Springfield CYO basketball wins three, loses one

Junior Varsity

St. Francis 49

St. Mary 38

The St. Francis ninth and 10th grade JV basketball squad seems to have rounded into playing form as they routed St. Mary's by a score of 49-38. The young Bruins led by as many as 22 in the second half, and put the game away against a hard-charging St. Mary's team.

Coach Hedrick noted sophomore Mike Dougherty’s outstanding performance, netting 13 points while pulling down seven boards.

Scoring from seven different players helped, most notably from Kevin McKnight who chipped in with 12 points. Nick Cahill had eight, followed by Kyle Klosinski and Dan Smyth with six apiece. This key win brought the young Bruin record to 3-3.

St. Francis 61

St. John 31

Freshman sensation Kevin McKnight led the charge with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the SFA blasted St. John's to pull over the .500 mark at 4-3. This was the fourth win in a row. Besides McKnight's heroics, the coach noted that Nick Cahill had an outstanding game "doing all of the little things right." While he did not score, Cahill's passes, steals and overall court sense were all keys to this win.

Another star performer for SFA was steady Kyle Klosinski with 14 points. Dan Smyth had seven, Dan Dickinson had six and Mike Dougherty had five.

Varsity

St. Mary 53

St. Francis 40

The varsity Bruin record moved to an almost unbelievable 0-6 with a tough loss to St. Mary's. The same issues have haunted the Bruins all season thus far: poor shot selection, and missing easy shots .

The Bruins fell behind by as many as 10 through the first half, and rallied to within one by the end of the third quarter, but it was simply not enough. An-18 point outburst by St. Mary's in the fourth sealed the deal.

Two juniors led the scoring for the green and gold in this game: Jeff Peranteau with nine and Matt Reichert with eight.

St. Francis 49

St. John 42

Fans breathed a sigh of relief as the team got its first win of the season in a victory over St. John's. Coach Hedrick rolled out a new starting lineup-- Pat O'Connell, Dan Von Tanhausen, Eric Russo, Ryan Gower and Kris Dellaciprete -- and it worked like a charm.

This unit played the entire first quarter and pushed the SFA out to an 8-0 lead. From there it was a dogfight for the rest of the half, until SFA pulled ahead by 10 with a very solid 21-point third quarter.

Junior Jeff Peranteau led all scorers with 16 points; Dan Von Tanhausen 10; and Pat O'Connell with nine.

Springfield Elementary ice hockey Gold beats Delaware

Springfield Gold 4

Delaware Snipers 3

The Gold Cougars kept their foot on the gas with a thrilling win on Dec. 13 over the Snipers. This one was as even as they get and both goalies played well.

Danny McGill had several important saves in a critical third period. Steven Griffin piled up the points scoring another hat trick, along with a huge assist. Ronnie Delfera showed passing skills with two assists.

Jack Spence and Thomas Yocum showed why the Gold Cougars rely on them, with a tremendous defensive effort.

Brendan McCloskey showed leadership with his relentless back checking, and Dominic Carbonetta continues to turn heads with some great play in his own end.

Connor Rysak played his way into a solid, reliable defenseman. Mikey Ahearn added to his rookie season point total with another assist.

Game puck honors went to Eric Agan, who told the coaches he was going to play a big part in this one, and he did, especially in his own zone, making him the easy choice.

In the third period, each team was looking for a hero; enter Ryan O'Connor – he scored a once in a lifetime goal; his first goal of his career was the game winner. This sent the bench into a frenzy. O’Connor also had an assist on the goal to tie the game late in the second period.

This win was a great team effort, with the younger players getting more involved each week. The coaches are thrilled with the teamwork.

Next up for the Gold Cougars is Sun Valley on Monday Dec.20.

Springfield Elementary ice hockey Gold wins, Blue ties

Springfield Gold 9

Lower Merion Red 1

The Gold Cougars remained hot with a convincing 9-1 win over Lower Merion on Dec.5. The Ahearn Express led the way: John Paul and his brother Mikey combined for seven points including five goals. John Paul scored the hat trick while Mikey picked up his first two career goals and narrowly missing his own trick by ringing a shot off the post.

