Mechanicsburg soccer rallies in second half
April 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, April 3, 2009
Last updated: Friday, April 3, 2009 12:57 AM EDT
Mechanicsburg rallied with three goals in the final 23 minutes to take a Mid-Penn crossover match with Chambersburg 3-2 at Northside Soccer Stadium on Thursday night.
In the first half, Mechanicsburg’s Ariel Arnold ripped a couple shots over the top of the net while Lexie Lentz and Chelsea Amsley hit shots just wide of the net.
Chambersburg (3-1) finally dented the net with just over 22 minutes left. Tori Ricker lofted a ball over the defense that Wildcats goalkeeper Nicki Keiser had to come off her line to cover up. However, the ball deflected off her and she caught Amsley’s foot, resulting in a tripping foul, a penalty kick and a yellow card on Keiser.
Keiser came off for five minutes and was replaced by Shelby Koch. Trojans’ Jade Flory slotted the penalty kick into the corner for the goal.
Early in the second half, Flory gave the Trojans a two-goal advantage, heading a cross from Amsley into the far corner.
Midway through the second half, Mechanicsburg’s Alie Zelenky countered a Chambersburg shot off the cross with a goal scored at the other end, on a cross from Holly Burgard.
Mechanicsburg (2-1-1) later evened the score on an Ali Matisse direct kick.
Five minutes after, Taylor Jones took a ball to the right corner. Her cross sailed to Zelenky, who got the ball to the ground where Megan Meteja drilled it home for the go-ahead goal.
“I think we just had to keep our heads up,” Zelenky said. “We had a difficult game Tuesday against Lower Dauphin but we felt that we could play with them.
“We made plays when we had to. Our defense has played very well”
The Trojans rallied and placed the pressure on the Wildcats. A knockdown gave the Trojans a direct kick from just outside the box, but Amsley’s blast hit a wall of Mechanicsburg defenders.
Keiser had to go high to tap one over the crossbar in the final minute. The resulting corner was knocked aside and cleared.
“I am really happy,” Wildcats coach Tony Lougee said. “We could have rolled up when it was 2-0. We had a long game (double-overtime tie) Tuesday and we are a bit beat-up but they kept battling and never let up.
“This is what you are supposed to be playing for. It was just a good effort.”
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Wildcats dominate Maidens
March 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Mechanicsburg, Pa. -
The Waynesboro Maidens soccer team played in its first match in the Mid-Penn Keystone Division Thursday against the Mechanicsburg Wildcats.
The hosts were anything but hospitable, as the ’Cats scored four first-half goals and added three in the second half to defeat Waynesboro 7-0.
“It was a tough game. Mechanicsburg is a quality team,” said first-year Waynesboro coach Rich Hetzer. “They are strong from top to bottom. They pass very well and play their system perfectly.”
The Maidens (2-1) were coming off easy wins in their first two matches against Shippensburg and Greencastle-Antrim. Hetzer knew Thursday’s game would be a much more difficult test for his team.
“I think my girls came off the bus very flat,” he said. “They just didn’t seem ready to play. We had some trouble understanding who we were supposed to mark on defense and Mechanicsburg took full advantage of that.”
Tough outing
Waynesboro held its ground for the first 18 minutes of a scoreless contest. But the Wildcats found the net at the 18:45 mark of the first half on a goal by Ali Matisse with an assist from Ariel Arnold. Arnold followed less than four minutes later with another goal.
At 33:53, Holly Burgard scored with the assist coming from Taylor Jones. Allie Zelenky kicked in another goal with just 15 seconds to play in the half, with Jones picking up her second assist.
Paige Alexander scored 1:31 into the second half and Zelenky followed 19 minutes later with Mechanicsburg’s sixth goal. Alexander closed out the scoring with a goal in the 78th minute.
“I think Katie Sandifer played an excellent game,” said Hetzer. “And, despite the outcome, Amanda Ochoa played a good game and made some very nice saves, or the outcome could have been even worse.”
Ochoa made 10 saves for Waynesboro, while Mechanicsburg’s Nicki Keiser had four saves. The Wildcats outshot the Maidens 28-8 and had a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.
Waynesboro next plays Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cumberland Valley in a non-league match. The next league contest is March 31 at home against Palmyra.
The Record Herald, click here to read article.
