MASH Soccer

Looking for some well-informed insider to disclose the highly complex yet secret formula behind Mechanicsburg’s decade-long string of soccer successes?

Just ask Matt Steele. He’s an appropriate spokesman.

“As [Mechanicsburg head coach Tony] Lougee’s told us all three years now, it’s really not about the individual soccer players,” said Steele, a senior midfielder. “Because a team like Mechanicsburg can’t make districts for over 10 years in a row or go to states just by having good talent.

“It’s because we play as a team and we outwork everyone, so that’s really what drives us. And every game is a battle. We don’t look ahead that far, we just take it one game at a time, that’s the biggest thing. It’s really helped us create a great program here.”

So, there it is.

Team play predicated on hard work — with more than a little talent sprinkled in — is why Lougee’s Wildcats have made 11 consecutive trips to the District 3 playoffs since 1999. During that stretch, Mechanicsburg has appeared in the state tournament four times.

And with the tireless, technically sound Steele organizing and operating nonstop in Mechanicsburg’s midfield, the Wildcats (16-8-0 in 2009) have a terrific chance to add to those impressive numbers again this season. Maybe even win a Mid-Penn Keystone Division title on the way.

“We’re just hoping to have a good finish that we can remember for a long time,” said Steele, one of Mechanicsburg’s eight tight-knit seniors.

Notice the emphasis on we?

All Wildcats players, from All-American Bobby Warshaw to Gaetano Panuccio to Matt Gawlas to assistant coach and former center back Sean Cochran, adhere to the Mechanicsburg creed.

Collective results are the only thing that matters.

“We’ve got to keep that in mind,” Lougee said. “We’ve got some good individual players, but it doesn’t matter. We talked a little [on opening day] about it, about what we want to accomplish as a team. We never talk about individual accomplishments. That stuff comes.”

That stuff has come for Steele, a first-team Keystone Division all-star and Patriot-News Big 11 selection who scored 18 points (6 goals, 6 assists) for a determined Wildcats side that last fall beat four opponents (every game was 1-0) just to finish third in the District 3-AAA playoffs and reach states.

Plus, since NCAA Division I programs at Siena and Lipscomb are intrigued, as is D-III power Messiah, more stuff awaits the personable Steele once he’s finished at Mechanicsburg.

Or, should we say, once Steele & Co. are done piling up victories.

“It’s instilled in all of us,” admitted Steele, who last spring qualified for the state track and field championships in the 400-meter run. “Whether you’re a freshman and learn it or you’re a senior like me, you’ve been through it many times. [Winning is] definitely all we’re looking for, that’s the big goal.

“It’s not to score 30 goals in a year or to make some team or something like that, it’s about Mechanicsburg winning. And that’s what we do.”

Information on Boy’s Preseason can be found here.

Mechanicsburg Soccer Boy’s Preseason

The Patriot-News, June 03, 2010 8:22 a.m.

Mechanicsburg 5, Philadelphia Central 0

Ali Matisse and Natalie Zelenky each netted two goals to help the Wildcats stay alive and advance to the second round of the Class AAA tournament. Mechanicsburg will play Council Rock South on Friday.

Stefanie Loh, Patriot-News, May 20, 2010     MILLERSVILLE — As the whistle blew to signal the beginning of the second overtime period Wednesday night at Comet Stadium, Mechanicsburg soccer coach Tony Lougee sent his squad back in against Penn Manor with freshman Natalie Zelenky leading three forwards, five defenders plugging up the backfield, and versatile midfielder Ali Matisse making everything click in between. 

His instructions to the Wildcats: finish it.

Earlier that evening, Mechanicsburg had jumped out to a 1-0 lead over in the second half when Matisse made a brilliant run down the middle of the field and sent a cross in to Zelenky who popped it neatly into the goal from a spot by the right post.

But Penn Manor quickly equalized 10 minutes later with a goal from Emmy Hess. And since then, the Comets looked to be gaining rhythm on offense as they stubbornly monopolized the ball throughout most of the first overtime period.

To their credit, Mechanicsburg’s defense rose to the challenge. Kristen Fisher came to goalkeeper Nicki Keiser’s aid at least twice as she hung by the net and knocked several balls back into play.

But as senior defender Jodie Zelenky admitted later, even the defenders were getting a little antsy by the second overtime.

“I think the fact that we couldn’t score and we were getting shots and hitting crosses [offensively], it just makes you panic a little bit. It makes you feel, ‘What aren’t we doing right?’” Zelenky said.