Game puck honors went to Ryan O'Connor this week. He sent a beautiful outlet pass to a speeding Ronnie Delfera, when Delfera's wrist shot tickled the twine, O'Connor had his first assist on the season.

Riley Garrison also had a good night picking up two more assists as her play continues to improve.

Brendan McCloskey added two goals to his season’s total on two accurate shots placed just inside the long side post.

Connor Rysak played his first game on defense and looked very comfortable making several good plays, including a pretty pass off the opening face-off that led to a Cougar scoring chance. Johnny Carafa and Domonic Carbonetta buzzed around all night. They each had good chances and will surely find the back of the net in the games to come.

Jack Spence logged his usual ton of minutes and was as good as ever on the defensive end, helping out his goalie Danny McGill. McGill turned away 16 Lower Merion shots as his confidence grows with each save.

Thomas Yocum was not feeling well but decided to give it a try; not only did he play well, he scored a goal. This goal was important because it earned him a slimy frog much to his mother’s dismay.

The Gold Cougars take on the Snipers on Monday Dec 12.

Springfield Blue 2

Snipers 2

Blue came away with a hard fought 2-2 tie with the Snipers. The team fought through all three periods.

Lachlan Plummer continues to dazzle the crowd, this time making 26 saves.

The first period had the Snipers up by a goal. The second period found both teams scoreless, thanks the Springfield’s strong blue liners Nate Bauman, Nicky Medwid and Matthew Shandley. Springfield’s offense awoke in the third period. Aidan Kertis assisted the first goal by Aidan Smith about half way through the period. Strong contributions both on offense and defense by Ronan Plummer and Aidan Shandley helped the Blue team stay in the game through the third period. Another goal by Smith provided a tight lead.

Young new comers Luca Demarcantonio and Adam Bauman continue to develop into strong contributors.

Rookie Justin Bush turned in a strong performance with many scoring opportunities. Veterans Zack Issets and Stephen Rice were both impressive with their hard work and team play. Unfortunately the Snipers snuck in the tying goal with only 43 seconds left to play.

Springfield CYO basketball begins

Junior Varsity

St. Dot’s 47

SFA 27

The St. Francis ninth and 10th grade JV basketball squad came out of the starting gates rather slowly this season, opening up with an uncustomary three losses in a row. The good news is, by game four, Coach Milt Hedrick and his young team had seemingly righted the ship - winning two tough games to round out the week. SFA opened the season at home against an always-tough St. Dot's squad, trailing by just 21 to 17 at the half. Opening up against St. Dot's is no easy task in any season, and this young team simply ran out of gas against this talented opponent in the second half, falling by a score of 47-27. Freshman Kevin McKnight led the St. Francis scoring with eight, followed by sophomore Nick Cahill with seven.

Holy Cross 43

SFA 19

Next the Bruins ran into a buzz saw in cross-town rival Holy Cross. This was one of those games where nothing went right, as Coach Hedrick continues to search for the right combinations to put on the floor with a very young and inexperienced team.

St. Anastasia 48

SFA 39

Just a couple of night later, those combinations seemed to click a bit better as the team played much better before eventually falling to St. Anastasia. Four players really stepped up for the Bruins in this game: Kyle Klosinski led all scorers with 13, followed by Dan Smyth with 10, Kevin McKnight with seven and Glenn McCarry with three.

SFA 56

St. Kevin 32

The improvement seen versus St Anastasia's continued as the team bested St. Kevin. Red-hot sophomore Klosinski again led all scorers with 16, followed by Smyth and Mike Dougherty with 10 apiece. McGarry also had a fine game for the green and gold.

SFA 34

St. Madeline’s 31

The winning streak hit two as the Bruins outlasted St. Madeline's. The coach was quick to note that his team is getting better and really rounding into form. He said, "It seems as if a solid rotation is evolving, and the players are really starting to get it." Klosinski again led the SFA scoring in this hard-fought game, netting nine points.

Varsity

St. Dot’s 51

SFA 43

The varsity Bruins started out the season with a hard-fought 51 to 43 loss to St. Dot's. St. Dot's jumped out to an 18-7 first quarter lead, but SFA fought back, trailing by just one after three quarters. St. Dot's just had too much manpower and they put the game away in the fourth.

