October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

Click Here

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

GFS soccer squad shuts down Academy of the New Church
by Devon Grieb

GFS’ Henry Robb (second from left) helps Joshua West (third from right) steal the ball from ANC. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

To say that The Academy of the New Church was an underdog in their game against Germantown Friends School last Friday afternoon, Sept. 29, would be misleading. From the beginning to the very end, GFS dominated both sides of the ball leading them to a 3-0 victory over the New Church. Led by defensive captain, Henry Robb and Junior, Ben Gemberling-Johnson, GFS was able to add another win to their 4-2-1 record.

With a soft-spoken New Church coach and a team to match, GFS took advantage and set the tone for the rest of the game by scoring early. After a good defensive play by Robb to clear the ball, senior Max Wheeling made an attempt on net that was blocked by the crossbar. The New Church goalie dove to prevent the shot but misread the trajectory of the ball, which angled off the crossbar and landed right in front of the net where Gremberling-Johnson was standing to put in the first goal of the game.

Even though The New Church had a good goalie, GFS’s persistence was key in keeping control of the game. Keeping an aggressive mentality, GFS marched up the field in search of their second goal. Amazing shots were fired from all angles of the field by Tom West, Caleb Mactavish, Joshua West, and Matt Berson. But all were denied. After a nice steal by Tom West, the second scoring drive was underway. One of only two freshmen on the GFS team, Jason Symonette, assisted by Brenson, scored the second goal of the game. The New Church team was tired and already sagging their heads, but GFS was far from done in the first half of play. In the final few minutes, Gemberling-Johnson, unassisted, drove to the net once again and bulleted the ball right past the goalie, ending the half with a 3-0 score.

The atmosphere of the second half of the game was that of a game already over. There was laughter from the GFS sideline, and inattentive eyes watched everything but the game from the New Church sideline. First half goalie, Zack Porges came out of net to play defense and had a few good plays along with Robb. Gremberling-Johnson continued to light up the field, despite his yellow card that caused him to miss a few minutes. The clock eventually wound down and the game had officially ended even though it never truly started for both teams.

Coming off their second win in a row, Germantown Friends will be looking to continue their streak against Westtown, Tuesday, October 10, at 3:45pm.