By VICTOR ADU-BOAHENE
Special to the Lion's Eye
If someone asked the team two
weeks ago, "What's up with this year's
soccer season?" a player would have
beamed a smile and boldly said, "It's all
good. We're still undefeated."
But just about a week ago, the
unthinkable happened and everything
turned around. Their greatest fear of los-
ing caught up with the team as they were
crushed six goals to nil, at an away game
by PSU Hazleton on their small and
muddy mountaintop soccer field. This
ended their six game winning streak. The
team tended not to care that much since
they were still on top of the league. They
also justified that loss to the injury prone
team (They went to Hazleton with only
twelve players due to injuries to other
vital players).
Along came PSU Harrisburg, which
Deico held down to a three to one goal
lead by the first half. Then, Harrisburg
bounced back in the second half to steal a
painful win from Delco by pinning them
five goals to four in the last minutes of
the game on Delco's home field.
These two consecutive losses shattered
the team and altered the stable state on
the league table, then dropping down
from the first position to the fourth, trail-
ing Penn College, Hazleton and
Harrisburg respectively.
Though there is no doubt that the
team will make it through the playoffs
and possibly win the championship, the
team's current fate of making it to the
playoffs now hangs in the balance.
Should the soccer team suffer any more
losses, that fate could make a turn for the
worst.
A six to two win over Schuylkill last
weekend and a tie with Scranton last
Thursday boosted the morales and hopes
of inching closer to the playoffs. The
14
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Inching Closer To
The Lion's Eye
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record as of now stands at 7-2-2.
The soccer team's aim at the beginning of
this year's season was to win nine games
out of the total fourteen to establish a
spot in the playoffs. (Note that the top
four make it to the playoffs) then, to go
ahead and win the Conference
Championship at University Park.
Right now, they are two games shy
with two games left to play to make it. A
sort of revenge win, away, over PSU
Harrisburg this upcoming week and a
win over PSU Abington at home the fol-
lowing week would guarantee our spot in
the playoffs. Should the latter happen, we
would have to stick to the usual probabil-
ities and wild speculations sports pundits
and critics usually make about teams on
the brink of elimination or on the verge
of being advanced to the next level under
critical conditions.
They are still on track as a team, and
now leave behind them all those painful
losses and injuries suffered. We are now
picking up our game. "Good days are
here with us" as FDR would put it. The
key is to focus towards a strong finish by
"taking our games one-by-one," coach
~ Jim Gastner always advises. The soccer
team's dream this year of becoming the
conference champions can become a real-
ity. With better than good players to pull
this off, they only have to worry about
persistent endurance, avoidance of injury
and above all, time.
So as the season comes to an end, they
want all of the lovely Delco Penn-Staters
to pray and wish them luck in their
upcoming games. Come and support the
team in their last match at home as they
lock horns against PSU Abington on Oct.
28.
October 23, 2006
Baseball Update: Coach Vickers
The PSU Delco Baseball team began defense of their
back to back PSU East Division championships by
posting a strong 7-3 record this fall. The team was led
by an experienced group of veteran players, including
seniors Frank Falim, Karl Jastrzebski and Jim Porreca,
juniors Jon Brady, Tom Ostien, Chris Napoli, and Chris
Meccariello.
Defense was again a strength for the Lions, featuring
experienced pitchers Jastrzebski, Brady, Ostein, and
newcomers Antonio Cima and Eric Soring.
The offense remained extremely potent, posting the
most home runs in league. Sophomore Matt Smith,
freshman Eric Soring, and Senior Jim Porreca each hit
2 long balls, while Frank Flaim and Sophomore Mike
Zachorchemny tallied one.
A strong freshman class added depth to an already strong team. Eric Soring and Dan
King both finished the Fall season hitting over .400. Tony Schreffler was solid behind
the plate and provided an offensive boost to the line up. Lou Pepe, Neal McMonigle,
Kevin Bluzzard and Chris Dittus, were capable backups who would have started in past
seasons.
The season was highlighted by a spirited win over previously underfeated PSU
Harrisburg. With Delco trailing by five runs in the 4th inning, the visiting team mounted
an impressive comeback led by the hitting of Frank Flaim, Neal McMonigle and Dan
King. Chris Meccariello's leaping catch in center field kept the game close, but the
Lions still trailed by a run in the bottom of the 7th. Frank Flaim doubled and scorred the
winning run on a head first dive to give Delco the come from behind win. Jon Brady
pitched five scoreless innings to earn the victory. Coach Vickers claimed it was his most
memorable victory in his 6 plus seasons !
A weekend tournament October 14-15 at Penn College concluded the Fall 06 season.
The Delco Lions again made a great showing, defeating rival Abington for the 4th time
this season 3-2 and western conference
power PSU Fayette 14-4. Home runs by
Frank Flaim and Mike Zachorchemny
highlighted the ten run victory. frei
The Championship game was held on
Sunday, and featured a rematch of last
Spring's State Championship game vs.
Penn College. Delco was not on the top of
their game early, committing several errors
that staked Penn to an early lead. In the
5th inning, Delco was down 14-3, and in
4 danger of having the game end due to the
: 10 run rule. But this team that never says
die started a furious comeback that ended one run short, 18-17. Steve Burday was the
hitting star, going 4-4.
Since 2002, the baseball team has been extremely successful, posting a 53-15 league
record (.780 winning percentage). Coach Vickers is assisted by former Delco players -
Armen Bezdikian, Doe Dunn and Billy Haines.
Photos from
Coach Vickers