Juniors led the Bruin scoring, with John Oakley hitting for 13, followed by Jeff Peranteau with 12. Coach Hedrick commented that Peranteau is a "diamond in the rough" and he is full of potential. Pat O'Connell and Ryan McKnight also had nice outings for SFA in this game.

Holy Cross 51

SFA 49

The tough luck continued for the team as they were beaten on a buzzer-beater by Holy Cross. St. Francis had opportunities to potentially put this game away before the buzzer, but they could not find the knockout punch.

Senior Kevin Proska and junior Matt Reichert led SFA in this game with 12 points each. Jeff Peranteau tallied 10.

St. Anastasia’s 53

SFA 48

The string of bad luck continued for the Varsity Bruins as they fell to St. Anastasia's. This game was close throughout, but St. Annie's pulled away in the second half to take this pivotal game.

Kevin Proska had 14 in this contest for the Bruins, followed by Jeff Peranteau with 10.

St. Kevin 58

SFA 51

The varsity Bruins record moved to an uncustomary 0 and 4 with a loss to St. Kevin. Coach Hedrick noted that this game was more of what has been going on with this young but talented team in all four games thus far: little mistakes, bad shot selection, and missed easy shots. All of this adds up to a 0-4 record.

St. Madeline’s 54

SFA 44

Trying every combination possible to turn around the fortunes of his team, the coach got scoring from ten different players, but it was not enough as the Bruins fell once again.

There have been lineup changes; changes in defensive tactics but the offensive lapses that this team faces are inexplicable. Some of the key players on this squad are juniors and that can cause some match up problems in this always- tough CYO Region. But by and large, there is a ton of talent on this 0-5 team, and their fortunes will likely turn around soon.

Springfield's St. Kevin CYO varsity soccer ends season

The St. Kevin CYO Varsity Soccer team recently completed its 2010 season. Having fun this year were (back row) Coach Gina DeCesaris, Jack Schott, Bryan Biehl, Kurt Clements, Kevin Hanley, Megan Clements, Nick Fox, Coach Bill Bell, (middle row) Sean Clements, Jim Base, Andrew Bell, Joe DeCesaris, Thomas McCaffrey, Meghan McGinn, MacKenzie Schott, Gabrielle Napoleon and Jessica Maciejewski, (front row) Kyle Ryan, Megan Baker, Samantha Tamaccio, Erika Biehl, Elizabeth Logan and Bryce Phillips. Missing from photo are Cory Caramanico, Lindsay Casadei and Nick Gorman.

A great season for Springfield's Team Bermuda

Throughout its soccer season, Team Bermuda learned a lot, improved its skills and had a ton of fun. Enjoying their last game were (front row) Gracie Sherlock, Sean Meenan, Amanda Biehl, (second row) Jake Kuzmick, John McCormick, John Palmatory, Thomas Lyons, Jack Carpenter, Louis Pavlovitch, Will Palumbo and (back row) Coach Martin Meenan and Coach Kirk Kuzmick.

SYC Girls are Junior Elite Bert Bell Champions

The Springfield Youth Club Junior Cheerleaders won the Bert Bell Junior Elite Cheerleading Competition on Nov. 14 at West Chester University. Team members are (first row) Devon Marker, Lexi Hoopes, Lexi Jefferis, Annie Maull, Caileigh Maull, Brianna Tramo, Nakhyia Abrams, Jenna Eden, (second row) Caitlyn Rich, Maddie DiEnna, Katelyn Ellison, Jenna Albany, Mary Kate Carbin, Julianna DeFilippo, Lisa Barbieri, and (third row) Gabby Varacalli, Jess McCarthy, Casey Clementsen, Gabby Glick, Bailey Galarus, Grace James, Makenna Walsh, Megan Ellis, Iyona Hansen, and Rachael Murphy. The head coach is Andi Marra, and assistant coaches are Jenna Matyszczak and Nicollette Galarus.

SFA Girls end season in First Place

St. Francis of Assisi girls ended their cross county season in first place. Sara Rankin, Celsey Golato, Dierdre McCloskey, Erin Gamble and Jessica Hoey topped the year off with a trip to Kentucky to participate in Nationals.