Lougee beseeched his team to stay patient.

“I wanted to see us just get more patient on the ball,” he said. “Not rush forth but build it up and get some numbers.”

It was through patience and prescience that Natalie Zelenky, the defender’s younger sister, finally found room to run down the left flank with about 11 minutes left in the second overtime period.

Scanning the goal box, Zelenky found Holly Burgard creeping into the middle. She’d half expected the small, scrappy midfielder to come forth and meet her — “I saw Holly go in there. She’d been there all game,” Zelenky said. “I just took a chance.” 

Burgard turned the pass into a shot and sent the ball in between the near post and the leaping goalkeeper to give the Wildcats a 2-1 win over No. 8 Penn Manor in double-overtime.

With the win, the ninth-seeded Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinals of the District III Class AAA tournament and will take on No. 1 seed Hershey on Saturday.

By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, May 18, 2010

Mechanicsburg’s girls soccer team showed Monday night that it was more than ready for Warwick.

The Wildcats scored two goals in the opening five minutes en route to a 7-1 District 3-AAA play-in round victory over the Warriors at rainy Northside Soccer Stadium.

The win moves the Wildcats into the round-of-16 game against Penn Manor at Penn Manor on Wednesday.

Three minutes into battle, Ali Matisse took a perfectly slotted ball from Natalie Zelenky and left-footed the ball past Warrior keeper Emily Osborne from about 10 yards out.

Moments later, the Wildcats went up two goals, as Jodie Zelenky found a crossing Holly Burgard, who slid between defenders for a finish.

Matisse and Zelenky then worked their magic again, and the home team led 3-0 just over 10 minutes into the game.

“We were down 2-0 just minutes into the game, and we looked like deer in headlights,” said Warrior coach Mike Logan. “We were shocked, but Mechanicsburg is very quick, fast, and they make quick decisions, and we got caught in that tonight.

“It took us quite a while to get into the pace of the game. Sometimes that is what happens in a 9-seed-vs.-a-24-seed game. We didn’t play as well as we would have liked, but I certainly don’t want to take anything away from Mechanicsburg.”

Natalie Zelenky got the return assist from Matisse at just under 17 minutes into the game. Matisse took a rip from about 25 yards that was knocked down by Osborne, but the ball rolled away and Zelenky beat two defenders to the ball and slammed it home.

She would celebrate her birthday with two goals later in the half to give her a natural hat trick. One ball came from Burgard and the other from Emma Galinski, but it took some individual effort to get the ball into the net.

Matisse would cap her own hat trick in the second half as she took the ball on a two-on-one break with Zelenky but finished it herself for the 7-0 advantage.

Warwick added a goal later in the game as Kayley Landis ripped a drive from 35 yards out that slipped over Wildcat back-up keeper Shelbey Hoch.

“We have had a little time to get ourselves together mentally and physically, and we played really well,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee. “They played very smart, and I was pleased we kept at it after we scored a couple of goals. It was just a good effort all around tonight.”

Hershey took a major step toward securing the Keystone Division title in the Mid-Penn Conference with a slick 2-1 win over the Mechanicsburg Wildcats at the Northside Soccer Stadium Tuesday night.

Mechanicsburg edged Hershey 1-0 on April 16th at Hershey, which set the Wildcats on their run to the national rankings. Hershey had won its first eight games of the season. The Trojans also played the first game without Riliegh McHugh, who was playing with the United States U-18 National team that day. The Trojans have now won their last six games.

Hershey (10-1 Keystone, 15-1 overall) got goals from Caroline Brown and Molly Briggs to offset a Natalie Zelenky tally.

The teams’ familiarity with each other helped the Trojans and Wildcats play excellent defense. Numerous players play club ball together and against one another in the fall and winter seasons, and in year-round club ball. Many participate in the National Showcase tournaments, and at least seven players in the game have verbally committed or signed letters of intent to play soccer for Division 1, 2 or 3 colleges for the fall season.

McHugh will attend Georgia, Brown will be at Tennessee, Briggs is going to Central Florida and Ali Rogers to Messiah. Ariel Arnold of Mechanicsburg has committed to High point University, and Nicki Keiser has signed with East Stroudsburg. Wildcats Jodie Zelenky and Ali Matisse have already or will soon commit to schools in the near future.

Brown, the all-state forward from Hershey, and Zelenky, the freshman forward for the Wildcats, spent much of the evening trying to avoid defenders and find players to shuffle the ball to. They drew hordes of players whenever the ball got to them. Zelenky had several long runs with her ball-handling skills but couldn’t get the key finish in the opening half. Brown found some support from her fellow players but again found very little room to maneuver.

