September 14, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA wins opener but falls in final to Upper Darby
by Devon Grieb

CHA’s Ryan Duffy, a sophomore defense leader for CHA in the Puma Soccer Invitational Tournament. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com

Chestnut Hill Academy hosted its annual CHA Puma Soccer Invitational Tournament this past Friday and Saturday. The school joined the field with three other top soccer programs from the Mid-Atlantic region, Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, Maryland, The Hill School, Pottstown and Upper Darby High School, Drexel Hill.

Chestnut Hill Academy took the field at 3:00 pm Friday afternoon against The Hill School. After an early injury to the Hill’s goalkeeper, the Blue Devils capitalized with an unassisted goal by Taylor Ferry for a 1-0 advantage. Co-captain Brent Campman threatened Hill once again by driving to the net only to be tripped giving the Devils a free kick. With several Hill players standing in front of Campman, the crowd was hush in anticipation. Campman shot the ball over the defenders’ heads and against crossbar sending it just behind the goalkeeper. The Devils kept a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

Senior Ian DeSantis was another defensive force for CHA. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photos by Jimmy J. pack Jr.)

The second half of the game highlighted The Devils’ great defense. Co-Captain Ian Desantis was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball. It almost seemed as if every time a Hill player came within 20 yards of the Devils’ net, Desantis was there to break the play, along with what was left of the Hill’s spirit. Devils goalkeeper Chip Culp also had an amazing game, preventing every corner kick and shot that came his way. Despite efforts by the Hill School to double team Joe Breen and keep him quiet in the first half, he was able to score in the second half with an assist by Michael Marino to score the final goal of the game and seal a Blue Devil victory at 3-0.

CHA’s Brent Campman, a senior, started the second half of game two with a goal off a free kick. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com

The Second game for the Devils started on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against a tough and experienced Archbishop Curley High School that defeated Upper Darby High School 4-0 the day before. The Devils seemed to be falling apart after the first half of play against Archbishop making some mental errors that contributed to a 3-0 deficit. But the team did not go down without a fight. Campman started out the second half with a goal off another free kick, bringing a little life back to the crowd and the team. The rally was quickly silenced again by another goal scored by Archbishop. Michael Marino scored the last goal of the game making the final score 4-2.

Even though the Devils didn’t come out on top of this tournament they still have a promising future season ahead with young players stepping up like Tom Gargan controlling the Midfield, Alimamy Bangura making plays and Ryan Duffy on defense and adding some much needed depth to their roster after losing 9 of their varsity seniors from last year. The Devils next game will be Friday, September 15, against Friends Select School.