Blue Devil booters feel title is within reach

by TOM UTESCHER

With an 8-2 record in Inter-Ac League soccer last fall, Chestnut Hill Academy fell a little short of the championship, but the Blue Devils have a lot of talented players back for the 2005 campaign and feel ready to take that last step to the title.

Head Coach Bob DiBenedetto and assistant Steve Smith return for their eighth season with the club (DiBenedetto was an assistant coach before that), which posted an overall record of 15–4 in 2004. In the Inter-Ac, Chestnut Hill got off to a slow start, then won its last seven games to finish a close second to league champ Haverford School.

Although CHA graduated several four-year varsity players, DiBenedetto still has more than a dozen seasoned varsity athletes at his disposal. The club is well-stocked with seniors, such as midfielders Mike Griffin, Jon Mitchell and Frank Spada, midfielder/back Steph Chareczko, backs Ian Holton, Bruno Petrillo and Chelsey Roebuck, and goalkeeper Taylor Rooke.

There are only two junior veterans, mid Brent Campman and back Ian DeSantis, but there are three sophomores who all saw varsity action last year; forwards Joe Breen and Mike Marino, and midfielder Penn Steel.

Among the new additions are Nick Veneziale, a senior back who just came out for soccer this year, and sophomore mid Alex Blenheim, who has moved up from the JV. Rooke’s fellow goalie is sophomore Chip Culp, who played soccer in middle school, but not as a freshman.

Two other players on the varsity roster are the brothers of former CHA standouts. Taylor Ferry, a sophomore back who has transferred in from Springfield High School, is the sibling of 2004 co-captain Andrew Ferry, who now plays for the University of Pennsylvania. Freshman forward Thomas Gargan, a middle school star for Chestnut Hill last year, is the brother of Dan Gargan, who graduated from CHA (2001) and Georgetown University and was drafted by the Colorado Rapids of the MLS.

Chestnut Hill will host its annual Reebok Invitational Tournament on September 16 and 17, with the field including Inter-Ac rival Penn Charter and one of the top teams in the Baltimore area, Archbishop Curley. The following weekend, the Blue Devils will travel to Harrisburg for the Keystone Cup tourney, and then will open their league season at Episcopal Academy on September 30.