Boyer sent in an airball from the midfield area, somehow it bounced in the box among several players, and Brown was able to flip it over an onrushing Keiser for the opening goal of the contest 23 minutes into the game.

Matisse of the Wildcats took a dish from Zelenky and clocked a shot that Hershey keeper Shannon Fedyk had to fingertip over the crossbar.

Several minutes later, the combo went into action again, but this time Zelenky was able to finish the dish and tie the contest at one.

Hershey got the winning score when Briggs sent in a cross off of a corner kick. It carried into the far corner of the goal as Keiser tried to reach through traffic to punch the ball away.

Mechanicsburg (8-2 Keystone, 12-3 overall) pushed players forward and had two great chances as one cross from Holly Burgard appeared to deflect off of a Hershey player’s hand, but all three officials felt it was unintentional, so the whistle never blew despite the howling of the Wildcat bench and the team’s fans.

In the final minute, Jodie Zelenky sailed a restart from midfield into the box, and several Wildcats touched the ball, but with 21 players inside the penalty area, no one got a clear touch to try to score.

“We knew coming in it would be just like the last game,” said Hershey coach Jeff Rosensteel. “They got us earlier in the season. It was fun to watch these two teams go back and forth. It was just one game, and now we have to focus on Palmyra Thursday night and then we will worry about any other games.”

“Both teams had opportunities, and the girls played well tonight,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee. “The girls evaluate themselves and they know whether they played well or not. I have no complaints about our effort. They played hard and you are not going to get the result you want every single time. Hershey is a quality team with players like Brown, McHugh and Boyer.”

Mechanicsburg travels to Gettysburg Thursday night and to Lower Dauphin Friday afternoon and then goes across Silver Springs Township to play Cumberland Valley Saturday night at Eagle View Stadium.

By Jeffrey Kauffman, May 5, 2010

This was a game decided by a couple of feet.

Palmyra scored with just over four minutes left in its contest with Mechanicsburg on Thursday to upset the Wildcats 2-1 at Northside Soccer Stadium and tighten the race for the Keystone Division championship.

Mechanicsburg dropped into the second spot — one win behind Hershey’s Trojans. Hershey has eight wins and one loss in the division, while the Wildcats have 7 wins and 1 loss. Hershey has to play both Mechanicsburg and Palmyra next week. The ‘Cats beat Hershey 1-0 in their first meeting this year.

Palmyra (5-5 Keystone, 10-5 overall) got a slick finish by Maddie Mitchell of a slotted ball by Katelyn Soucy for the game-winner. Soucy took a through ball from the midfield and edged around the left side of the Wildcat defense, took two dribbles along the baseline and dropped the ball to Mitchell, who one-timed the ball past Wildcat keeper Nicki Keiser on the short side.

Freshman Natalie Zelenky put the Wildcats on top early as she finished a shot just seven minutes into the game.

The Wildcats had several opportunities but couldn’t find the width of the cage, and they had several key chances in the final half but couldn’t find the top of the cage. They sailed at least three shots over the crossbar. At least seven shots were within several inches of the net, post or crossbar, where a ricochet could have been finished. Two shots sailed directly to the keeper.

Mechanicsburg (7-1-0 Keystone, 11-2-0 overall) entered the contest ranked No. 3 in the latest state soccer coaches’ poll. Hershey and Cumberland Valley are ranked at 4 and 5 in the state, respectively.

The regional rankings by the National Soccer Coaches Association have the Wildcats at No. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally ranked at No. 17. Hershey is just behind the ‘Cats in both polls.

“They are a very good team,” said Wildcats coach Tony Lougee. “I know offensively they are very dangerous. I thought we were a step slow tonight, but Palmyra played well. We had our chances, but we couldn’t finish tonight.”

Defensively both teams played well. Palmyra did a nice job of bottling up the middle of the field and crunching numbers on Zelenky, forcing her to beat several players or get rid of the ball.

Carly Swope, Callie Good, Jessie Kulp and Kimberly Gottshall played a steady defense in front of keeper Casey Behrendt, who only needed to make three saves as the ‘Cats sent balls wide or over the top.

Both keepers, Behrendt and Keiser of the ‘Cats, played strong in coming off their lines to clear balls or come out to play balls with their feet to set up the attack.