Wildcats back on track
March 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, March 27, 2009
Last updated: Friday, March 27, 2009 1:57 AM EDT
From start to finish, this was Mechanicsburg’s game.
The Wildcats rebounded from a tough 4-0 loss to Red Land on Tuesday with a 7-0 victory over Waynesboro on Thursday at a rainy Northside Elementary soccer stadium.“
Red Land has a great team and played well,” Wildcats head coach Tony Lougee said. “Tuesday was an eye-opener for our girls even though I thought we didn’t play terribly, but we didn’t play crisp. The girls kind of took it to heart.”
Mechanicsburg goalkeeper Nicki Keiser came off her line several times to snatch up errant passes and through balls, but really only had to make one significant save. Waynesboro’s Molly Sanders fired a shot from 25 yards out but Keiser punched it over the crossbar for a Maidens corner.
Mechanicsburg had numerous scoring opportunities early, but shots were sent over the top or wide of the net. The Wildcats finally got on the board in the 21st minute as midfielder Ariel Arnold fed a through ball that Ali Matisse deposited in the net.
Less than two minutes later, freshman Holly Burgard sent Alie Zelenky in clear but her shot to the far post just missed and rolled out of bounds.
Arnold added to the goal total as she sent home a deflection off the keeper for the 2-0 edge. They would add to the score about ten minutes later as Burgard knocked one home on a deflection off the crossbar on a shot by Brooke Denison.
Maidens keeper Amanda Ochoa had 11 saves, several of which could have easily been in the back of the net due to the wetness of the field and the ball skipping through. The game could have easily been in double figures without her.
The Maidens also played without two of their starters as Michel Sanders and Jenna Lininger did not play due to injuries.
Mechanicsburg’s midfield of Arnold and Matisse, and later Paige Alexander, continually sent their forward line of the Zelenky sisters — Jodie and Alie, as well as Megan Meteja and Taylor Jones — through on man-advantage situations. They capitalized on the situations as the Wildcats scored seven goals, all from this group.“
The kids came out and did what they needed to do,” Lougee said. “We can move the ball under pressure. Our young players played under control and composed and didn’t allow any chances. It was important for us to keep playing tonight. We don’t have a lot of subs. Waynesboro kept playing hard.”
Alie Zelenky added a second goal on a dish from Matisse and Jodie Zelenky, who draws a lot of attention from any defense, tallied a goal and added an assist when Alexander ripped a laser into the upper 90 in the left corner from the edge of the penalty area.“
We played much quicker through the midfield tonight, especially Jodie Zelenky,” Alexander said. “Our younger kids played well tonight. Our defense played well tonight and Nicki back there made a really big save on that one. I didn’t think she had that one but she just kind of knocked it over the crossbar.“
We played much better tonight than Tuesday. We didn’t play well that night but we had a lot of people who played on the weekend on club teams.”
Alexander led the defensive charge in the first half but she certainly had some help as Emma Galinski, Rose White and Kristen Fisher took charge and transitioned the ball from the defensive to offensive ends. They allowed the Maidens forwards very little room to operate and communicated well with each other.
Mechanicsburg travels to Lower Dauphin for a game on Tuesday and returns to Northside on Thursday against Chambersburg at 6:30 p.m.
Bohn, ‘Cats rally past Northern
September 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Less than 12 hours after traveling to Dillsburg to see its unbeaten classmates in football, the Wildcat soccer team returned to Dillsburg to dismantle the Polar Bears 5-1 in a Mid-Penn nondivisional contest.
Mechanicsburg (5-2 Keystone, 7-3 overall) fell behind early but rallied behind four consecutive goals from forward Andrew Bohn to decide the contest by the halftime whistle.
The Wildcats and Polar Bears went after each other over the first fifteen minutes as the ball went end to end but very few shots took place as both defenses met the challenge.
Northern (3-2-1 Colonial, 5-6-1 overall) stepped out of the division to play its northern neighbor and took advantage of the first break in the game. On a whistle which appeared to be going the other way, the official signaled the ball as a restart in the Bears’ direction, Danny DiPrima stepped up and curled a perfect shot into the upper 90 on the near post. Wildcat keeper Shane Cowoski got his fingertips on the shot but it was perfectly placed to give the Bears a one-goal advantage.
