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Glassboro at Schalick
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
Overbrook at Woodstown
Wildwood at Pennsville
Pitman at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Salem Tech at Clayton, 7 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Salem at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Glassboro
Woodstown at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Clayton, 5 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Glassboro at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Pitman
Woodstown at Salem
FIELD HOCKEY
Bridgeton at Pennsville
WEDNESDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Deptford at Schalick, 6 p.m.
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
Overbrook at Woodstown
GIRLS SOCCER
Overbrook at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Triton at Salem Tech
THURSDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Clayton at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Pitman
Wildwood at Salem
Woodstown at Glassboro
GIRLS SOCCER
Glassboro at Woodstown
Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech
Pennsville at Schalick
Salem at Wildwood
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Schalick
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Salem at Gloucester Catholic
Woodstown at Cedar Creek
CROSS COUNTRY
Salem Tech at Burlington Tech
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Kingsway at Salem Tech
FRIDAY
FOOTBALL
Woodbury at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Woodstown at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Pennsville at Camden Catholic
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick at Cumberland
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown at Kingsway
BOYS SOCCER
Salem at Overbrook
SATURDAY
FOOTBALL
Collingswood at Haddon Twp., 10:30 a.m.
Overbrook at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
West Deptford at Audubon, 11 a.m.
Schalick at Salem, noon
BOYS SOCCER
Schalick at Cinnaminson, 11 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Cinnaminson, 9:30 a.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
Schalick at Six Flags Great Adventure, 9 a.m.
New kid in town
Senior transfer makes a splash in season debut, helps Schalick end 14-game losing streak over 18 years to Penns Grove; McDade has big game in Pennsville rout, Belinfanti breaks out for Woodstown
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Roneem Thomas has been waiting all summer for Friday night to get here. When he finally got the chance to play, he definitely made an impression.
Thomas had to sit Schalick’s first three games of the season to satisfy the state’s senior transfer rule, so his senior debut came Friday against Penns Grove. He was a factor on both sides of the ball and played a big role in helping the Cougars win 21-2 and end 18 years of frustration against the Red Devils.
It was Schalick’s first win over Penns Grove since Oct. 7, 2006 (a span of 6,558 days) and snapped a 14-game losing streak in the series.
“That’s nice to know, history and stuff like that,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said, “but it’s all about winning tonight; that’s what matters.”
Thomas was back on familiar ground when he joined the Cougars. He went to school with most of the current players on the team through eighth grade (he’s the cousin of junior slot/safety Levi Feeney-Childers). He moved away to Brunswick, Ga., came back to New Jersey last year and played at Williamstown, then returned to Schalick this summer so he could finish his high school career with the players he started with.
Wilson knew the versatile 5-foot-7, 170-pounder was going to be a factor on offense — he had a run for 3 yards and a catch for 13 Friday — but Thomas made his biggest impact in his first game on defense.
Pressed into a start at MIKE linebacker because of an injury, Thomas was credited with 10 tackles, two assists and stopped Penns Grove quarterback Melo Erickson on back-to-back runs inside the 3 early in the fourth quarter. The last one stymied Erickson on fourth down short of the goal line to keep it a 7-0 game. He got the defensive game ball for his efforts.
“I just was hungry, man,” he said. “That senior transfer (rule) kind of stuck me back a little bit, but I was just ready, ready to go.
“I was just locked in. I stayed locked in, stayed focused, stayed to my grind, stayed with my keys, just focused. My coach told me I know you’ve been waiting for this moment, stay focused and be ready to play.”
He showed he was right from the start. On his first play on defense he came up and put a big hit on the center. From that point on, safety Reggie Allen knew the Cougars had something special in Thomas.
“He’s a ballplayer,” Wilson said. “He grew up playing with these guys before he moved to Georgia. Came back, got hit by the senior transfer rule – not his fault – and he’s a big part of the team now.”
Penns Grove was position to get the tying touchdown after a bad punt snap was smothered at the 6 with 1:35 left in the third quarter. On second-and-goal from the 3, Allen anticipated the dive and stopped Knowledge Young for no gain, setting the stage for Thomas’ two big stops on Erickson.
The Red Devils did score out of the exchange. With the Cougars backed up against the goal line, the Devils wrapped up quarterback Kenai Simmons in the end zone for a safety to make it 7-2 with more than 10 minutes to play.
Schalick went 11-1 last year and earned a promotion into the tougher WJFL Diamond Division as a result. But the Cougars have struggled out of the gate and lost to their two most difficult opponents causing folks to wonder if the move was too big for them.
Cougars coach Mike Wilson rebuffed that assertion, saying the Cougars just had to “learn to play in bigger games every week.”
“It’s just the maturity of the program,” he said. “When you’re playing playoff competition every week, you have to be able to meet that level of expectation every game. We did that today. Now, we have things to clean up, but overall we played much better tonight than we have all year.”