Springfield Elementary ice hockey beats Ridley

Springfield Gold 9

Ridley 3

The Gold Cougars bounced back in a big way on Nov.29 with a convincing win over the Ridley Raiders after suffering their first loss the week before. The Gold Gang jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, Connor Rysak continued his fine play picking up an assist just a minute and a half into the game when Steven Griffin scored the first of his five goals on the night. Dominic Carbonetta also had a pair of assists along with a couple of good scoring chances of his own.

John Paul Ahearn wasted little time getting back into his form from last season, notching a hat trick in his first game of the season. His brother Mikey picked up an assist on the third one.

Eric Agan and Ryan O'Conner have been working hard in practice and the quality plays they make during the game has been a key to this team's success.

The second period was more of the same as the Cougars found the back of the net four more times, while Danny McGill was standing tall in the nets turning away 24 Ridley shots for his third win of the season.

Thomas Yocum turned in his typical solid all around performance and continues to show his leadership skills on the ice and in the locker room.

Riley Garrison is playing well and has improved each week, and Johnny Carafa had his best game of the year, picking up a second period assist. Game puck honors went to Jack Spence this week. He scored his second goal of the season and continues his great play.

Archmere Academy to host six-week Spring Training baseball program

Archmere Academy will host a six-week Spring Training 2011 baseball program for players in grades one through 12 from January 9 to February 13. Archmere Academy head coach Chuck Clausius will direct the program in conjunction with U.S. Baseball Academy. Sessions are offered in advanced hitting, pitching and catching at a cost as low as $99 for six weeks. Space is limited. Registration is now under way. For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com, or call toll-free 866-622-4487.

St. Mary's cross country runner qualify for nationals

St. Mary Magdalen’s CYO Cross Country team finished the season strong with outstanding performances at the 2010 CYO Regional Cross Country Championships at Killens Pond State Park in Fenton, DE in November. The teammates challenged their bodies to beat their times and succeeded with their personal best times of the season.

By placing in the top 15 of their age groups, each runner qualified for the National Cross Country Coaches Championship Meet in Lexington, Kentucky recently.

Seen above, celebrating and showing off their Regional CYO Cross Country Championship medals are runners (left to right) Gavin Inglis, Christina Bewley, Jack Nolen, Olivia Arizin, Michael Hussey, and Dylan Robak.

Springfield Sports Notices

Former SHS Hockey Club Players Sought

The Springfield High School Ice Hockey Club is looking for former players to participate in their Annual Alumni Game to be held at Ice Works in Aston on Saturday, Jan. 8 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Anyone interested in participating should contact Bill Scheier at wscheier01@gmail.com or Karen McCunney at girt@aol.com. They can also visit Facebook Page "Springfield High School Ice Hockey Alumni."

Cougar Basketball Rotary Tip Off Tournament

Friday, Dec. 10

Girls Semi-Finals #1

C.B.S. vs Penn Wood at 3:30 p.m.

Boys Semi-Finals #1

Downingtown W. vs. North East at 5 p.m.

Girls Semi-Finals #2

Springfield vs. Unionville at 6:30 p.m.

Boys Semi-Finals #2

Springfield vs. Freire Charter at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 11

Girls Consolation - Loser #1 vs. Loser #2 at 1 p.m.

Boys Consolation - Loser #1 vs. Loser #2 at 2:30 p.m.

Girls Finals - Winner #1 vs. Winner #2 at 4 p.m.

Boys Finals - Winner #1 vs. Winner #2 at 6 p.m.

Ticket prices at the door are $3 for students and $5 for adults.

SAA 4th grade Boys’ Intramural Basketball

The season begins on Saturday, Dec. 4 with a practice/evaluation session to be held at the SHS Gold Gym. Session time for those with last name names from N to Z is 10 to 11 a.m. and those from A to M from 11 a.m. to noon. Arrive at the assigned times.

Team selections will follow and players will be contacted by their respective coach.

Games begin on Dec. 11.

SHS grad Kane leads Misericordia U.

Kane Leads Misericordia U.

The Misericordia University women’s volleyball team enjoyed its best season in 2010 since joining the Freedom Conference.

