CLAYTON — Erich Lipovsky stepped off Woodstown’s team bus at Haupt Field and immediately got smacked in the face by a big gust of wind. He instinctively knew what that meant.
If the Wolverines were lucky enough to have the coin toss go their way they were going to take the wind to start their morning matchup with Clayton.
The toss went their way, they went with the wind in the first half and scored two goals to fuel a 2-1 win that nudged coach Darren Huck a little closer to 300 wins.
“With the wind you don’t have to put too much pace on the ball, you just let the ball work,” junior back Bryce Ayars said. “When you’re playing without the wind it’s harder to push it down because the wind slows down the ball.
“It felt different today because I felt like our mood shifted from having the wind the first half (where) we generated some things. The second half it didn’t really go our way. I’m not saying it’s all the wind’s fault, but I think the wind was a big factor today.”
The Wolverines (10-4) like to play the game along the ground so getting an extra boost from the breeze at the start wasn’t behind the windy wisdom. It was more about what the breeze was going to do to the Clippers’ goalie punts and clearing the ball out of their defensive end, and then what they would do when they had it in the second half.
Woodstown scored both its goal with the wind at its back, but the wind didn’t influence either of the scores. Ayars and Lipovsky both scored on low bullets from in front of the net five apart in the first 15 minutes of the match.
For Ayars, it was his career-tying seventh goal of the year. For Lipovsky, it was his second and proved to be the game-winner.
“I don’t score a lot,” Lipovsky said. “I tend to move the ball forward more and then I don’t end up being in front of the net when the ball comes in, but I saw my opportunity, saw a gap in the defense, and just happened to put it in the right spot.”
“He got us what we needed today – he got us a goal,” Huck said. “He is not our top goal-scorer by any means, but he got what we needed today.”
What concerned Huck more than the wind was the Wolverines inability to finish when they had the chance – and they had plenty of chances. They took 36 shots in the match, but had only the two goals to show for it. Shots that by all accounts needed to find the back the net went wide, right into the keeper or off the cross bar. Ayars, Lipovsky and Nick DiTeodoro all had good chances in the second half.
The missed chances became even more glaring after Jonathan Rehm got the Clippers within 2-1 with a goal five minutes into the second half.
“I thought we had a couple really good opportunities where we could’ve put the third goal in and built on getting the fourth goal and we didn’t do that today and that was discouraging,” Huck said. “I thought the defense played strong like they usually do … it was just a matter offensively we’ve got to finish.
“We should have put a third goal in and built on getting a fourth goal. We need to be different on Friday. If we don’t do that, Overbrook will sneak out of there with a 1-0 win.”
Girls game
WOODSTOWN 1, CLAYTON 0: Ryann Foote broke a scoreless tie in the second half when she converted an Emma Morgan pass for the game’s only goal. It was her third goal of the game. Ellie Wygand made four saves in posting the shutout. Each of the Wolverines’ last five wins have all been by shutout; they are 5-1-1 in that stretch.
Weber’s golden goal PK lifts Schalick over Palmyra in battle of South Jersey Group I’s top two power teams
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Joe Mannella has been part of a lot of big wins in his 20-plus years as Schalick’s soccer coach, but he might not have had one with as much grit as the one his Cougars pulled off Monday.
Playing a man down for nearly 55 minutes because of a first-half red card to their captain, the Cougars scored two goals short-handed and kept their opponent at bay to beat Palmyra 2-1 in overtime and take a big step towards claiming the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament.
Schalick came into the game ranked No. 1 in the SJ-I power points standings. Palmyra was No. 2. Both teams have beaten current No. 3 Audubon. The Cougars (12-1) now hold a nearly a seven-point lead over Palmyra (9-3) and Audubon.
To make the win even sweeter, Palmyra beat the Cougars twice last year, including the South Jersey Group I final – in overtime.
This time, it was the Cougars prevailing in overtime, with junior midfielder Jaxon Weber getting the game-winner on a penalty kick 7:19 into the first extra period.