“We showed everybody that we could play with anybody,” Allen said. “They’ve been doubting us from Woodstown, Cedar Grove. Those were two tough losses, but we bounced back tonight. It was a big win.”
The Cougars came to life in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns, collecting three of their four interceptions and making their goal line stand. They held Penns Grove’s struggling offense to 75 total yards, but the Red Devils also were missing two key pieces, Isaiah Hill and KaRon Ceaser.
Schalick’s touchdowns came on a 15-yard run by Allen and a 53-yard pass from Simmons to Nylan Sutton. Allen rushed for 104 yards on eight carries and had Schalick’s three biggest gains of a night where yardage was hard to come by for either team before Sutton’s touchdown play.
“We’re usually a second half team,” Allen said. “We might score a touchdown or two (early), but then we’ll come out the second half and dominate them because we finally realize what we have to do.”
“We just wore them out as the game went on,” Wilson said.
The Red Devils had an 81-yard touchdown called back by a penalty in the first quarter. When the Cougars took possession they went 58 yards in 12 plays and two negative penalties capped by Simmons walking on from the 1 for the game’s first touchdown one play after being stopped at the 1 by Najee Paynter.
Schalick 21, Penns Grove 2
| PG (2) | SCHAL (21) | |
| 4 | 1st Downs | 10 |
| 24-57 | Rush-yards | 32-146 |
| 6-18-4 | Passing (C-A-I) | 6-10-0 |
| 18 | Passing yds | 95 |
| 1-0 | Fum-lost | 5-2 |
| 4-26.3 | Punts-avg | 1-38.0 |
| 6-40 | Pen-yds | 7-55 |
| Penns Grove | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2- | 2 |
| Schalick | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14- | 21 |
SCORING SUMMARY
S-Kenai Simmons 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:38 1Q
PG-Safety, Kenai Simmons tackled in end zone, 10:49 4Q
S-Reggie Allen 15 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 5:55 4Q
S-Nylan Sutton 53 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 1:33 4Q
Pennsville 46, Audubon 0
PENNSVILLE – Eagles head coach Mike Healy called it “the closest to a complete game” his team has played this season.
Quarterback Robbie McDade threw three touchdown passes, Malik Rehmer had a TD run and catch, Rylan Hardy ran for two scores, Jovanni Rios had a pick-six and the defense pitched its first regular-season shutout since 2021.
“We just did a great job playing how we feel we were capable of,” Healy said. “We’ve still got some stuff to fix, but if felt great to kind of get things rolling finally.”
The three touchdowns by McDade were a career high. They went to Cole Campbell, Luke Wood and Rehmer. For Wood and Campbell, they were the first TD catches of their careers.
“We’ve been rushing the ball great, but we were not effective in the passing game,” Healy said. “But tonight (McDade’s) passes downfield were on point; we were able to take advantage of some stuff and just really be more balanced on offense. He played great tonight. That’s what we needed to be able to do to go forward.”
The Eagles scored a shutout over Keansburg in last year’s regional consolation final, but Friday was their first in the regular season since blanking Cumberland in October 2021. It was their widest margin of victory against an opponent since beating Penns Grove by 49 on Thanksgiving Day 2013.
Given Camden Catholic’s win over West Deptford, the win pulled the Eagles into a three-way tie for second place in the WJFL Patriot Division and they have division-leading Camden Catholic next week.
“Winning your division is one of our goals preseason and the fact now we still have a chance to do it hopefully it’s a little extra motivation for the kids because that’s something we want to be able to do,” Healy said. “The ability to still be in the division race is awesome. Losing that first game (to West Deptford) took things out of your hands is tough, but it’s awesome to heard we’re still in it.”
Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
WOODSTOWN – New Woodstown coach Frank Trautz has a pretty good ride home after football Friday nights so anything that makes those rides enjoyable is a plus. The last three weeks that ride has been quite enjoyable.
Bryce Belinfanti rushed for 204 yards and scored three total touchdowns and the defense posted a shutout in the second half as the Wolverines rallied to turn back Woodbury 28-16 for their third straight win to open the season.
“It was close the whole game, it was a dogfight, for sure,” Trautz said. “We just made some adjustments (at halftime) on what I wanted to do and attack them offensively with. The kids came out and executed what we talked about both offensively and defensively.
“It was a real physical, tough football game, kind of like the games we’ve played with them in the past. It was a fight to the end. To get a win against an opponent of that quality is awful big.”
The Wolverines, 3-0 for the third year in a row, led twice in the first half, but each time the Thundering Herd answered to take the lead.
Belinfanti had an 85-yard TD run to open the scoring, but the Wolverines missed the extra point. The Herd answered with a 24-yard touchdown pass to go up 8-6.