Senior Shannon Kane, an SHS grad, was the team captain. She played in 108 sets and notched team-highs in service aces (45) and digs (455). She placed sixth in school history for single-season digs and tied for fifth in games played.

Springfield Duke's hockey team thankful for OT win

By Phil Eastman

Springfield’s favorite men’s hockey team, Duke’s Tavern, took the ice on Thanksgiving Eve, one of the biggest nights of the year to play a game. Duke’s was taking on a team that was quickly rising to the top of its rivalry list, The Blue Rhino Ten’s.

Just two weeks before, Blue Rhino ended up taking down Duke’s in an old fashioned shootout, 8-7 in overtime. Victory was on the mind of the Duke’s players as they were making the effort to go into the Holiday weekend with their thirst for revenge quenched.

The goal in the first period was to keep the game high paced. Blue Rhino, a much slower team, has the ability to bring the game speed down to their level, and then strike with a few quick goals.

Duke’s was playing up tempo though early on. After a few back and forth rushes for each squad, it was Rob Scales who broke the scoreless tie in the first period. Scales was punched home the goal after a scrum in front of the net, really solidifying himself as the strongest force in front of the net in the entire league.

The first period came to an end with the score 1-0 Duke’s Tavern.

There must have been some adjustments made on the Blue Rhino side of the ice during intermission because in the second period they came out and slowed the pace down to the crawling pace that they like to play, and they capitalized on it.

They banged home two quick goals, turning the score around on our hometown boys, 2-1, but that score didn’t last long. Von Mondevergine rushed the puck up the ice along the left side. He was able to make a move around the opposing defensemen, sliding it across to his line mate Adam “The Goon” Porche.

The Goon slammed home the biscuit to tie the game 2-2. But, from then on out, every time Duke’s scored, those pesky Blue Rhino Ten’s would poke home another to go on top. They did just that to cap off the period, and headed into the third period up 3-2.

Duke’s, however, has found its character so far this year as a team who does not give up. Thanksgiving Eve was no different. Ryan Cell had some pressure in the offensive zone and hit Anthony Scales, who was cutting in from the point, with a crisp pass. Scales made the goalkeeper look like a turkey, and tied the game at 3-3.

After falling behind again, the fish oil hot Duke’s power play went to work. Mike Cassidy took the slap shot that ended up slipping through the arm of the keeper, to once again tie it up.

With about seven minutes to go in the game, Blue Rhino knocked home the go ahead goal to make it 5-4 on a crippling goal for Duke’s.

It was gut check time for the boys in green, and they didn’t disappoint. After a well-called time out, they worked the puck around in the offensive zone, got it back to Cell who fired a shot from the point. It hit the back of the net with six seconds to go in the game, ripping the roof off of the rink, and sending it to overtime.

The extra frame has not treated Duke’s Tavern well so far this year, but that changed last week. They peppered the Blue Rhino goalie with shots, and with 2:34 left to go in overtime, Bill Scheier rushed the puck up, dancing through the defense. He fired a shot on goal that went wide. It was then that Jeff Moore, “The J-Mo Show”, scored from behind the net to give Duke’s the 6-5 win. An exclamation point to another great comeback for the local tavern.

Two Thumbs Up: Offensive Defensemen - Four of the six goals scored came from defensemen, or in Ryan Cell’s case, a forward playing defense.

Two Thumbs Down: Iceworks Rink - Knowing that this was one of the most popular nights of the year for hockey, the Aston rink scheduled the game at 10:45 p.m., which in turn, hurt the chances of Duke’s loyal fans to make the trip. Duke’s of course won despite the setback.

Springfield SAA U11 are Delco soccer champs

SAA U11 champs are (top row ) Colin Wynne, Anthony Lawson, Jammie Ward, Coach George Pavlovitch, David Bingaman, Pasha Verica, Nick Lafferty, Ronny Miller, (bottom row) Kieran Gallagher, Noah Mannix, Matt Scanlon, Chris DeBernardi, Nick Pavlovitch, Jared Plank. Missing from photo are Coach Kevin Coary and player Jack Coary.

The Springfield boys' U11 Cougars soccer team played an outstanding game on Nov. 13 to seal their place in the championship game in a nail biter against Tredyffrin/Eastown.

