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Sunday, October 20, 2013
THE DALLAS POST
PAGE 9
Mountaineers
win Cleary Cup
TOM ROBINSON
The Dallas Post
Rewards were plentiful
for the Dallas boys soccer
team on the final night of
the regular season.
Dallas won the Cleary
Cup by taking its annual
rivalry game, clinched
the Wyoming Valley
Conference Division 1
title outright and pro-
nounced itself ready for
the upcoming District 2
playoffs with a convinc-
ing 6-0 romp over host
Lake-Lehman Tuesday
night.
The win was part of a
championship sweep by
the Dallas soccer pro-
grams. The boys went
13-1-1 in the WVC to
finish first out of six
teams in Division 1 and
post the best record in
the 17-team league. The
girls went 14-1 to win the
league title with all 16
teams competing against
each other as one group.
! Both teams will be high
] @®: in the District 2
Class AA tournaments.
Play-in games are sched-
uled for Tuesday with
quarterfinal games -
where Dallas will play
for the first time - set
for Thursday through
Saturday. The playoffs
proceed toward Oct. 31
championship games.
Dallas looked ready
with a strong late-sea-
son run as the team got
healthy, capped by the
rout of Lake-Lehman in
its first game after los-
ing standout defender
Brandon Scharff for the
remainder of the season
with a broken arm.
The same depth that
got the Mountaineers
through a series of early
injuries will be a factor in
playing without Scharff.
“We just got everyone
back and then one of our
best players goes out,”
said coach Chris Scharff,
Brandon’s father. “We still
have a good team, obvi-
ously. Fortunately, we
always have four or five
players off the bench that
are good enough to play.
“We're fortunate that I
have up to seven different
players who could start
for most other programs.
They're not bad players;
Dallas soccer team comes up b
Photos by Bill Tarutis | For The Dallas Post
Referee Bruce Weinstock recites the PIAA sportsmanship message to the captains of Lake-Lehman
and Dallas before the Annual 1st Lt. Michael Cleary Soccer Game.
Aires
about his son's life.
we just can’t fit them all
on the field. They're very
good players who just
don’t get as much playing
time.”
Brandon Scharff was
injured Oct. 11 when
Dallas all but locked up
the title with an impres-
sive 3-0 victory over sec-
ond-place Coughlin. Nate
Wood, Zach Goodwin and
A.J. Nardone scored goals
in the win while Blake
Williams (two saves) and
Rory Burns Mullin (three
saves) turned in their
usual strong play as a
goalkeeping combination
with the shutout.
“We're playing well the
second half of the sea-
son,” coach Scharff said.
Jack Cleary, father of 1st Lt. Michael Cleary, speaks to the Lake-Lehman and Dallas soccer teams
“About halfway through
the season, we got our
entire. team back from
injuries and it showed the
last six or seven games.”
That strong play con-
tinued into Tuesday
night.
Nardone scored less
than four minutes into
the game, then added
the final two goals in the
second half. Already the
WVC’s overall scoring
leader, he took over as
goal-scoring leader with
22 following the hat trick.
While Nardone has
thrived as the league
scoring leader, Scharff
pointed out that there
are other key players who
made major contribu-
tions to the team’s fourth
straight division title.
“A.)’s fortunate to be
the forward on our team
because we have five or
six other guys who could
play forward and score all
the goals, too,” Scharff
said. “But, you have to
fill all the spots. A.J. is
a force up there, but we
have other players who
could play there who play
other positions to help
the team.
“Nate Wood and Matt
Saba are forwards, but
they play center mid for
us because we need it.
Zach Goodwin and my
son play defense because
we need it.”
Wood and Saba are
BMT golfers win championship
Back Mountain residents produced
the top three scores on Oct. 10 to help
Holy Redeemer earn a return trip to the
SW Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic
Association Team Golf Championships.
Shavertown’s Mariano Medico, the
individual District 2 Class AA cham-
pion, had four birdies while shooting a
72 at Eagles Mere Country Club to lead
Holy Redeemer to a 307-339 victory
over District 4 champion Danville for a
spot in the Class AA team tournament.
The PIAA team championships will
be decided Oct. 23 at Heritage Hills
Golf Resort in York, following two days
of individual competition.
The Royals fell just short of a state
title last season, losing in a one-hole
trip.
playoff after tying for first.
Chase Makowski and Mike Boland,
both from Dallas, shot 75 and 79 to
help Holy Redeemer earn its return
Makowski will join Medico in the
individual state championships.
— Tom Robinson
Forced to choose between two sports
Parsons’ decision
has paid off
Staff Report
Vanessa Parsons was in
a select group of Wyoming
Valley Conference female
athletes.
Exactly halfway through
her high school career,
she was forced to choose
between her two sports.
Parsons was not alone in
deciding whether to contin-
ue with soccer or field hock-
ey when Dallas and other
C schools joined the
est of the state by moving
girls soccer to the fall prior
to the start of the 2012-13
school year.
While she was among
dozens of girls facing that
decision, Parsons had the
added factors of already
being well established in
both sports with signifi-
cant time ahead of her. She
was a two-year starter on a
championship-caliber soc-
cer team but had also been a
two-year varsity player and
a starter as a sophomore in
field hockey.
Parsons chose field hock-
7 and the decision has paid
off.
After being among the
WVC’s top scorers a year
ago, Parsons led the entire
conference
this season
as a senior.
®T his
year, espe-
cially, a lot
of the goals
as a team
have been
scored off
of corners,”
Dallas coach Kylie Fisher
said. “She’s also very capa-
ble of eliminating defenders
all on her own and taking
Parsons
shots or simply being in the:
right spot to take a rebound
or receive a pass.
“She’s an all-around great
player. She’s able to score in
multiple ways.”