Belinfanti’s second touchdown, a 37-yard pass from Jack Holladay, put Woodstown up 13-8, but Woodbury answered with a big pass play right before the half to take a 16-13 lead into the break. Woodbury quarterback Tim Holmes was 16-of-29 passing for 272 yards.
Belinfanti rushed for a career-high 204 yards on 27 carries. It was the second year in a row he rushed for more than 200 yards against the Herd. He went for 203 yards and three TDs on s career-high 30 carries against them last season.
“Wow, I didn’t even know I had 200 because the stat keeper couldn’t make the game,” he said. “We came in the game knowing Woodbury was going to take big shots.”
It was all Woodstown in the second half. The defense bottled up the Herd’s offense. Belinfanti scored his third touchdown on a 13-yard run and the Wolverines put it away on an 8-yard shuttle pass from Holladay to Garrett Leyman that capped a long fourth-quarter drive.
“Coming out of halftime I knew I was going to have to hit bit for sure and we took a lot of time off the clock,” Belinfanti said. “The score that put the game away was an amazing call by Coach Trautz.”
One of those type things that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling for a long ride home.
Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
| WBURY (16) | WTOWN (28) | |
| 8 | 1st Downs | 14 |
| 21-1 | Rushing | 37-224 |
| 16-29-0 | Passes | 3-6-1 |
| 272 | Passing | 90 |
| 2 | Fumbles | 1 |
| 4-25.0 | Punts | 3-37.0 |
| 6-54 | Penalties | 2-15 |
| Woodbury | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0- | 16 |
| Woodstown | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8- | 28 |
SCORING SUMMARY
WT-Bryce Belinfanti 85 run (kick failed)
WB-Elijah Young 24 pass from Tim Holmes (Thomas Lewis run)
WT-Bryce Belinfanti 37 pass from Jack Holladay (Jake Ware kick)
WB-Shiwoe Varpilah 74 pass from Tim Holmes (Tim Holmes run)
WT-Bryce Belinfanti 13 run (Jake Ware kick)
WT-Garrett Leyman 8 pass from Jack Holladay (Brett Rowand pass from Jack Holladay)
| WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Glassboro | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| Woodstown | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| Schalick | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Woodbury | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| Penns Grove | 0-2 | 1-3 |
| Salem | 0-2 | 0-4 |
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 46, Salem 0
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Schalick 21, Penns Grove 2
Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
| WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Camden Catholic | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| West Deptford | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Paulsboro | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Pennsville | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Collingswood | 1-2 | 2-2 |
| Audubon | 0-2 | 1-2 |
| Overbrook | 0-2 | 2-2 |
THURSDAY’S GAME
Paulsboro 47, Collingswood 7
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Overbrook 26, Florence 0
Pennsville 46, Audubon 0
Camden Catholic 38, West Deptford 20
Tough one to lose
Pennsville gives its best effort in Foglein’s six seasons as coach, but falls on an overtime golden goal; includes full schedule of Salem County games
WEDNESDAY’S BOYS SOCCER
Pitman 2, Pennsville 1 (OT)
Schalick 7, Clayton 0
Woodstown 8, Gloucester Catholic 1
Wildwood 4, Penns Grove 2
Salem at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Glassboro
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Coen Rinnier buried his head in his hands as he sat in the middle of the bench after the game. He was brilliant in the Pennsville goal all afternoon, but there was one shot he just couldn’t get at.
The Eagles had one of their best chances to beat long-time nemesis Pitman and, in fact, played what Derek Foglein called their best full-game effort in his six years as coach. But it just wasn’t to be as Panthers senior Jaiden Ammons headed back a rebound just beyond the keeper’s reach five minutes into overtime to send the Eagles to a bitter 2-1 defeat.
“That was the best 80 minutes of soccer I’ve seen in my six years,” Foglein said. “We were already down guys because I have a guy who was suspended from the first game with Wildwood, one of our center mids went down in the first half with an injury and never came out.
“I made zero subs in the second half. Every single guy on the field gutted out the second half and overtime. And that’s because they were fit. They played soccer every day since May and they were fit enough to hang with them.
“All I needed them to do was battle. We knew this was going to be a battle and they really battled. They battled really hard for 85 minutes.”
The Eagles (2-2) were trying to buck a lot of history. They hadn’t beaten the Panthers since Sept. 13, 2017 – that’s 11 in a row now – and hadn’t beaten them at home since before 2010. But they gave the Panthers (4-1) all they could handle.
And they struck first, and early to show they meant business. Shane Puckett took a through ball from freshman J.P. Laughrey, found Pitman keeper Joey Zubert out of position and ripped it into the back of net just 4:41 into the game.
“We specifically talked in film today about the fact off the tap and early we didn’t want to give up possession in the defensive third,” Foglein said. “We wanted to send the ball down their way quickly and force them to defend or do something with it.