“That would have been a great save by Shane but the ball was hit well and it was a great shot,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee.
Mechanicsburg struck back and took advantage of an always-hustling Bohn.
Northern keeper Sean Kleckner was busy as he had several saves in traffic off of Wildcat corners. John Arnold and Garrett Murphy ran to the corners and forced the Bear defense to clear balls over the line to slow the attack down.
Bohn led the way as he was able to beat Kleckner to a feed from Matt Steele and knocked it into the net for the equalizer.
It didn’t take long for Bohn to give his team the lead as he pounced on a loose ball from a Kleckner stop on Arnold to dent the back of the net.
Less than a minute later, Bohn tallied a natural hat trick as he again jumped on a Northern misplay to knock it home and the lead was 3-1.
Murphy led Bohn with a through ball and Bohn didn’t miss as the Wildcats increased the lead to three goals just before the half.
One of the keys at this point was the Wildcats’ ability to one-touch the ball around and send the ball across the field and also down the sidelines. The runners were able to beat the Bear defenders and send crosses into the box.
Cleckner had numerous saves, six to be exact over a fifteen-minute stretch that Bohn utilized to tally all four of his goals.
The Wildcat midfield led by Steele, Cort Hutchison, Craig Foer, and Murphy as well as Matt Dunn and David Strausbaugh among others really controlled the midfield and set the pace for the attack.
Leading 4-1 at the half, Strausbaugh got a goal early in the second half as he ran to a loose ball created by a save on an Arnold blast and found the open net for the final goal.
Northern started to create some chances in the second half and actually forced back-up keeper Ryan Green to make five saves — two of the diving kind. He also had to knock a blast over the top from Kyle Hejmanowski.
“I don’t ever remember scoring four goals, maybe JV but not on the varsity level, and definitely not four in a row,” said Bohn. “We broke down the sides well and our outside mids were able to get to the corners and cross the ball.I was able to knock them in today. Arnold can beat anybody to the corner and off the dribble. He draws defenders with his speed. Matt Steele and our defenders played well as a team.”
“It didn’t have to be that tough today,” said Northern coach Troy Sauers. “We started out well in the first fifteen minutes and fought with them and played smart. I think we were fortunate to get the goal, but it was a great goal on a free kick. Then it seemed like we were shocked or surprised we were in the game and we kind of stopped playing. Credit to Mechanicsburg, they are a good team and they took advantage. Physically they were faster to the ball and when they won the ball they made very good decisions. They took advantage of all of the mistakes we made today.”
“I thought we were a bit out of sorts for a few moments early but the kids responded well to the goal, said Lougee. “Andrew is a terrific athlete and he is fearless in the box and I think we are starting to realize our roles and we can give him the opportunities. He will make something happen. John Arnold has had a tough year with injuries but he has a couple of games back and he’s starting to create chances. Defensively, we struggled early but we got it together and Dunn, Scott Inderbitzen and Alex Holbert played well as a unit to keep their dangerous forwards under control. We’ll just put forth our best effort every night and see how things happen. Tuesday will be a good test to see how far we have come this year.”
Mechanicsburg edges Gettysburg
September 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Matt Steele’s penalty kick with five minutes to play — awarded when a Gettysburg player used his hand to swat away a loose ball — lifted Mechanicsburg to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Warriors in a Mid-Penn Keystone Division scrap at the Northside Cage.
Andrew Bohn also connected for the Wildcats, who spotted Gettysburg an early Zach Tarbox finish. Shane Cowoski made two stops in goal for Tony Lougee’s Mechanicsburg club, two fewer than Gettysburg’s Ben Szoke.
Greencastle-Antrim slipped past host Boiling Springs in a Capital Division scrap, turning Kyle Crider’s first-half score into a 1-0 victory. Seth Sprague made 13 stops in goal for the winning Blue Devils, one more than the Bubblers’ sizzling Brad Schaufert.
Schaufert has piled up 62 saves in his last three outings.
Halifax pinned up its fifth straight victory, routing Schuylkill 2 playmate Williams Valley 5-1 behind a pair of Matt Schwalm goals. Sean Weir, Alex Erdman and Austin Sacks also found the goal for the Wildcats; Corey Merwine netted the Valley’s lone score.
