October 18, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

GFS soccer tops Moorestown
by JUSTIN GOLDMAN

GFS’ Ben Gemberling-Johnson.

Despite some sluggish play, the Germantown Friends soccer team fought off the feisty Morrestown Friends Foxes 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon at A.A. Smith field. With the win the Tigers improve to 5-0 in conference play and remain atop the league standings.

Despite the somewhat lopsided score, the Foxes gave the Tigers all they could handle. GFS did not seem as sharp as it had been in previous games throughout the first half.

“You are going to have your ups and downs throughout the course of a season,” said Tigers Head Coach Matt Zipin. “We have played consistantly well all year. This was the first game I felt that we did not play all that well. But when you can play poorly and still win, it shows the mark of a good team.”

In the early going, it was the Foxes who were the aggressors, controlling possession of the ball in the midfield. Despite the Foxes ability to control the ball, they could not penetrate the Tiger defense, anchored by Owen Smith of Lafayette Hill.

With neither team able to establish a constant flow of scoring opportunities, the Tigers’ Ben Gemberling-Johnson of Wyndmoor, took it upon himself to make something happen. With 19:09 remaining in the first half, Johnson stole the ball from a Fox midfielder, beat one defender with a quick dribble move and blasted a left-footed shot from 25 yards out into the upper left corner of the goal to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.

Despite the goal, the Foxes refused to wilt. Two minutes later, they earned a the only corner kick of the half, but failed to convert.

GFS almost got on the board again late in the first half when Manolo Sanchez beat a defender down the left sideline and threaded a pass to Mt. Airy’s Jason Symonette, who was one on one with the goalie. However, Symonette was ruled offsides, thus ending the Tigers’ threat.

In the second half, the Tigers came out sharper, and began to impose their will on the Foxes. Their defense remained strong, giving Morrestown very little breathing room.

“In the first half, the wind was in our face,” Zipin said. “In the second (half) we wanted to send some long balls over the top and make use of our speed.”

Fifteen minutes into the second stanza, the Tigers got the insurance goal that they had been looking for. Gemberling-Johnson played the ball to Sanchez in the middle of the field. Sanchez used an assortment of dazzling dribble moves to get by two Morrestown defenders, and get himself in a one-on-one with the Morrestown keeper. Sanchez calmly deposited a low shot inside the near post to give GFS a 2-0 advantage.

“A 1-0 lead in soccer is very tenuous,” Zipin said. “But a 2-0 lead is huge because you can’t score two goals at once.”

Despite the two goal deficit, GFS could not fend off the pesky foxes. Just after Sanchez gave the Tigers what seemed like an insurmountable lead, MFS generated its best scoring opportunity of the afternoon. GFS goalkeeper Zach Porges made a leaping save to preserve the Tigers’ two goal advantage after a Morrestown attacker had gotten loose in the box. The Morrestown player had a volley from inside the six yard box, but Porges got his hand on the ball to tip it over the net. Despite Porges’ great effort, Morrestown was ruled offsides on the play, negating his save and the Foxes potential corner kick.

With 7:45 remaining in the game, the Tigers put the game away for good when Gemberling-Johnson struck again. Abdus-Salaam Muwwakkil spotted Gemberling-Johnson making a hard run down the left sideline and fired a pass in the air to Gemberling-Johnson. Gemberling-Johnson had a one defender on his hip, but still got one touch on the ball and then unleashed a shot into the upper right hand corner of the goal to completely seal the win.

“The last 10-15 minutes of the game we played a lot better,” Zipin said. “We really were able to attack on wear on them.”

The Tigers have three more games left in league play before the playoffs begin. (I am not sure when this is running, but they have George School this Friday and then two more games after that) Despite being undefeated in the league, they will have to continue to improve if they are to be champions.