“Result wise, the way they responded to losing their captain is phenomenal,” Mannella aid. “If it were just that, then I would be completely pumped. But we keep having these episodes where we lose a little bit of our discipline and if you want to do the things we want to do, I don’t think you get away with that long term. You’re dodging bullets at that point.
“But soccer wise, today, they answered the called and showed a lot of guts. If you said Palmyra had a 1-0 lead at halftime and you’re down to 10 men what are your odds, but I felt from the way they responded you just felt that wasn’t going to make that much of a difference.”
The Cougars were thrown into the short-handed situation when senior captain Eli Cummings was red-carded for a handball trying to protect the left side of Schalick’s net with 7:35 left in the first half.
Cummings looked like he was instinctively trying to protect his face when Connor Jones’ header bounded his way, but he was carded for intentionally trying to stop a goal-scoring opportunity. The play put Cole McCamy on the spot and he put the PK past Evan Sepers to give Palmyra a 1-0 lead.
After the play the Cougars seemed more determined than ever to get after it.
“After going down 10 men in the first half I felt like it lit a fire in us,” senior midfielder Louis Sepers said. “We came out way harder in the second half, put our heads to it and worked really hard.”
“I feel like I played harder,” Weber admitted, “because he’s our captain and he backs us up on everything and I know I had to go even harder just for him.”
About the only tactical difference was the Cougars moved two strikers up and pinched in their wings.
“It’s rough, but you have to bounce back; you have to pick up your heads and you just play like a team,” sophomore Luke Price said. “You play your normal way of soccer and keep going on from that. You can’t let your head drop.”
They got the tying goal with 25:41 left in the second half when Sepers redirected a shot off his shoulder just inside the left post off a corner kick. He has scored in each of the Cougars’ last four games and three of them have been similar to the one he got Monday.
The goal got the Cougars to overtime, but they were still a man down. Weber won it on a golden goal penalty kick with 2:41 left in the first overtime. It was his third successful PK this year. He was going to shoot to his right, then tucked it into the left side of the cage.
He got the opportunity when Price was shoved by the Palmyra keeper after a scoring chance moments earlier.
“It was really nerve wracking when I saw him go and almost save it, but it went in,” Weber said. “I was going to go right. It’s that little over thinking, but you’ve got to stay confident in what you’ve already done.”
Palmyra’s defense moves in to deny Schalick’s Louis Sepers a scoring chance Monday. Sepers eventually scored the game-tying goal. On the cover, Jaxon Weber fires his game-winning PK in overtime.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 through Oct. 14)
Here is the high school sports schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Oct. 14-19
MONDAY, OCT. 14 BOYS SOCCER Palmyra at Schalick Woodstown at Clayton, 11 a.m. GIRLS SOCCER Woodstown at Clayton, 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 15 GIRLS TENNIS Salem at Penns Grove Wildwood at Schalick, 4:15 p.m. Group I Sectional Finals Pennsville at Pitman, Shertel Park, 3 p.m. Glen Ridge at Hanover Park New Providence at Highland Park Pascack Hills at Glen Rock CROSS COUNTRY TCC Batch Meet at Kingsway, 3:30 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY Deptford at Pennsville Glassboro at Salem St. Joe’s at Schalick BOYS SOCCER Salem at Highland GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech at Cape May Tech
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16 BOYS SOCCER Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:30 p.m. Pitman at Salem Woodstown at Salem Tech GIRLS SOCCER Gloucester at Schalick Penns Grove at Paulsboro Salem at Pennsville, 6 p.m. Salem Tech at Woodstown GIRLS TENNIS Haddon Heights at Schalick Pennsville at Millville, 3:45 p.m.