Scott Sajac’s penalty kick with 8:31 gone in overtime lifted Trinity over Bishop McDevitt 2-1 in a non-leaguer at Skyline Sports Complex. Breton Asken buried a direct for the Shamrocks, matching an early McDevitt score posted by Devin Bolton.
Greenwood downed Bermudian Springs, riding second-half scores from Kyle Fronk, Jordann Ferguson and David Myers to a 3-1 victory. Gilberto Zuniga potted the lone finish for the Eagles, who grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the second stanza.
And Tri-Valley dropped a 5-2 non-league decision at Shamokin despite goals from Anthony Tran and Nick Harman.
Read full story by clicking here.
Down to the bitter end
August 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
By Jeffrey Kauffman, August 31, 2008
Four local high school soccer teams converged on the Northside complex Saturday and all were looking for answers to the upcoming season. The 11th Annual Mechanicsburg Soccer Boosters Tournament gave Trinity, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, and Carlisle the opportunity to play twice and see where they stand for the early part of the season.
In the end, it was Carlisle stepping up to win the final 3-2 by converting on 11 penalty kicks against Mechanicsburg, as Bryce Merwine came up with a huge save on the 12th kick and got to watch senior captain Tyler Getz convert his to give the Herd the win. The actual score would have been listed 2-2(11-10) but has changed in recent years to one goal so it was 3-2 (PK’S)
The first eight shooters for each team scored on well-placed shots. Goalkeepers for both teams got fingertips on four shots, but each was hit hard enough to go into the net.
Mechanicsburg scorers were Matt Steele, Jon DeNicola, Austin Martz, Cort Hutchison, Matt Warren, Garret Murphy, Craig Foer and Scott Inderbitzen.
Carlisle scorers were West, Getz, Dexter Lamparter, Merwine, Trevor Shull, Billy Zahos, Macon Walker and Ari Brouwer.
Sean Swidersky’s blast hit the corner of the crossbar but Kyle Green was able to save the shot of Robert Gilroy to move his team into the 10th shooter. David Strausbaugh hit for the Wildcats and Tyler Shimandle equaled the match. Steele and West each scored a second time to set the stage for Merwine’s save and Getz’s winner.
In the final, Chase West gave the Herd a quick one-goal lead as he ripped a laser off the bottom of the crossbar only 22 seconds into the contest. Both teams had several other key chances in the first ten minutes but goalies Shane Cowoski of the Wildcats and Bryce Merwine were up to the task for their teams.
Brennan Zizzi gave the Herd a two-goal advantage as his blast deflected off a defender and past Cowoski in the final three minutes of the half.
Both teams dug in for the physical second half with the Herd trying to fight off the speed of the Wildcats. A Herd mistake gave the maroon squad life as a clear from the goal line appeared to hit off the back of the Herd keeper and bound into the goal for an own goal.
Mechanicsburg appeared to be quicker to the ball while the Herd appeared to be waiting for help rather than attacking the ball. The Wildcats finally got the equalizer in the final four minutes as the Herd failed to clear a ball from the penalty area and Craig Foer was able to slot one into the corner.
“It was a great game, especially of halves,” added Herd coach Brandon Eiserman. “We played well in the first half and then we gave them a goal in the second half and they got the momentum and they were a bit fitter than us. The kids gave it all they had. Some guys played a lot and we left home at 7:30 so it has been a long day. I thought we showed a lot of guts. Bryce made a big save-he guessed right on 9 out of 11 but the kids put on a shooting clinic by hitting the side net. I thought Bryce played great, Zizzi and Dexter played well along with Tyler. Everybody played well for two games today and now we have to continue playing well.
“As a team, We played really well and played together today. This was a turnaround hopefully for the year. We got a big help from our younger guys, “said Getz. “This will be different this year. Last year we won the tournament but struggled as a team after that.”
Cowoski had a solid wall in front of him as well as Hutchison, Murphy, Scott Inderbitzen and Foer cleared everything out of the backfield.
“I was very happy with our play today We showed a lot of character and we got a chance to get some of our younger kids a chance to learn today,” added Mechanicsburg coach Tony Lougee. “Steele played fantastic and Garret Murphy played great. I think all of our kids played well. We get John Arnold back this week and we got some playing time for some of our younger kids and kids who didn’t play a lot last year.”
