Wednesday’s sports report: Schalick field hockey (12-0) blanks Woodstown; Pennsville tennis (14-0) tunes up for semifinals with sweep
By Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Caylan Taylor capped a strong field goal with a third-quarter goal, Ava Scurry had a goal and an assist and Lydia Gilligan came up with another shutout as Schalick’s best-ever start hit 12 in a row Wednesday in a 2-0 victory over Woodstown.
The Cougars are now 12-0, besting their previous best start of 11-0 in 2020. They are one of only two remaining undefeated teams in Group I, one of four in the state and the only one in South Jersey.
The other remaining undefeateds are Madison (NJ G1), Northern Highlands (NJ G3) and East Brunswick (NJ G4).
“I’m not surprised, but I am surprised,” Schalick coach Heather Cheesman said. “I don’t want the girls to get too comfortable. They know they have to work hard every single game. We try not to focus on records. We just want them to work hard every game because when you relax, that’s when the other team swoops in and takes a win.”
Woodstown actually had the best of it early in the game, but Scurry broke the scoreless tie with her 26th goal of the season in the second quarter. Taylor gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the third quarter off an assist from Scurry.
“Caylan killed it,” Cheesman said. “She was getting back, everywhere the ball was when it was around here she seemed to pick it up. The field was tough to adjust to. She did such an amazing job.”
Gilligan again was steady in the cage. She made 10 saves in recording her third straight shutout and fifth of the year. She has allowed only three goals in her last seven games.
PENNSVILLE 2, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: Laura Tamberella and Sophia Marandola scored goals for the Eagles (4-6-1).
Girls tennis
Pennsville coach Dan LaMont was really glad his team had a match between its two South Jersey Group I playoff matches Wednesday to give his new doubles teams some work and they both came through with straight set victories in the Eagles’ 5-0 win over Haddon Heights. They host Haddon Twp. in the semifinals Thursday, 3 p.m.
Pennsville’s reworked doubles teams sweep to clinch undefeated Eagles SJ Group I quarterfinals win over Schalick; Woodstown eliminated by Haddon Twp.
South Jersey Group I Tournament Tuesday’s quarterfinals No. 3 Haddon Twp. 3, No. 6 Woodstown 2 No. 2 Pennsville 3, No. 7 Schalick 2 No. 4 Gateway 3.5, No. 5 Lower Cape May 1.5 No. 1 Pitman 4, No. 9 Audubon 1 Thursday semifinals Haddon Twp. at Pennsville, 3 p.m. Gateway at Pitman, 3 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – When a team is on the kind of roll Pennsville’s girls tennis team is enjoying the absolute last thing it needs is any kind of disruption. Especially in the doubles department in its sport where chemistry is everything.
The Eagles faced a potentially big disruption last week when they lost one of their steadiest doubles player to an injury. But coach Dan LaMont pulled out the depth chart, shuffled the deck and the Eagles haven’t missed a beat.
And it was one of those shuffled doubles teams that came through for them in a big way Tuesday, winning a super tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles to clinch their 3-2 win over Schalick in the South Jersey Group I quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Eagles, now 13-0 and one of two remaining undefeated teams statewide in Group 1, will host third-seeded Haddon Twp. in the sectional semifinals Thursday.
“It wasn’t the prettiest,” LaMont said. “There were times we were good. There were times we were not so good. And there were times we were able to pull it out.
“We’ve been finding ways all year and that’s what I keep on telling them. Who’s going to be the next hero? Who’s the one who’s going to pull out (the match)?”
That would be the No. 2 double teams of Naomi Hess and Morgan Holt, first-time partners who regrouped after losing the second set and won the clinching point 6-0, 2-6, 10-5 over Kayleigh Veach and Annie Podehl.
The Eagles’ lineup had been steady all season until Gabi Forino turned her right knee crashing into the fence before the Overbrook match. It forced LaMont to reshuffle his deck, but luckily he had cards to play.
He initially moved Holt into Forino’s spot at first doubles with Emma Cornette and they played together for two matches. He put Izzy Schrenker in that spot Tuesday and placed Holt with Hess, who had been paired with Schrenker for six matches.
“We really consider our top eight, nine our varsity,” LaMont said. “We always get them ready. I made a little decision, almost like a rotation with Morgan and Naomi, but they each always got matches in.
“A couple weeks ago (Forino) also had a little nagging injury, so we had a feeling; I don’t know why. But we got a challenge match in, so we have it all legal. I know they can play together. Even though they haven’t done much we have to make it work. We don’t have any other choice in the matter.”
Holt and Hess breezed through the first set like they were long-time partners, but Veach and Podehl evened the match with a big second set.
In the super tiebreaker, the first team to 10 was going to win it. The Schalick side went up 3-1 and 5-3, but Holt and Hess figured it out on their own – the changeover was still four points away – and won the next seven points to secure the win.
“We knew we had to win the tiebreaker,” Hess said. “We did everything we could to win the tiebreaker.”
“It was definitely scary,” said Holt, “because you really don’t want to lose. You don’t want to let your coach down and you don’t want to let your team down because everybody tries so hard. You just want to win. You want to win for everybody. I just didn’t want to lose.”
