NORTH STAYS IN THE CITY BUT IT FEELS LIKE THE ANOTHER PLANET
Date, Friday, August 27th, location Wm. Penn Charter High School located in Northwest Philadelphia, a neighbor to Philadelphia University, Manyunk, Roxborough and East Falls. The Falcons took a twenty minute trip to visit the Quakers in their annual pre-season scrimmage. While only 10 miles how the crow flies, it might as well have been the NASA space shuttle taking the boys to another planet. While we have played here countless times, Penn Charter just installed a brand new, state of the art, natural field that many say would be the envy of many colleges and possibly professional teams.
The Quakers are coached by North grad, Bobby DeBenedetto and his assistant is Tom Ciolka, who was North's varsity coach from 1989 through 1998. The teams are very familiar to one another and the game is usually a fierce battle in a gentlemanly way.
As for the game, North scored first off a free kick in the 20th minute of play. It was a family connection of sorts. Sophomore defender/mid-fielder Matt Martinez lofted a curling ball into the box from about 40 yards from goal. Senior, all-Catholic forward Juan Pablo Martinez was able to flick a header past the Quaker keeper. This score was the only score of the first half.
In the second half, Penn Charter was able to capitalize on a North defensive miscue as a Penn Charter forwarded hit a rocket past keeper McCarthy. The ball caught the underside of the cross bar and shot down past the goal line to knot the score.
The game remained tied until the final whistle. As North continues to test certain combinations, Coach Brindisi has not been shy about using his youngsters. Like in the Council Rock exhibition, Freshman Justin Hiltwine and Kevin Lockhart received healthy minutes and they were joined by their club teammate Yader Espinosa.
Next up for those hearty souls that enjoy the shore, is North's annual pilgrimage to the beach. On Saturday, at 10 AM, the Falcons will visit Wildwood Catholic at Maxwell Field in Wildwood. If you are down this way, come take a view of your Falcons. There should be plenty of fan gear for sale. Also the game is early enough so that it does not wreck your beach time.
See you there.
Falcon Booters Kick-off Season
Bucks County Plays Host for First Scrimmage
On Wednesday, your Falcons officially broke camp and travelled to Newtown, Bucks County to scrimmage the Council Rock Indians. For those unfamiliar with Newtown, it is a bucolic community that includes farms, primarily single family homes, a quaint borough for shopping and some small industry. You might describe it as somewhat Rockwellian. Just to give you an idea of the difference in environments, CR-North High School's athletic fields encompass two softball, two baseball, lacrosse, two soccer and one, stadium football fields. Each of these fields in impeccably maintained. The soccer field in particular was like playing of the greens of Torresdale-Frankford Country Club. Compare this to our home pitch, which we lovingly refer to as Torresdale and Afghanistan. Right now, the grass is about 8 inches high. In fact, its so high that we asked Bob Wheeler of Juniata Golf and Country Club if he could help us out and send some high powered mowers. Bob of course did so but each of the mowers broke down, choking on the grass, crabgrass and weeds on the field.
CR-North is coached by Mr. Wendell Berris, a 2000 graduate of North and a member of the 1999-2000 Catholic League champion squad. This is Wendell's second year at the helm of CR-North, which was State Champion three years ago. It is a historically strong program lifted by students from the CRUSA and YMS programs. This year's Indian team is centered on 16 seniors. It competes in the very difficult Suburban One Conference that includes Neshaminy, Pennsbury, and North Penn (coached by North Alum Paul Duddy)to name a few.
What is nice in scheduling programs where you know one another and you are facing top notch competition is the hospitality these programs offer. On Wednesday's game, the parent's booster club treated everyone to pizza and refreshments.
It was a hot day, with a slight breeze that made it palpable. This was North's first real action of the year. This year's team will be lead by its seniors: John McCarthy, Juan Pablo Martinez, Ira Woodruff Tyler Ward. Sophomore striker Khristian Hall will also be a huge part of any success the team achieves.
CR-North was all it was hyped to be. They were fit, disciplined and strong from back to front. The first ten minutes or so, the Indians had North on its heels a bit. About 20 minutes into the game, the right flank of CR-North played a ball into the box that our backs were not able to handle allowing an Indian striker to go it alone on McCarthy. McCarthy gave a great attempt but CR-North was up 1-0.
From this point on, North relaxed and began getting confident. Hall and Martinez were able to control and hold the ball while the mid-field joined the action. Any lost balls were controlled by Jr. Dan Venuto and Soph Matt Martinez in the middle. Sr. Mark Brown gave a great effort as North's left back. Coach Brindisi showed confidence in his younger players by inserting Justin Hiltwine and Kevin Lockhart and giving them meaningful minutes through most of the game. Justin played outside midfield, while Kevin patrolled the left back position. Both Justin and Kevin are freshman this year. Jr. Kyle McCabe came on as a sub in the midfield and played very well.
In the 50th minute, McCarthy possessed an errant ball and found Matt Martinez alone in the midfield. Once controlled, Matt saw Hall isolated on an Indian back about 50 yards from goal. Matt played the ball beyond the back and Hall was able to muscle and one time an awkward shot passed the CR-North keeper who came 20 yards out from his goal.
North continued to control the play and had several great opportunities to take the lead but misfired each time. In the waning minutes, CR-North created a number of chances but McCarthy was equal to the tasks and Venuto cleared a ball off our goal line on a corner kick as time expired.
It was a great effort for the start of the 2009 season. Come watch your Falcons attempt to defend their Catholic League and City Championships. The schedule is out on www.northcatholicsoccer.com.
