October 23, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Sports

Last Saturday, Chestnut Hill Academy’s football team provided its Homecoming Day crowd a lot of excitement, but not a victory. A third-quarter touchdown gave the visiting Penn Charter Quakers (3-4 overall) a 20-13 win over the Blue Devils (5-3), and both teams walked away with 1-1 records within the Inter-Ac League. After PC took the early lead on a touchdown pass from quarterback John Loughery to Alex Starr, Chestnut Hill notched back-to-back TD’s on a kick-off return by Jon McAllister and a run by Ibraheim Campbell. Michael Brown then rushed for the Quakers’ second touchdown 85 seconds before halftime. Kickers Pat Connaghan (CHA) and Billy O’Boyle (PC) were each one-for-two on extra point attempts, producing a 13-13 count at the intermission. The final score of the game was on the board with 1:21 left in the third quarter, after PC’s Loughery hit receiver Mick Foley in the left corner of the end zone and O’Boyle sent his conversion kick through the uprights. CHA’s last possession culminated in a fourth-down-and-six gambit with 1:52 remaining in the game, and the hosts’ last hope was snuffed out when Joe Volgraf of the Quakers sacked CHA quarterback Dan Gallagher. -TU

CHA soccer climbs over Hill
by TOM UTESCHER

In an attempt to take away the ball, Tom Gargan of CHA (#6) slide-tackles Ryan Dietrich of Hill School. For more photos, visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

This fall, victories haven’t been easy to come by for Chestnut Hill Academy’s soccer squad, but the Blue Devils conjured one up for their Homecoming crowd last Saturday, defeating visiting Hill School, 2-1, in a non-league encounter.

Junior Peter Adubato deposited both goals for CHA, which improved to 2-9-1 overall in the 2008 campaign. The Inter-Ac League tally for the locals remained at 1-2-1, a mark that included a 4-1 loss at Malvern Prep last Tuesday.

What deficiencies did the Devils address during the three days of practice between the Malvern and Hill matches?

“Just field vision,” replied CHA coach Mark Weinmann. “Being able to see where the numbers-up and the numbers-down situations are. To do it in practice is one thing, and to do it in the heat of battle’s another. We’re starting to trust each other a little more to get the ball to our feet or to find an open space.”

Mount golf up, tennis down
by TOM UTESCHER

Last Wednesday, the fortunes of the golf and tennis teams at Mount St. Joseph Academy took different turns. The Magic linksters won the PIAA Eastern Regional Team Tournament and are headed back to the State Championship Tournament for a third straight year, while the MSJ racquetwomen wrapped up their 2008 campaign with a 3-2 loss to Gwynedd Mercy Academy in the semifinals of the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies.

Mount hockey falls in league final
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount St. Joseph Academy’s four-year reign as Athletic Association of Catholic Academies field hockey champion officially came to an end last Friday evening, when the Magic bowed to Villa Maria, 5-2, in the AACA championship game at Cabrini College.