Varsity Boys Soccer Starts IPPSAL Play Strong

The VBS team opened up IPPSAL play this week with a pair of league games. The Panthers took on the Lions of Solomon Schechter Tuesday, and followed that up with a contest against a newly promoted Varsity side from The Waldorf School of Garden City.


What Happened in the Solomon Schechter Game?
The emerging confidence of the VBS team was on full display during the team's first game this week v.SSDS. The Panthers controlled play from the get go as senior midfielder and captain Ray Wienmann discected the Lions defense with some" laser" like one touch passing. This keyed the team's offense and created some opportunities for the striker pair of Trevor Wolfson and Chris McCloskey. When Wolfson's precision cross found the head of McCloskey, and McCloskey's well struck header found the "back of the ol' onion bag" everyone could see that Portledge was on their way to victory. The SSDS team did not give up though, and drew as close as 3-2 with about 10 minutes remaining. Wolfson, whose skills are really starting to shine, then added his second tally of the game and the positive result was sealed.



Coach Coleman gives his team a motivating speech at half time of the Waldorf game!







Did the New Div-I Side From Waldorf Give the Panthers a Game?
The answer to that question is yes! Having lost by one against LWA in their IPPSAL opener, the boys from Waldorf arrived at Sawyer Field brimming with confidence. It certainly showed ion their play as they took the game to Portledge in the early going. The woodwork saved Portledge once and senior keeper Austin Prey was called on time and again to turn away the Waldorf attack. Towards the end of the first half the Portledge side sensed some openings and struck twice to deflate the Waldorf swagger a bit. The second of these goals was another header by rookie Chris McCloskey, this time off a long throw from Wolfson. The 2-0 lead was enough as Portledge pulled back a bit and put the game in the sure hands of Prey and his junior defense tandem of Aaron Lee and Mike McCloskey. These three shut down the Waldorf offense for the rest of the game and the Panthers moved to two Wins and no losses in league play. Things should get interesting next week as the boys move into some heavy competition against rivals LuHi and LWA surounding a tough non-league test v. Columbia Prep. See you at the "pitch".

Austin Prey '08 makes a great save -- one of 19 v. Waldorf.