GA senior captain Frank Koons (top) wins a head ball while keeping two Hun School Raiders at bay. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Last Saturday afternoon the Germantown Academy lads played their third soccer game in four days, but the Patriots showed no symptoms of tired legs as they sent The Hun School back to Princeton with a 5-1 defeat.

Junior striker Harrison Combs already had a hat trick in the books before the middle of the second half, and the other goals came from senior Austin Takei and junior Mike Capone. In goal, senior Jackson Sternberg made four saves playing behind a strong row of defenders.

With the victory over the Hun Raiders, GA wrapped up the last full week of non-league competition with a record of 5-1-2. The Hun game was the Patriots' third of the week against institutions that enroll both day and boarding students. On the road, Germantown defeated Hill School on Wednesday, 1-0, and then on Friday the team suffered its first loss of the season at Pennington School, 4-0. Pennington is nationally ranked and may well be the best side GA will face this season.

There was no shame in that setback, and the team reacted well the following day. First-year head coach Brendan Sullivan, formerly a longtime St. Joseph's Prep assistant, is pleased with what he's seen so far.

"We've already introduced two different systems, and the players have bought into that," he related. "We can use those systems according to the type of opponent we're playing, and we have a smart bunch of guys so they're quick learners.

"There's a lot of parity throughout the line-up," he continued. "It allows us to play a lot of guys, and that contributes to a positive mood on the team."

There was a lot of back-and-forth action early in Saturday's game, with each team hitting their passes from midfield a bit too hard for the forwards to reach before the goalies could come out to grab the ball.

However, with a little over 13 minutes elapsed GA's Combs was able to beat Hun keeper Logan Leppo to a bouncing ball in the box, and the GA junior volleyed it into the net.

"Harrison's our leading scorer by far, a true striker," Coach Sullivan said. "The other scoring has been pretty spread out. We have guys like James Thatcher and Zander Foglia making runs for us up front. They're lacrosse players, and they're big strong guys who can serve as a target, and Harrison plays off them well, working underneath them."

Combs' opening strike would stand as the lone goal of the first half. Junior Ian Lugossy had a promising shot saved by Hun's Leppo, and with around 14 minutes left in the period a dangerous charge by the visitors ended with Patriot keeper Sternberg dashing out to snatch the ball away from the feet of the lead Raider.

Hun had come into the contest with a 1-2 overall record that included a 2-1 loss to one of GA's fellow Inter-Ac League members, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. SCH had come from behind to beat the Garden State squad, while at GA last weekend Hun never led, and gave up four goals before depositing its first.

The Patriots went up 2-0 five minutes into the second half, when Capone converted off of a feed from Brendan Hasson, a new student at GA this fall.

"Brendan is a freshman, but he plays like a junior or senior," Sullivan said. "Now that he's gotten to know the guys, he's being vocal and helping get us organized in the back. He and Will Noe, who's a junior, both give us good size back there."

Now down by two, Hun came up the pitch for a burst of offensive activity, seeing one shot saved by Sternberg, and another one miss at the upper right corner of the cage. Germantown soon reversed the flow, and posted its third goal just four minutes after its second.

Here, GA attacked along the left endline, with the ball moving from Oliver Buck to fellow junior Joey Battisto to Combs, who scored from almost alongside the near post.

Sullivan remarked that Buck played assertively in the contest, and noted that in general "We've become way more aggressive than we were at the beginning of the season. We have guys stepping up and becoming proactive, instead of just reactive. We're showing some good anticipation that starts from back on defense and helps us transition right into our offense."

He noted that he has two very active, reliable players in the middle who play a big role in linking the two ends of the field, senior Frank Koons and junior Mike Roman.

It was Koons who set GA's fourth scoring play in motion, firing a rocket from almost 40 yards out. The rebound came back off the keeper and Combs was in place to jam the ball back into the cage, completing his personal hat trick with two dozen minutes left in the game.

With the clock almost down to 10 minutes, Hun attacked up the left wing and had Patrick Nally deposit the Raiders' lone goal of the day.

GA recouped that point with six minutes left, in the aftermath of a corner kick. There wasn't a clean shot directly off the corner, but junior Miles Hanamirian kept the ball in play in the box and Takei scored from outside of the left post.

While Hun's two keepers (J.P. Sinuk replaced an injured Leppo) got quite a workout, GA's Sternberg had a relatively relaxed afternoon.

"In most games," Sullivan pointed out, "he doesn't see as much action as a lot of keepers because our defenders have been limiting the shots of the opposing teams. But when he's called upon, he saves everything that he's supposed to save."