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Forest
Well Rooted in SYL Play
The first weekend of may is in the
books, and Penns Forest has begun making it’s mark on
the 2004 Super Y League season. The U16 girl’s started
the campaign in proper form on Saturday, as they recorded a
2-1 win over the Cleveland Force. Jonna Handra netted both goals
for Forest on assists from midfielder Megan Klingenberger. Sunday,
The MISL club from Cleveland got even, downing the green and
white 4-1. The U14 girls, although giving a valiant effort took
their lumps in a 6-1 defeat to the Force. The U16’s come
out of the weekend with a 1-1 record in Midwest Conference play,
while the U14’s find themselves 0-1.
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The ’87 and “88 boys traveled to South Bend Indiana
to take on the PDL club Indiana Invaders. On this cold and
wet afternoon, Forest fought through the elements, and came
away with a win and a draw.
The ‘88’s played to a hard
fought scoreless first half. The scoring opened up midway
through the second half as the Invaders linked up through
the midfield, found their striker in the box and found the
back of the net behind Forest keeper Kevin Merchant. Forest
came back and and knotted the match at one when forward Kurt
Van Sickle got behind the Indiana defense and was pulled down
in the penalty area. Joe Romanelli spotted the ball and beat
the oppositions keeper to tie the match at one. However, the
scoring didn’t end there. As time ticked away, Forest
defender Brian Kutch slipped at the top of his penalty area
and the Invader striker walked in alone and beat Merchant.
Forest found itself down a goal with only injury time remaining.
Forest put eleven players into the attack in a deperate attempt
to salvage a point out of the day. That’s when Romanelli
pushed up the right flank, served a ball behind the Indiana
defense and midfielder Mike Ellenberger one-timed the ball
past the opposing keeper, sending the match into extra time.
Neither team seemed to have anything left in the tank, as
the match ended in a 2-2 tie.
The ‘87’s seemed to be inspired
by the never-say-die effort by the ‘88’s. Forest
had the better of the play for most of the afternoon. Keeper
Todd Jones faced some desperate situations at times but was
equal to the task. The lone goal of the day came when forward
Chris Bouma beat two Indiana defenders down the left side
of the field, showed great composure and found a streaking
Mike Staley in the penalty area. Staley took the Bouma pass
with a magical first touch, beating the last defender, and
slotting it into the back of the net. Forest was up 1-0 to
stay.
The second half found defenders Shawn Tropf,
Jarred Smeltzer, and Chase Martin rejecting everything the
Invaders had to offer. When Indiana did find space behind
the three Forest backs, keeper Todd Jones made easy work out
of their assaults, recording his first shut-out of the 2004
campaign.
Although there were many outstanding
efforts from Penns Forest players over the weekend, certain
players should be identified for their extra effort. Midfielder
Greg Conner wins the weekends “most unselfish player”
award, and midfielder Will Goto gets the “Iron Man”
award.
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