The boys played 60 minutes of regulation play, followed by a ten minute overtime, which then lead to two sets of penalty kicks to send the team to the Championship game the next day.

Coach George Pavlovitch took his group, along with their tenacity and the desire to finish the season as champions, to Line Road Field in West Chester for the Championship game the next day.

The surefooted defense lead by Pasha Verica, Kieran Gallagher, Jamie Ward and Goalie Matt Scanlon worked together as a well-oiled machine and turned away every attempt at a goal from the M.O.T team.

The solid play of Anthony Lawson, David Bingaman and Joey DeBernardi controlled the midfield keeping the ball in the offensive zone the majority of the game so that the Cougars offense could continue to get off shots on goal. However, at the half, both teams were deadlocked at 0-0.

The Cougars took the field for the second half ready to go to battle. The offense had several perfectly placed shots, but the strong goal tending for M.O.T turned away attempts. It wasn't until fifteen minutes into the second half that Colin Wynne capitalized on a bobble by M.O.T's goalie to put the ball into the net and put the team on the score board.

The momentum of the game kicked into high gear after the goal was scored and forwards Nick Pavlovitch, Noah Mannix, Nick Lafferty and Jared Plank continued to work hard to send the ball into the box and force the goalie to make several additional saves.

The Cougars worked too hard all season to let this game slip away and they sealed the deal when Joey DeBernardi sent the ball into the offensive zone to Ronnie Miller who dodged his opponent to put a perfectly placed kick over the goalies head to win 2-0 and clinch the championship title.

The team also finished the season undefeated and shut out their last seven opponents in regulation games.

Hawks Squirt 'A' team win tournament

Haverford Hawks’ ice hockey Squirt A team competed in the Philadelphia Regional Major Squirt A Hockey Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend and battled in six games to skate away as champions. Two Springfield boys were part of that winning team. They are (centered) goalie Kieran Green and (above him to the right) Steven Griffin. Their teammates are Nick Urbani, Shane Leonard, Dante Gattone, Matthew Tucker, Ian Myers, Jake Moleski, Tommy McCue, Mark Stahl, Conor Ryan, Richard Stahl,Gunti Weissenberger, Gianluca Mazzarelli, Lindsey Coffey and Jake Pohlig. Coaches are Gunti Weissenberger, Dave MacBride and Brendan MacBride.

Springfield SFA football bests Holy Cross

SFA JV

SFA 41

Holy Cross 12

The St. Francis of Assisi (SFA) fifth- and sixth-grade football team feasted on Holy Cross at Springfield High School on Thanksgiving Day, scoring on all but one offensive possession and holding Holy Cross scoreless until the fourth quarter.

SFA scored at least one touchdown in every quarter and accumulated 242 total yards. In the first half Kyle Long, Connor Ringwalt and Andrew Pickett struck for touchdown runs of nine, one and 38 yards, respectively. Ringwalt set up his score with a 40-yard pass completion to Andrew Paulus. David Strawley booted two extra points and also ran in an extra point.

Linemen Strawley, Nick Matty, Connor Sadoff, Joey Radico, Jared Morris, Kevin McKeon, Michael Ward and Jerry Curran controlled the line of scrimmage, and the opening half came to a close with SFA leading 23-0.

SFA tacked on two more scores in the third quarter, as Pickett rambled 10 yards off tackle for a touchdown, and Johnny Powers weaved eight yards into the end zone on a counter play. The third quarter came to an end with SFA on top 35-0.

In the fourth quarter Holy Cross broke free for a long run and scored two plays later. Both teams then exchanged kickoff returns for touchdowns, with Pickett doing the honors for SFA by racing 60 yards down the sidelines.

SFA's starting defense allowed only two first downs and nine total yards. Leading tacklers were McKeon, Sadoff, Curran, Pickett, Long, Ward, Morris, Matty, Strawley, Paulus, Greg Tamaccio and Matt Ries.