“We’ve seen that other teams have been able to get on them quick. We saw Wildwood scored on them in the first five minutes as well. The first five minutes is going to be our chance to jump on them and then we’ve got to see if we could hold on and we held on for as long as we could.”
The Eagles kept the lead until Owen Hurley converted a throw-in from Nate Newcomb that bounced crazily in the box to tie it. After that the teams battled to keep the other from scoring again, with the Pennsville defense clearing numerous Pitman challenges and Rinnier turning back several shots to keep the game tied.
Newcomb got the game-winning exchange started with a throw-in from deep down the left sideline. Pitman’s Jake Bowen-Ashwin fought through the defensive challenge of Stevie Fatcher to keep it alive along the baseline and flicked it into the middle of the box. It deflected into the air off Pennsville senior Maddox Efelis’ foot, Trevor Leach moved in and headed it off the middle of the crossbar, Eagles’ back Jake Steiner appeared to clear it away, but Ammons charged in from the right side and headed it back into the left side of the goal just past the outstretched arms of a diving goalie.
“It was very hard,” Rinnier said. “It was deflected I think twice. There was just so much going through my head when that happened and unfortunately it just went in.
“As a goalie you know when the ball is going to go in. As soon as he headed that second ball in I know the game’s over. I still dove for it, but as soon as he heads the ball I know the game’s over.”
The goalie agreed with his coach that it was the best the Eagles have played in a while and the loss notwithstanding it bodes well for their fortunes going forward.
“We’ve never been close to Pitman, never, well, besides last year it was 1-0, but we didn’t play well,” he said. “This year we played amazing. He’s right, it’s the best soccer we ever played today.
“I’m just looking forward to the next games now. If we can compete with Pitman, we can compete with every other team. Competing with Pitman, we can beat Wildwood and win our division for the first time in God knows how long.”
Cover photo: Pitman’s Jaiden Ammons heads a shot back towards the Pennsville goal for the game-winner in overtime.
Pitman 2, Pennsville 1 (OT)
| Pitman (4-1) | 1 | 0 | 1- | 2 |
| Pennsville (2-2) | 1 | 0 | 0- | 1 |
SCORING
Pv-Shane Puckett (JP Laughrey), 4:41
Pt-Owen Hurley (Nate Newcomb), 13:14
Pt-Jaiden Ammons (Nate Newcomb), 84:59
SCHALICK 7, CLAYTON 0: Freshman Marco Spinnato assisted on the Cougars’ final goal against Woodstown in its last game Monday and he followed that with the first two goals of his career against the Clippers. Anthony Sepers also scored twice for the Cougars (3-0), while Steve Chomo, Mikey Nelson and Louis Sepers all scored once.
The shutout was coach Joe Mannella’s 296th career win. The earliest he could reach the 300-win milestone is Sept. 30 against Penns Grove.
WOODSTOWN 8, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: The Wolverines got goals from eight different players. Bryce Ayers, Blake Bialecki, Adrian Ibarra, Great Prater, Tyler Szatny and Brendon Curtis scored in the first half. Sid Leevy and Connor Williams scored in the second half.
The win was the 288th of coach Darren Huck’s career. The earliest he could reach the 300-win milestone is Oct. 16 at Salem Tech.
WILDWOOD 4, PENNS GROVE 2: The Warriors (4-1) scored a pair of goals in each half to win its fourth game in a row. Noureddine Bedderi broke a 1-1 tie in the first half and extended the lead to 3-1 with the first goal of the second half. Edwin Aviles and Edward Swank scored Penns Grove’s two goals.
Girls soccer
WEDNESDAY’S SCORES
Glassboro 6, Salem Tech 0
Pitman 2, Pennsville 0
Schalick 2, Clayton 1
Woodstown 2, Gloucester Catholic 1
Overbrook 7, Salem 1
Penns Grove at Wildwood
SCHALICK 2, CLAYTON 1: Quinn Berger scored the game-winner on a free kick in the final 20 minutes of the second half. Abby Willoughby scored the Cougars’ first goal. It was their third straight win.
WOODSTOWN 2, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: Lia Covely and Emma scored goals in the first half for the Wolverines (3-2). Ellie Wygand made 10 saves to turn the Rams away.
PITMAN 2, PENNSVILLE 0: Emery Sharpnack scored her fifth goal of the season in the first half and Madison Peek got her fifth in the second half.
GLASSBORO 6, SALEM TECH 0: Marianna Dempster and Amina Brown both scored a pair of goals for the Bulldogs.
OVERBROOK 7, SALEM 1: Gianna Simon and Maria Olea-Vinalay scored two goals apiece for Overbrook. Isla Bohn scored Salem’s goal in the first half.
Riverview Sports News 