THURSDAY, OCT. 17 FIELD HOCKEY Overbrook at Schalick Pennsville at Bridgeton Salem at Clayton Woodstown at Clearview GIRLS TENNIS Overbrook at Woodstown Penns Grove at Schalick Salem at Glassboro
Group I Final Four Mercer County Park Semifinals, 11 a.m. Championship Match, 1 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER Penns Grove at Pitman, 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCT. 18 FOOTBALL Pennsville at Lawrence, 6:30 p.m. Collingswood at Camden Catholic Glassboro at Schalick Paulsboro at West Deptford FIELD HOCKEY Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown BOYS SOCCER Clayton at Salem Tech Salem at Gloucester Catholic Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Overbrook GIRLS SOCCER Clayton at Salem Tech Gloucester Catholic at Salem Pennsville at Penns Grove Overbrook at Woodstown GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at Salem, 3:45 p.m. Penns Grove at Pitman Schalick at Glassboro VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech at Triton
SATURDAY, OCT. 19 FOOTBALL Penns Grove at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m. Audubon at Overbrook, 11 a.m. Woodstown at Salem, noon GIRLS SOCCER Cherry Hill West at Schalick
Here are scores and highlights from Thursday’s high school action involving teams from Salem County
BOYS SOCCER Schalick 2, Woodstown 0: Louis Sepers and Brad Foster scored the goals and keeper Ben Stengel made seven saves for the Cougars’ first shutout in the series since 2021. “This was the first time this group has shut them out, which is something we wanted to do,” Schalick coach Joe Mannella said.
Pennsville 3, Salem 0: Griffin Hern and Shane Puckett scored goals three minutes apart in the first half for the Eagles (8-6) and Evan Pessoa extended the lead seven minutes into the second. The victory matches the Eagles’ single-season high in coach Derek Foglein’s tenure; they were 8-10 in 2022.
Penns Grove 2, Glassboro 1: Edward Swank scored with nine minutes left in the second half to break a 1-1 tie. It was his second game-winner of the season. The Red Devils lost a 2-1 game to the Bulldogs earlier this year and lost a pair of 1-0 games to them last season. Goalie Dwayne Guzman made three big saves in the final 15 minutes to keep the game tied or preserve the lead.
Wildwood 6, Salem Tech 1: NuNu Bedderi scored three goals for the Warriors, playing their first game since losing to Schalick 3-2 in Cougars coach Joe Mannella’s 300th career win Oct. 2. Sophomore Christian VanTonder scored his first career goal for the Chargers in the first half.
SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Schalick (10-1), Audubon (9-2), Palmyra (9-3), Haddon Twp. (7-2-2), Woodstown (9-4), Riverside (7-4-1), Pitman (6-5-1), Wildwood (8-3), Maple Shade (7-4-1), Glassboro (5-5-1), Penns Grove (5-6), Gateway (5-7), Pennsville (8-6), Clayton (6-6), Woodbury (3-7), Buena (0-9-1).
GIRLS SOCCER Schalick 3, Woodstown 1: Quinn Berger scored twice and Olivia Vanacker scored once as the Cougars (9-2) won their fourth in a row and completed a season sweep of the Wolverines.
Pennsville 3, Overbrook 2: Riley Bowman had a goal and two assists as the Eagles opened a 3-0 lead and held on to avenge a loss to the Rams earlier in the season. Bowman assisted on goals by Kallie Morrison and Taylor Bass in the first half.
Pitman 6, Salem 0: Teagan Canna scored the first two goals of the match and the Panthers pulled away. Emery Sharpnack had a goal and two assists.
Glassboro 3, Penns Grove 0: Alana Figueroa, Marianna Dempster and Tamia Smith scored for the Bulldogs in the first half.
Wildwood 3, Salem Tech 2: The Warriors scored two goals in the second half to win. Goals by Ava Robinson and Julia Hewitt Friebel staked the Chargers to a 2-1 halftime lead.
SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Audubon (11-1), Schalick (9-2), Haddon Twp. (7-4-1), Riverside (9-4), Palmyra (10-2), Gateway (9-2), Woodstown (7-4-1), Clayton (7-3-1), Glassboro (6-3-2), Pitman (8-5), Maple Shade (3-7), Buena (6-6), Pennsville (4-9), Penns Grove (1-9-1), Wildwood (3-9), Cape May Tech (1-11). FIELD HOCKEY Schalick 4, Mainland 3: The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and held on to remain undefeated (13-0). Luci Virga, Ava Marynowicz and Ava Scurry all scored in the first half. Caylen Taylor scored with 1:58 left in the third quarter after Mainland cut it to 3-2. It was the Cougars’ third one-goal win of the streak and sixth decided by two goals or less.