Jodie Zelenky, Kirstin Fisher, Rose White and steady Emma Galinski anchored the ‘Cat defense, which linked through midfielders Ariel Arnold and Ali Matisse to force the Cougar defense to make plays.

“We thought we played well the first time against them, but we made a couple of mistakes,” said Cougar coach Craig Tyrrell. “We wanted to correct those mistakes, and I think we did that tonight. We had a couple of different players back there, which gave us a bit more speed. We gave them more shots than I wanted to see, but those three (Natalie Zelenky, Matisse and Holly Burgard) are a tough trio. This time we were a bit faster, and we were able to get a lot of 50-50 balls that we didn’t get the first time. We are playing well right now.”

Mechanicsburg returns to action Saturday night at Northern. They travel to Lower Dauphin Monday at 3:45 p.m. and host Hershey Tuesday at 6:30 at Northside. Palmyra hosts Coughlin from the Allentown area on Friday at 4:15 p.m.

To read the article by Jeff Kauffman, click here.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has ranked the Mechanicsburg High School Girl’s Soccer team as the 17th team in the country.  The NSCAA  is the “largest coaches’ organization in the United States”.  This ranking comes on the heels of the girls team being ranked #3 in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. Congratulations to the girls on both of these achievements.

For the NSCAA National Rankings click here and for the Regional Rankings click here.

For the PA Soccer Coaches Rankings click here.

Two teams that are very stingy at giving up goals and score plenty of them squared off Saturday night at Northside soccer pitch in the finals of the Mechanicsburg Soccer Booster Club Tournament. The fans were treated to a tight, exciting contest.

The only goal came with just over three minutes left in the second overtime, and it propelled Mechanicsburg’s Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over the Trinity Shamrocks.

Ali Matisse popped a ball over Shamrock keeper Nicole Aponick, and the ball barely cleared the underside of the crossbar, setting off a raucous celebration on the Wildcats team. It was the fourth consecutive championship for the Wildcats in their own tournament and the third loss in overtime for the Shamrocks in the last four years of the tourney.

“Watching their keeper in warmups, we felt she struggled with high balls,” said Matisse. “It was amazing. The only thing I knew was that I had time to make a play. I just kind of played it to the goal, and fortunately it went in and found the back of the net.

“I am glad we won when we did and did not have to go into penalty kicks. Soccer is a crazy sport when you have to decide a game on penalty kicks.

“This team is so unselfish,” she said. “We have depth and a lot of good freshmen and good senior leadership, and each one of these girls has a good head on their shoulders. It is a great group of girls, and we are enjoying every minute of it. Even if we make a mistake, Nicki (Keiser) is back there. She is our brick wall.”

Trinity, coming off a 4-1 opening game victory over Susquehannock, entered the contest as the top-scoring team in the Sentinel area but ran into a very stingy Wildcat defense.

Each team managed only a few shots. There were only 11 in the contest, but the Wildcats had the one that counted most.

Trinity ( 12-1 overall) has its 12-game winning streak ended but actually had the better chances to win the game. Katie Lenz and Alicia Mirando each had a chance, but each launched a shot that rolled across the crease and past the far post.

Matisse had a good look in the early parts of the second half, but her shot rang off the crossbar and bounded past the offense and defense.

Mechancisburg’s defense, anchored by Jodi Zelenky and flanked by Kristin Fisher, Rose White and Emma Galinksi, bent a couple of times but never broke. Lenz and Mirando both flashed some speed to get around defenders and into a bit of open space, but the space closed quickly, and Fisher deflected at least one shot by Lenz. Ariel Arnold did a great job of backtracking to force Lenz to get rid of the ball.

Trinity threw a blanket on freshman Natalie Zelenky, and Maggie McLaughlin drew the task of keeping Zelenky in front of her and keeping her from turning with the ball. This tactic allowed Arnold and Matisse room to flow to the ball and see the field in front of them before ripping a shot at the net.

It was a good effort,” said Shamrock coach Terry Mull. “I wanted to see the game end in our favor, but Maggie McLaughlin did a nice job on Zelenky. I am very proud of our kids. The immediate reaction was disappointment but I think the kids will see the effort and respond to it the rest of the season.”

“That was a fun game,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee. “I thought our defense played great and Trinity kept working their tails off and coming at us. Our kids will adjust to what teams give us. If they wanted to take out Natalie, it opened up some room for Ari (Arnold) and Ali (Matisse) coming into the goal area. I thought we could get something playing wide and back in, but defensively they played very well too.”

Each of the teams in the tournament return to league action this week.

By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, April 25, 2010

Megan Mateja Battles