The Turkey Bowl win capped a 10-2 season that featured a playoff appearance. Members of this year's squad were Chris Alfonsi, Matt Bendyna, Ben Caggiano, Ryan Calderaro, Sean Carney, Mike Conran, Jerry Curran, Nick Cutuli, Stephen D'Amico, Chris Delaney, Patrick Devine, Chris DiRenzo, Cole Dumont, Alex Grafstrom, Connor Hoffner, Joe Kennedy, Adam Klein, Nicky Kutufaris, Tommy Kutufaris, Kyle Long, Nick Matty, Kevin McKeon, Liam McKnight, Jared Morris, Marty O'Connell, Andrew Paulus, Andrew Pickett, Johnny Powers, Joey Radico, Anthony Reginelli, Matt Ries, Connor Ringwalt, Connor Sadoff, Anthony Scarduzio, Jimmy Schneider, Alex Smith, Derek Strain, David Strawley, Gregory Tamaccio and Michael Ward.

Stan Kutufaris, Nick Kutufaris, Bob Matty, Joe Sweeney, Joe Sweeney Jr. and Pat Sweeney assisted Head coach Leon Ostrowski.

Philadelphia Union and Harrisburg City Islanders to Host Joint Tryout

Philadelphia Union announced today that the club has teamed up with the Harrisburg City Islanders to jointly host an open tryout December 20-21, 2010. The event will be held at In the Net Sports Complex in Palmyra, PA., the home training ground of the City Islanders. Players may register by visiting the City Islanders website, www.cityislanders.com.

The two organizations, which entered into an exclusive affiliation in March, will look to start the player identification process early for the 2011 season.

“Our eyes are constantly open to identifying talent and this tryout is a terrific opportunity to evaluate a large number of players simultaneously," said Philadelphia Union Coach John Hackworth. "Our partnership with Harrisburg enables us to pool resources with the goal of finding players who can compete within our player development structure, and ultimately with the Union first team. We look forward to seeing who turns out for this exciting two-day event."

Members of both technical staffs will be attendance, as the Union continue to provide opportunities for aspiring professional soccer players. Last year’s open tryout attracted approximately 1,800 participants spread between three sessions.

“Philadelphia is a first class organization and we are pleased to partner with them once again,” added City Islanders Head Coach Bill Becher. “I look forward to having the Union’s coaching staff here in Harrisburg and I believe that a joint tryout with franchises from different levels of professional soccer is a great way to find players who may be able to contribute to one of the respective teams. It should be a quality event. We have open tryouts each year and we’ve always found a player or two that have not only made our team, but made a measurable difference. I suspect this year will be no different.”

Philadelphia Union joined Major League Soccer in 2010 as the first division’s 16th team. After compiling an 8-15-7 mark in their inaugural season, the Union will look to make their first playoff appearance in 2011. The second-year club plays their home matches at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.

The Harrisburg City Islanders, members of the United Soccer Leagues Second Division for the past seven seasons, will complete in the USL Pro in 2011. USL Pro is the second highest level of professional soccer in the United States, Canada, and Caribbean. The City Islanders boast an overall record of 75-47-40 and play their home matches at Skyline Sports Complex on City Island in downtown Harrisburg.

For more information or to register for the joint tryout, please visit www.cityislanders.com or call 717-441-GOAL.

Marple Newtown Recreation and Impact Sports team up to offer exciting winter sports programs for kids

Following the success of recent local area programs, Impact Sports and Marple Newtown Recreation are delighted to team up to offer a new winter program for the 2011 season!

Marple and Newtown Square area children ages 3-5 years old can try their hands (and their feet!) at a Total Sports program.

Our Sports program includes track and field, tag rugby, soccer, basketball and more through a six - week program geared especially for first time sports players.

The program will start in January - Friday, January 21st through Friday, February 25th between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. each week. The program being held at the Gauntlett Community Center in Newtown Square at a cost of $80 for the six week program.

For more info or to register, call Marple Newtown Parks and Recreation on 610-353-2326 or visit their website - www.mnrecreation.org.

Impact Sports is a Sports Coaching company offering daytime sports coaching for 3 - 12 year olds in schools, townships and youth centers.

St. Denis/St. Coleman John Neumann football finish successful season

The Saint Denis/Saint Coleman John Neumann Football Team finished the regular season undefeated which resulted in a trip to the Parade of Champions. After a loss in the semi-final game to St. Agnes of West Chester the team came back to capture the third place trophy by beating St. Thomas the Apostle 12-7 at Cardinal O'Hara High School.