Gateway 5, Pennsville 0: Bella Fini scored a hat trick for the Gators (10-2).
Maple Shade 4, Salem 0: Sophia Weisler and Rachel Loomis each scored twice for the Wildcats. The Rams are winless in their last four with only one goal after starting the season 4-0.
SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Shore (14-1), Schalick (13-0), West Deptford (9-3), Haddon Heights (6-5-1), Gateway (10-2), Gloucester (8-5), Woodstown (8-3), Collingswood (5-5), Bordentown (5-6), Florence (5-7-1), Haddon Twp. (4-8), Salem (4-3-1), South Hunterdon (8-5), Lower Cape May (5-6-2), Audubon (6-4), Pennsville (4-7-1).
VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech 2, Gloucester Catholic 1: The Chargers won a tight third set to follow their first win of the season with their second in a row, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23. It’s the first time since 2021 they have won back-to-back matches.
Cori Farnkoph had 13 kills and eight aces. Tiara Bazemore had four kills, 13 assists and eight aces. Alan’s James had five kills and eight assists.
Schalick’s Price on hot streak, Willoughby erupts for five goals in girls game, Salem Tech gets first volleyball win of the season, and more
BOYS SOCCER Schalick 7, Overbrook 1: Luke Price scored three goals and Anthony Sepers and Connor Jackson both had a pair of assists at Schalick. Price has scored eight goals during the Cougars’ current four-game winning streak.
Woodstown 3, Penns Grove 1: Blake Bialecki and Bryce Ayars scored second-half goals to snap a 1-1 tie and hand Wolverines coach Darren Huck career win No. 295.
Pennsville 3, Salem Tech 0: Shane Puckett, Sam Hassler and Evan Pessoa all scored and Coen Rinnier made seven saves in posting the shutout.
Salem at Clayton
GIRLS SOCCER Schalick 9, Overbrook 1: Abby Willoughby erupted for five goals and Gia Martellacci scored twice to lead the Cougars to their third straight win. Willoughby has scored nine goals against the Rams in two games.
Woodstown 4, Penns Grove 0: Talia Battavio, Blair Baldi, Emma Perry and Gina Murray all scored for the Wolverines.
Clayton 10, Salem 2: Diondria Simon and Ava Delaney both had hat tricks for the Clippers.
Glassboro 3, Pennsville 0: Amina Brown scored two goals and Tamia Smith had the other.
Salem Tech at Pitman
VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech 2, Highland 0: Cori Farnkoph delivered nine aces and Tiara Bazemore had four kills and nine assists to lead the Chargers (1-6) to their first win of the season, 25-16, 25-10. Valeria Camacho-Martinez had five kills and Alanis James had five assists. The Chargers didn’t win their first match last season until their 14th match.
Here are the results and details of Monday’s high school sports action involving Salem County teams
FIELD HOCKEY Pennsville 0, Salem 0: Kelsey Cook made 12 saves to keep Salem out of the net and Ava Rogers made two saves in Salem’s goal. It was Pennsville’s first tie since 2022 and the Eagles’ first scoreless tie since before 2010. It was Salem’s first tie and scoreless tie since a match with Glassboro in October 2022. Schalick 5, Glassboro 0: Ava Scurry had a hat trick and Phoebe Alward scored twice as the Cougars ran their record to 11-0. It’s their best start since 2020 when they also opened 11-0 before falling to Delsea. They were unbeaten in their first 11 matches in 2019 (10-0-1). BOYS SOCCER Pennsville 1, Gloucester 0: Maddox Efelis scored in the 27th minute and Coen Rinnier stoned nine shots in the goal to make it stand. Woodstown 2, Gateway 0: Landon Guglielmo and Bryce Ayars scored goals, and Ben Stengel made four saves for his fourth shutout of the season. GIRLS SOCCER Gloucester 6, Pennsville 0: Bailey Schoenfeldt scored two goals in the first half and Meghan Gorman scored two in the second half. Ava Rodgers had a goal and two assists. GIRLS TENNIS WOODSTOWN 3, KINGSWAY 2 Skylar Grabarski (K) def. Gabby Kurpis, 6-1, 6-3 Abby Malesich (K) def. Camille Osborn, 6-4, 6-4 Aubrie Rennie (Wo) def. Molly Baldino, 6-2, 6-2 Alyssa Berry-Julianna Lindenmuth (Wo) def. Krishani Parikh-Mishi Chaturvedi, 6-3, 6-7 (2-7) Nathalie Neron-Noelle Neron (Wo) def. Sophia Campbell-Kelsey Dion, 6-1, 6-3 Records: Woodstown 9-3, Kingsway 5-8.