The match was just more of the same nailbiters the teams had been playing during the season. Pennsville won the first meeting 3-2 with Edwards clinching the match at No. 3 singles. The second meeting was suspended by weather with Schalick leading 2-1, but Pennsville leading in both doubles matches; that match is scheduled to resume Oct. 24.
There were still two points up for grabs as No. 2 doubles battled it out Tuesday. Pennsville won at No. 1 doubles (Cornette-Schrenker) and No. 3 singles (Edwards). Schalick won at No. 1 singles (Emma Adams) and Ally Green was leading at No. 2 singles making the doubles match the swing point.
The Cougars were the seventh seed, but a win would keep alive their hope of returning to the State Final Four. They lost in the state semifinals last year, but were looking to write their own history this year.
“I wanted to talk to them before we came out on the court and I told them I felt like all year long we hadn’t really put a full match together,” Cougars coach John Romano said. “We had spots here and there and, sure, we were beating people, but I told them you’re not riding the coat tails of last year’s team. You have your own legacy to set and today is going to be that day.
“We did really well. We were up 5-3 and had a shot to win it in the tiebreak and it just didn’t fall our way; kudos to them. I went over after and asked (Veach and Podehl) if they were OK and they said yes. I said I thought they played really well. I thought they both played a great tiebreak early on and then they both said they don’t know what happened.”
Pennsville tennis coach Dan LaMont visits with Naomi Hess (R) and Morgan Holt after the doubles team won the clinching point in Tuesday’s South Jersey quarterfinals match with Schalick.
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
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.
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.”
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
Schalick, Woodstown among top seven seeds playing in the first round advancing in the South Jersey Group I tournament South Jersey Group I Tournament First round matches No. 9 Audubon at No. 8 Glassboro No. 5 Lower Cape May 5, No. 12 Salem 0 No. 4 Gateway 5, No. 13 Palmyra 0 No. 3 Haddon Twp. 4, No. 14 Wildwood 1 No. 6 Woodstown 5, No. West Deptford 0 No. 7 Schalick 5, No. 10 Buena 0 Second round matches OCT. 8 Glassboro-Audubon winner at No. 1 Pitman Lower Cape May at Gateway Woodstown at Haddon Twp. Schalick at No. 2 Pennsville
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – The Schalick girls tennis team may still be trying to discover who they really are, but they took another positive step in that direction Monday in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I Tournament.
The seventh-seeded Cougars swept through tenth-seeded Buena 5-0 without dropping a game. The win sends them to face second-seeded Pennsville on the road Oct. 8.
“It’s important to take that step in the right direction and getting the first one out of the way is always good,” Schalick coach John Romano said. “You never know what you’re going to get with the seedings or where you’re going to wind up being. I do think my squad is better than a seventh seed, but that being said you’ve got to beat the competition that’s in front of you.”
The Cougars got straight-set 6-0, 6-0 sweeps from Emma Adams, Allyson Green and Miya Watkins in singles and the doubles teams of Julia Langley-Helana Tyers and Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podehl.
They didn’t do that at all last year when they reached the Group I Final Four and while that team was senior laden this year’s team does return some players, albeit in elevated positions, from that experience..
“I’m kind of waiting for my girls to step up,” Romano said. “We always use the term Super Bowl Hangover. It’s almost like I don’t know that they’ve really found their identity.”
He saw signs of it last week in a 5-0 loss to Pitman that was much more competitive than the score. They were only shut out in one singles set and had two other singles sets go 7-5 and 7-6.
“I felt like something kind of clicked that day where they were like, all right maybe we can do that,” Romano said.
The next step won’t be easy, but the Cougars do know they can play with their next opponent. They lost to Eagles 3-2 on Sept. 12 and are leading 2-1 in a Sept. 23 match that was suspended by weather and because of the timing may have cost both teams spots in the seedings.
“I think the girls have an idea,” Romano said. “Once they realize they can kind of play with the better teams in Group I, it’s doable. Even a Pitman that beat us 5-0, we’re so close with singles points right there, a couple balls here or there you could be looking at a 3-2.
“Sounds crazy to say that since we lost in straight sets, lost 5-0, but anything can happen and if I can get the girls to buy into that why can’t it be them, why can’t they repeat what happened from last year I think it will help. But I do think having that tight match two times with Pennsville now it does help.”
SCHALICK 5, BUENA 0 Emma Adams (S) def. Caroline Futty, 6-0, 6-0 Allyson Green (S) def. Tiffany Chen, 6-0, 6-0 Miya Watkins (S) def. Tori Thompson, 6-0, 6-0 Julia Langley-Helana Tyers (S) def. Amanda Martha-Kara Horton, 6-0, 6-0 Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podehl (S) def. Ava LoSasso-Lexi Wyckoff, 6-0, 6-0. Records: Schalick 6-3, Buena 4-6.
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.
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
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.
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.
Woodstown soccer coach Darren Huck was greeted by this banner commemorating his 25 years in coaching when he got to the bench for Tuesday’s match with Overbrook. The Wolverines won it 1-0.
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.