Parsons scored a league-
high 27 goals and added
six assists while helping
make Dallas the second-
most productive offense in
the 23-team league. The
Mountaineers went 9-4-1 to
land a spot in the District
2 Class AA playoffs, which
begin this week.
Part of the decision
process for Parsons was
sticking with a group of
classmates and friends. She
is among a group of nine
seniors, seven or eight of
whom can usually be found
in the starting lineup.
“As a whole, they've
been together since junior
high,” Fisher said. “I think
how close they are and how
they have continued to play
together has really strength-
ened the team.”
Fisher also credited
Parsons’ commitment to
club teams and national
festivals in the offseason for
making her into the force
she has become in one of
the strongest field hockey
conferences in the entire
nation.
“We only lost three girls,
so going into the season,
we were really confident,”
Parsons said.
What she did not antici-
pate, however, was the num-
ber of goals she would pro-
duce. The center forward
had a career-high six goals
my friends.”
against Wallenpaupack and
four more against Hazleton
Area.
Parsons said senior cen-
ter midfielder Michelle
Thompson, who went into
the final week tied for sixth
in the league with seven
assists, and the rest of the
forward line have worked
well with her to create scor-
ing opportunities.
When necessary, Parsons
can create her own space as
well.
“I usually try to just pull
around defenders then use
my speed,” she said.
While she has received
attention from recruiters
and is outscoring major
college prospects, Parsons
expects to wrap up her
playing days whenever the
Dallas playoff run ends.
She plays to concentrate
on academics and does not
expect to play while attend-
ing one of the four local
colleges to which she has
applied.
“It’s bittersweet,” Parsons
said of her final days in the
sport. “I'm going to miss all
Lie
Michael Cleary Soccer Game.
Lake-Lehman’s lan Dawsey, left, heads the ball as Dallas’ A.J. Nardone defends during the 1st Lt.
Dallas’ Nate Wood, left, scores his team’s third goal
Lake-Lehman’s Bryan Peck, left, and Dallas
ig at end of season
ik
as Lake-Lehman’s Mike Minsavage defends during Brian Butler chase down the ball during the
the 1st Lt. Michael Cleary Soccer Game.
second and third on the
team in scoring. Wood
had a goal and two assists
against Lake-Lehman,
giving him 13 goals and
allowing him to pass
Nardone for the team
assist lead with eight.
Saba had a goal, giving
him nine goals and five
assists on the season.
The Lake-Lehman
game was also the fourth
time in the latter part of
the season that Dallas
played on artificial turf.
The Mountaineers looked
good in those situations,
which could be helpful as
the playoffs progress and
all games eventually wind
up on that surface.
“You're able to spread a
team out and pass because
there is more space,”
Scharff said. “And, every
bounce is true. When you
score goals on turf, it’s
usually because of a true
bounce.
1st Lt. Michael Cleary Soccer Game.
“A lot of teams try to
just pack it in on us, but
it’s very hard to do that
on the larger turf fields.”
The Dallas girls
clinched their title with
Monday’s 8-0 win over
Tunkhannock.
Talia Szatkowski, the
team scoring leader
and one of the top scor-
ers in the WVC, had a
hat trick and an assist.
Ruby Mattson and
Danielle Walsh added two
TOM ROBINSON
The Dallas Post
Dallas had a suc-
cessful girls tennis
season come to a close
with semifinal losses
in the District 2 Class
AA doubles and team
tournaments.
Grace Schaub and
Kajel Patel followed
up, reaching the dou-
bles semifinals with
two upset victories
of seeded opponents
by winning in singles
to provide two of the
points that helped
Dallas into the team
semifinals with a 3-2
victory over Holy
Redeemer Oct. 11.
Wyoming Seminary
ended the Dallas sea-
son with a 3-0 semi-
final victory Tuesday
afternoon before fall-
ing to Scranton Prep,
3-1, in a champion-
ship round battle of
A successful tennis season
ends with significant losses
unbeatens later in the
day at Kirby Park.
Four of the
five Dallas-Holy
Redeemer matches
either went to the
third set or had one
of the two sets go at
least 7-5.
Schaub downed
Emily Kabalka, 6-2,
7-5, and Patel rallied
past Natalie Coffee,
3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at sec-
ond and third singles.
Lauren Butruce-
Maddie Ross posted
the only convinc-
ing victory, topping
Angela Malinovitch-
Hanna Thornton, 6-3,
6-3, at first doubles.
Patel was ahead of
Wyoming Seminary’s
Jacqui Meuser in
the second set of
third singles when
the semifinal match
was halted because
the Blue Knights had
enough points to
clinch the win and
advance. Patel had
lost the first set, 6-4,
but was ahead in the
second, 4-1.
Wyoming Seminary
secured its three
points by losing only
two games total in the
first singles, second
singles and second
doubles matches.
Dallas and Holy
Redeemer each went
11-2 to tie for sec-
ond place behind
Wyoming Seminary
among eight teams in
the Class AA Division
of the Wyoming Valley
Conference.
Schaub and Patel
had won three dis-
trict doubles matches
to reach the semifi-
nal where they fell
to top-seed and even-
tual champion Emily
Jonsson-Grace Reilly
of Scranton Prep, 6-3,
6-0.
Bevevino wins the MAC tennis title
Dallas graduate and
King’s College senior
Tony Bevevino won the
No. 3 singles champion-
ship at the Middle Atlantic
Conference Men’s Tennis
Tournament.
Bevevino won the
championship of a tour-
nament in which Wilkes
University claimed nine
of the other 10 flight
titles in singles and dou-
bles.
For the fall season,
Bevevino had the best
singles record for King’s
at 8-2, including six
straight wins to finish.
He was also 7-3 in dou-
bles competition.