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for Oct. 7-12, featuring Schalick’s rescheduled football game, SJ girls tennis tournament and County XC Championship; all events 4 p.m. unless noted
MONDAY FOOTBALL Schalick at Paulsboro, 4 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY Pennsville at Salem Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Deptford BOYS SOCCER Pennsville at Gloucester City Woodstown at Gateway GIRLS SOCCER Paulsboro at Penns Grove Pennsville at Gloucester City, 7 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Schalick at Mainland Woodstown at Kingsway
TUESDAY GIRLS TENNIS South Jersey Group I quarterfinals Woodstown at Haddon Twp., 3 p.m. Schalick at Pennsville, 3 p.m. Lower Cape May at Gateway, 3 p.m. Audubon at Pitman, 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Overbrook at Schalick Penns Grove at Woodstown Pennsville at Salem Tech Salem at Clayton, 6 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Clayton at Salem Glassboro at Pennsville Salem Tech at Pitman Schalick at Overbrook Woodstown at Penns Grove VOLLEYBALL Highland at Salem
WEDNESDAY FIELD HOCKEY Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville Schalick at Woodstown GIRLS TENNIS Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m. Woodstown at Millville, 3:45 p.m. OLMA at Salem CROSS COUNTRY Salem County Championship, Salem Tech, 3:30 p.m.
THURSDAY FOOTBALL Delran at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS South Jersey Group I semifinals Woodstown-Haddon Twp. winner vs. Schalick-Pennsville winner Lower Cape May-Gateway winner vs. Audubon-Pitman winner BOYS SOCCER Glassboro at Penns Grove Pennsville at Salem Salem Tech at Wildwood Schalick at Woodstown GIRLS SOCCER Penns Grove at Glassboro Overbrook at Pennsville Salem at Pitman Wildwood at Salem Tech Woodstown at Schalick FIELD HOCKEY Gateway at Pennsville Salem at Maple Shade Schalick at Mainland, 4:15 p.m. VOLLEYBALL Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech
FRIDAY FOOTBALL Audubon at Collingswood, 6 p.m. Glassboro at Cinnaminson, 6 p.m. Schalick at Gloucester City, 6 p.m. Salem at West Deptford, 7 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY Cumberland at Salem Woodstown at Ocean City, 3:45 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Audubon at Schalick Salem at Gateway BOYS SOCCER Haddon Heights at Salem Schalick at Audubon GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at Bridgeton Vineland at Woodstown
SATURDAY FOOTBALL Willingboro at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m. Camden Catholic at Overbrook, 11 a.m. Woodstown at Haddon Heights, 11 a.m. Pennsville at Paulsboro, noon CROSS COUNTRY SJCTA Meet at Dream Park
Wolverines soccer program to unveil Wall of Fame Saturday enshrining the all-time greats of its boys and girls teams
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The Woodstown athletics program has a long and storied history, but much of it, it seems, is an oral history. Outside of the trophies in the case and the stories the old-timers tell in the stands, there’s not really anything that recognizes the heroes of their history.
But one of the school’s longest-tenured coaches is setting out to change that, even if it is just in his little corner of the world.