Mechanicsburg won the opener 4-0 over Trinity and the Herd outlasted a physical Camp Hill squad 2-0 in the morning games. Trevor Shull and Chase West tallied goals for the Herd. Trinity rallied from a 1-0 deficit to score two goals including a penalty kick from Derek Pawlush and a score from Scott Sajak to grab a 2-1 victory over the Lions in the consolation game. Brad Smith nodded home a Ben Danowitz dish for the Lion tally. It was the first of at least three contests between the two teams this season.
Notes: The all-tournament team was announced. They included: Alex Hogarth, Stephen Breuning, Derek Pawlush and Scott Sajac of Trinity, Ian Nisley, Brad Smith, Nick Kline, and Brandon Woodward of Camp Hill. Murphy, Foer, Jon DeNicola and Tyler Bohn of Mechanicsburg and West, Getz, Merwine and Lamparter of Carlisle.
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H.S./M.S. Boys Fall 2008 Info.
June 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Here is information for the Mechanicsburg Middle School Boy’s team.
For the High School and Middle School Boy’s physical form please click here.
Golf Tournament
May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Come out and support the Mechanicsburg High School Boys and Girls soccer teams at our annual golf tournament. For more information you can download our flyer.
Summer/Fall Calendar
May 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Wildcats cruise in opener
May 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, May 13, 2008
The No. 14 seed Mechanicsburg Wildcats opened their District 3-AAA playoff run with a 5-1 decision over Waynesboro at the Northside Elementary Tuesday night.
The win allows the Wildcats to move into the second round Thursday at 4 p.m at Hempfield against the third-seeded Black Knights.
Waynesboro (15-4-2) took an early lead in the contest as freshman Michal Sanders hustled her way onto a loose ball in the defensive third and was able to collect a loose ball and knock it past goalie Nikki Keiser for the early lead.
Mechanicsburg (16-5) had numerous opportunities but couldn’t put the final pass on the money. Keeper Amanda Ochoa for the Maidens had several key saves early to frustrate Mechanicsburg.
Allison Zelenky had a key chance as her blast short-hopped Ochoa but Ochoa was able to pounce on the ball just prior to Megan Keiser putting the ball away.
Zelenky took a through ball on the left wing from Ali Matisse and her blast from that flank found the far corner of the net over Ochoa for the equalizer.
“I thought that we were okay early,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee. “We did create some chances and we gave up a goal on a defensive mistake. The girls have been behind this year and have been resilient this year. It is much easier to play when you are ahead and we just wanted to play through the whole half. They have a good team and can score goals in bunches and we wanted to play throughout. Megan has done a good job for us this year with 37 goals. She has set the school record for boys or girls. We have been getting goals from different places.”
The fleet-footed junior Alex Brandt, who seemed to dribble the ball around through and under the Maiden defense did so in the offensive end and fed a pass through onto the foot of Ariel Arnold. Her right-footed laser found the upper right corner of the net for the second goal.
Moments later, the Wildcats upped the margin as Brandt split two defenders with the ball and found Keiser in alone on the keeper. Her low shot beat Ochoa for the third tally.
Midway through the final half, Jodie Zelenky drilled a Brandt pass into the upper right corner to join her older sister in the scoring column.
Brandt, who tallied four assists, found Keiser again for the fifth score. Mechanicsburg dominated the final half as the Maidens only found the shot chart one time. Keiser was able to handle high shot and Arnold was able to head a direct kick out of danger.
The Wildcat defense of Payge Alexander, Karissa Saultz, Jen Siler, Taylor Jones, Rachel Hutchinson and Emma Galinsky in the second half stopped every opportunity the Maidens sent forward.
“We have to quit using the excuse that we are young,” said Waynesboro coach Bryan Flickinger. “We lost Jenna Lininger and Olivia Shew to MCL and ACL injuries. These kids have been playing all year but we have been giving up too many goals which are effort things. We don’t have a senior playing right now and we got off to a good start and did some nice things. We got scored on and it went downhill form there. We made a mistake and they have a breakaway. I don’t want to take any credit from Mechanicsburg. They have a very good team.”
Recent News
- Mechanicsburg soccer rallies in second half
- Wildcats dominate Maidens
- Wildcats back on track
- Megan Keiser (’08)
- Lauren Conner (’05)
- Bohn, ‘Cats rally past Northern
- Gaetano Panuccio (’08)
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