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September 26, 2002 |
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SPORTS
In what coach Jim Hardman described as "some of the best soccer this season," the Yellow Springs High School boys varsity soccer team claimed another victory, this time over the previously unbeaten Xenia Christian Ambassadors. The game last Monday started out with Duncan Silvert-Noftle putting the ball over the head of the Ambassadors' goaltender only five minutes into the match. Eight minutes before the end of the first half, Rory Hotaling threw the ball in to Noah Woodburn, and he passed off to Silvert-Noftle, who wound his way past the Ambassador defense and put his shot just inside the post to increase the lead to 2–0. The Ambassadors scored just before the half, taking advantage of a deflection off of a referee that kept the ball from going out of bounds. The YSHS defense was caught out of position and Xenia scored its only goal of the night. "Xenia Christian is a very talented team," said Hardman. "We scrimmaged them earlier this year and they've improved a lot since then." Contributing to the Bulldog win, he said, was the combined play of Woodburn, Silvert-Noftle, Mike Mucher, Rory Hotaling and Anthony Brandon on offense; the control of mid-field by Aaron Zagory, Scott Keyes, Nic Huneck, Martin Bakari and Matt Wallace; and the skillful defense of Mike Hosket, John Grubbs, David Suzel, Brandon Frye and Matt Phillips. Yellow Springs travels to Middletown tonight (Thursday) to challenge Metro Buckeye Conference rivals Middletown Christian at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, YSHS hosts Madison Plains at 3 p.m. and on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m., the Bulldogs play Ridgeville Christian for the Metro Buckeye Conference title. Ridgeville Christian, like YSHS, is undefeated in conference play.
Yellow Springs High School runner Tina Peters took the lead spot for the Bulldogs last Saturday, finishing second in girls competition at the first ever Wilmington Cross Country Showcase. Her final time was 21:38 for the 3.1-mile course, a personal best. For the boys squad, freshman Carey Dixon dashed through his first mile in 5:30 and had moved to second place by the time he reached the finish line in 18 minutes. A few minutes behind Dixon was Matt Carr, who took 22nd with a time of 21:40. Christian Periera, still new to running, improved his best time by 2 minutes, 15 seconds to finish 36th with a final time of 23:45. Junior high— The junior high team placed third in cross country competition at Wilmington last Saturday. Andy Peters set the new junior high course record after breaking into a sprint in the last leg of the course to claim first place with a final time of 11:50. Next across the line for the Bulldogs was Andy Sontag, who took second on the two-mile course with 12:24. Eighth grader Matthew Marretta, in his first race with the Bulldogs, placed 14th out of 29 runners with a final time of 15:43. His teammate Zach Reichart finished 18th in 17:09, and Pete Lovering took 22nd. In the junior high girls race, seventh grader Rosa Dixon managed through the muddy course to take fifth place in 15:50. Lara Donnelly finished 18th in 21:15.
The YSHS volleyball team had a busy week, winning three matches and losing two. The Bulldogs won 15–9, 15–2 over Cincinnati Christian on Sept. 17. Evin Wimberley played an outstanding all-around game, with four kills in addition to strong setting and defensive play. Janelle Martin had seven blocks to bolster the Lady 'Dogs' defense. Last Thursday's match was for control of the Metro Buckeye Conference, as both Yellow Springs and Troy Christian were undefeated in the league. The Bulldogs led 7–1 in the third game until back-row positioning problems allowed Troy Christian to rally for a 10–15, 15–6, 15–9 win. Saturday, at a tri-meet in Cincinnati, the Bulldogs had to play their first match against an already warmed up Seven Hills squad and lost the first game. The 'Dogs regrouped to win the second game but had problems adapting to a low ceiling and lost 15–7, 9–15, 15–12 despite rallying from a 14–9 deficit in the third game. In a second match Saturday against Clark Montessori, the Bulldogs won easily 15–8, 15–4. On Monday at Ridgeville Christian, the home team's powerful serving overcame the Bulldogs in the first game. Twelve service return failures led to a close loss. Sarah Finn started off the second game with several diving returns, Emma Robinow had 12 kills, and Yellow Springs easily won the last two games, winning the match 14–16, 15–6, 15–8. The Bulldogs are 9–5 overall for the season and 6–1 in the Metro Buckeye Conference. Junior varsity— In junior varsity play last week, the Bulldogs won one game and dropped two. The 'Dogs played to a tie in the first two games against Cincinnati Christian on Sept. 17. The final game was closely fought, with Yellow Springs holding the lead for part of the time, but Cincinnati came out strong from a late time out to claim the match 8–15, 15–6, 16–14. The junior varsity also lost to Troy Christian 16–14, 15–13 after leading 14–13 in the first game and 13–11 in the second. The Bulldogs were hung up by a loose net just as they were about to tie the game at 14–14. Troy then served out the match. Keysia Favors, Allie Robles, Heather Wagers and Katie Lovering all had good saves on match point to win a crucial side out. On Monday, the junior Bulldogs overcame a 12–2 Ridgeville lead in the second game to force a third game, but poor net play and receiving ultimately led to another close loss 15–11, 13–15, 15–9. Strong play by Alexis Levesque, including two kills and a game-ending ace, and good serving from Jessalyn Yelton aided the Bulldogs in the second-game comeback. The JV record is now 5–6.
Playing its first games of the season last week, the Yellow Springs co-ed junior varsity soccer team lost 2–5 to Xenia and beat Xenia Christian 2–0. On Thursday, the co-ed 'Dogs faced Xenia, and despite some spirited play, couldn't overcome the more seasoned Buccaneers. By the end of the first half, YSHS trailed 0–2. Early in the second half, Anthony Brandon put the Bulldogs on the board with a solo fast break to goal. Xenia answered with three more goals to put the game out of reach, but Yellow Springs wasn't finished. Eve GunderKline sent a booming 30-yard pass from midfield to Brandon, sending him to the net for his second goal of the night. Coach Ben VanAusdal cited goalkeeper John Pamplin and fullbacks Nathan Badger and Joe Lurie for their play. On Monday, Sept. 23, the co-ed JV team hosted the Ambassadors of Xenia Christian. Eight minutes into the game, Kevin Carr threw in the ball to David Suzel, who lobbed the ball from the left flank up and over the goaltender's head for the first goal of the game. Less than a minute into the second half, Charlie Cromer added to the scoreboard with the second goal, for a final score of 2–0.
FC Springs, the local under–13 team in the Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association, evened its season record at 1–1 with a come-from-behind 2–1 victory over Thunder United '89 from Lebanon at home Sunday, Sept. 22. The Springs and Thunder United played a scoreless first-half. Ten minutes into the second half, however, the visitors took the lead on a shot that ricochetted off the goalpost and went into the Springs' net. With 12 minutes left on the clock, the Springs then went on the offensive as Ryan Phillips delivered a pass to Ben Armstrong in the Thunder United's zone. Armstrong beat the defense to the outside and then took a shot on Lebanon's net. The goaltender deflected the ball but Alexis Onfroy-Curley grabbed the rebound and scored to tie the match. With just five minutes remaining, Onfroy-Curley sent a cross into the penalty box, which rolled untouched across the goal mouth and to the far post, where Zeke Hardman caught it and shot it back across the grain into the opposite side of the net, giving a win. Coach Jim Hardman praised the team's play and cited the play of Onfroy-Curley in particular. "Alexis played defense in the first half and shut down their offense," said Hardman. "When we fell behind and needed to generate more offense, Alexis moved up and got us the two goals that we needed." FC Springs hosts the Shelby Co. Alliance this Sunday, Sept. 29, at 3 p.m.
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Bulldog
Scoreboard