Darren Huck has a nose for these kinds of things. After putting together a comprehensive statistical history of both the boys and girls soccer teams, he set off on a project to recognize the all-time legends of those programs.
The result is a Woodstown Soccer Wall of Fame that will have its public unveiling Saturday before Huck’s Wolverines boys team plays Northern Burlington at the Ron Udy Soccer Complex. No one has seen the sign but Huck and the designers
“Almost every school out there has a Hall of Fame or a Wall of Fame; Woodstown High School does not have one,” said Huck, in his 26th season as the Wolverines’ boys coach. “When I look around at all these schools I go to, I see all these schools that have it and we don’t have anything. That’s no disrespect to people in leadership there now or in the past. For whatever reason there’s nothing there.
“This isn’t to compare Woodstown soccer to Pennsville or Audubon or anything like that. It’s just for us to recognize these are the best players who have played at Woodstown High School and recognize and honor them.
“I don’t know of another high school in South Jersey – and maybe even the state – that has anything like this, their own boys and girls soccer Wall of Fame. For our school, since we don’t have anything like that, this will be a little groundbreaking and something to be super proud about.”
School officials aren’t involved in the project, but they did give their blessing.
The list of players that will appear on the wall is more than just that year’s statistical leaders. All the inductees must meet a rigid criteria for inclusion. Huck put it together through painstaking research, checking and cross-referencing multiple sources, to devise a scorecard for everyone who has played in the program.
Through it all, 134 players have made the cut. The list goes all the way back to 1982 – 17 years before Huck became the head coach.
He had already done a lot of the legwork while researching the complete statistical record for his boys program, a seven-year endeavor that became the all-time records board posted on the wall at the entrance of the soccer complex. And then he started on the girls program.
“In the back of my mind I always had the vision of putting a Wall of Fame together,” he said.
Huck didn’t want to have a committee to select the roster of players. Instead, he put together a scoring sheet with all the possible accomplishments a player could have in their careers. Things like captaincies, letters won, all-star recognition, and, of course, statistical credentials were considered. He plugged every player into the formula and if a player met the threshold they made the wall.
Huck, who is on the verge of becoming Salem County’s second 300-win coaching veteran, is not on the Wall. He was a very good outside back for the Wolverines back in the day, but his biggest claim as a player he says was being a three-year varsity starter on one of the program’s the top five defensive teams of all time.
He showed his grading system to several coaches for validation and without them seeing the players’ statistical component all said he was right on the mark.
“I didn’t want anyone to look at it and judge it as, well, looks like everybody got in or it was too easy,” he said. “I didn’t want it to lose its legitimacy and it didn’t. There are some good players who didn’t make it, but that’s not a bad thing, because it just shows it’s legit. If you’re good, you’re in it.”
HUCK
The 8-x-4-foot blue metal sign with orange and white lettering was designed by Glassboro’s Astro Sign Company, whose co-owner Nick Painter played for Huck. The roster of honorees wraps around the Woodstown Soccer Wall of Fame crest designed by another former Wolverine, Rylie Gantz, who is on the wall (2021).
The sign cost “a couple thousand dollars” and the program raised the funding for it. All the inductees will receive a special gift commemorating their inclusion on the Wall.
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Huck spent weeks gathering contact information for all the players who qualified to be on the wall and there were only about a half dozen he was unable to reach. Almost 100 of the 134 from nearly a dozen states have RSVP’d their intention to return. Andrew Blaszczyk (2016) is coming from California on leave from the Navy. Todd Shimp in coming up from Florida with his family to honor his late brother Kevin (1992).
“People are coming up and coming down and coming over from all over; it’s pretty remarkable,” Huck said. “There are a ton of brothers on the wall, sisters on the wall, brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, fathers and sons and daughters (among the inductees).”
Players will be added as they reach the criteria or may have been missed in the previous research. No doubt future inductees will include current Woodstown seniors Adrian Ibarra, Ben Stengle and Talia Battavio.
The unveiling and player recognition begins at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast on the new Woodstown soccer YouTube channel.
“It’s a way of almost having a reunion but also honoring the best of the best,” Huck said. “The only thing that could ruin it maybe is rain and I’m telling you right now even the rain I don’t think can dampen the enthusiasm that’s around all this.”
WOODSTOWN SOCCER WALL OF FAME 1982: Brian Udy, Doug Hathaway 1983: David J. Fedora Sr., Mike Bickford 1984: Eric Sigurdson 1985: David “Mugsy” Nathans, Kevin Udy, Magnus Ramquist, Robert Hammond, Steve Demarest, Tom Boger 1987: Jack Reistle 1988: Cherie Hill Lombardo, Jon Gonzalez 1989: Amy K. Hill, Bobbi Andrews Elwell, Scott McCall 1990: Brian Ritchie, Daniel Emmans, Sean Weiser 1991: Becky Gantz Blum, John Burger, Thanh Mai 1992: Dr. Kevin M. Shimp 1993: Lauren Eichmann Morgan, Lauren Weaver, Raechelle Hatchell 1994: Amy Bender McGroarty, Amy Gray, Bill Olbrich, Carrie Ann Flemming, Craig Patterson 1995: Laura Flitcraft Merkle, Lauren Weist, Matt Foote 1997: A.J. Washington, Jeff LaPalomento, Kim Merkle-Souder 1998: Brian Bender, Bruce L. Bobbitt Jr., Laura J. Sanderlin 1999: Paul Hughes 2000: Amanda Clark Rondon, Amy Wasersztein Fredrick, Brian Roberts, Oscar Hernandez 2001: Bleigh Ahl Garcia, Bradford L. English, DR Ayers, Jessica Coles, Randall Clark 2002: Christine Monforto, Lauren Tavani, Lindsay Thompson, Rebecca Callen Iacovone 2003: Dana Ayars Hitchner, David Roman, Rob Polk 2004: Jenny Finocchiaro, Jillian Sigars, Leslie Long, Probyn Allen 2005: Ashley Jones, Julia Godsmark, William Layton 2006: Corie Coles, Craig Bober, Lucia V. Allen, Megan Beal, PJ Tucker, Randy Wickersham, Ta-Monica Moore 2007: Brynn Really Bross, Elena Layton, Emma Geiger, Greg Tavani, Kathryn LaPann, Lindsey Butler 2008: Ethan Kavanagh, Travis Goss 2009: Noelle Kitchin, Tori Malpezzi 2010: Alexander Zeidler, Chelsea Norbuts, Drew Geiger, Michael Love, Rachel Norbuts, TJ Schaefer 2011: Fran Smith, Jacob Allen 2012: Greg Conner, Jon Robbins, Marlyn Malpezzi, Zachary Smick 2013: Bonnell Reynolds, Dillon Martell, Victoria Smick 2014: Alexandra Sottile, Astasia K. Williams-Bertles, Brandon Dean, Clark Hathaway, Eric Hepler, Fallon Secaur, Kelly O’Kane, Lexi Brown, Matthew Simmermon 2015: Alex Norbuts, Cole Kugler, Mickey Demarest, Tom Brady 2016: Andrew Błaszczyk, Dylan Varner, Geoffrey Schaefer, Paige Rodriguez 2017: Brice Monefeldt 2019: Chris Williams 2020: Maddy Hunt, Nathan Hitchner, Sadie Boatright, Shaye Kelly, Trevor Lodge, Zac Moore 2021: Ava Lammersen, Jake Moore, Justin Olbrich, Rylie Gantz 2022: Chase Prater, Dean Sorantino, Will McQueston 2023: Elizabeth Morgan, Ellen Olbrich, Gabrielle Saia, Jordana Fredo, Tatum DeVault
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.
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.
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.
STENGEL
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 keeper Coen Rinnier punches a shot clear in the first half to keep the Eagles’ game with Woodstown scoreless. On the cover, Woodstown keeper Ben Stengel stops a penalty kick early in the second half.
Riverview Sports News 