On Wednesday, your Falcons officially broke camp and travelled to Newtown, Bucks County to scrimmage the Council Rock Indians. For those unfamiliar with Newtown, it is a bucolic community that includes farms, primarily single family homes, a quaint borough for shopping and some small industry. You might describe it as somewhat Rockwellian. Just to give you an idea of the difference in environments, CR-North High School's athletic fields encompass two softball, two baseball, lacrosse, two soccer and one, stadium football fields. Each of these fields in impeccably maintained. The soccer field in particular was like playing of the greens of Torresdale-Frankford Country Club. Compare this to our home pitch, which we lovingly refer to as Torresdale and Afghanistan. Right now, the grass is about 8 inches high. In fact, its so high that we asked Bob Wheeler of Juniata Golf and Country Club if he could help us out and send some high powered mowers. Bob of course did so but each of the mowers broke down, choking on the grass, crabgrass and weeds on the field.
CR-North is coached by Mr. Wendell Berris, a 2000 graduate of North and a member of the 1999-2000 Catholic League champion squad. This is Wendell's second year at the helm of CR-North, which was State Champion three years ago. It is a historically strong program lifted by students from the CRUSA and YMS programs. This year's Indian team is centered on 16 seniors. It competes in the very difficult Suburban One Conference that includes Neshaminy, Pennsbury, and North Penn (coached by North Alum Paul Duddy)to name a few.
What is nice in scheduling programs where you know one another and you are facing top notch competition is the hospitality these programs offer. On Wednesday's game, the parent's booster club treated everyone to pizza and refreshments.
It was a hot day, with a slight breeze that made it palpable. This was North's first real action of the year. This year's team will be lead by its seniors: John McCarthy, Juan Pablo Martinez, Ira Woodruff Tyler Ward. Sophomore striker Khristian Hall will also be a huge part of any success the team achieves.
CR-North was all it was hyped to be. They were fit, disciplined and strong from back to front. The first ten minutes or so, the Indians had North on its heels a bit. About 20 minutes into the game, the right flank of CR-North played a ball into the box that our backs were not able to handle allowing an Indian striker to go it alone on McCarthy. McCarthy gave a great attempt but CR-North was up 1-0.
From this point on, North relaxed and began getting confident. Hall and Martinez were able to control and hold the ball while the mid-field joined the action. Any lost balls were controlled by Jr. Dan Venuto and Soph Matt Martinez in the middle. Sr. Mark Brown gave a great effort as North's left back. Coach Brindisi showed confidence in his younger players by inserting Justin Hiltwine and Kevin Lockhart and giving them meaningful minutes through most of the game. Justin played outside midfield, while Kevin patrolled the left back position. Both Justin and Kevin are freshman this year. Jr. Kyle McCabe came on as a sub in the midfield and played very well.
In the 50th minute, McCarthy possessed an errant ball and found Matt Martinez alone in the midfield. Once controlled, Matt saw Hall isolated on an Indian back about 50 yards from goal. Matt played the ball beyond the back and Hall was able to muscle and one time an awkward shot passed the CR-North keeper who came 20 yards out from his goal.
North continued to control the play and had several great opportunities to take the lead but misfired each time. In the waning minutes, CR-North created a number of chances but McCarthy was equal to the tasks and Venuto cleared a ball off our goal line on a corner kick as time expired.
It was a great effort for the start of the 2009 season. Come watch your Falcons attempt to defend their Catholic League and City Championships. The schedule is out on www.northcatholicsoccer.com.
The 2009 Seasons
If you look closely, you will notice that I wrote “Seasons” above, as in the plural form of the word. The reason I write this is that once again this fall, this space will be used to update family, friends and fans of North Catholic sports with information about both the football and soccer teams.
Coming soon for the football website (www.NorthCatholicFootball.com) will include the 2009 roster and a coaches’ profile page. We’ll also be including a season preview sometime next week, so if you want to gain some insight into our 2009 campaign, the football site will be the place to go.
In addition to the features mentioned above, each week, we will provide a preview of that week’s game, as well as a summary after each game. The stats for the team will be entered on the Maxpreps.com site, and we are working to include a widget to display those stats on our page. This will allow us to only enter the stats in one location.
The first football game of the season will be on Saturday,
North Soccer Releases 2009 Schedule
DEFENDING CHAMPS RELEASE UPCOMING SEASON SCHEDULE TO INCLUDE NATIONAL POWER ST. BENEDICT’S.
It is hard to believe that summer is quickly coming to an end and soccer season is just around the corner. The Falcons have just posted its upcoming 2009 schedule. All games, including junior varsity and freshman games, are posted at www.northcatholicsoccer.com. Additionally, if you go to www.highschoolsports.net, all of North’s athletic events are available. There are no excuses now for not knowing.
The campaign includes a trip to highly regarded and nationally ranked St. Benedict’s on Sunday, 9/20. This game will be played at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Campus in Newark, NJ. The game time has not yet been determined so stay tuned.
The Falcons open camp on Monday, August 17th. Our first scrimmage is against an old foe, Suburban One power, Council Rock North. CR North is coached by former North stand-out Wendell Beres. This is Wendell’s second year at the helm of the Indians. Additional preseason games include familiar schools Penn Charter, coached by North alum Bobby DeBennedetto, Wildwood Catholic and Friends Central, coached by North Alum, Mr. Chris Campbell. The Falcons have also included a contest versus St. Augustine’s Prep in Vineland, NJ. The regular season finally gets rolling on Friday night, September 11th against Roman and will be played at Lighthouse Field at 8 PM.
North will host 7 Catholic League games. As a pioneer in making our games available to our player's families, our thousands of Alums and our fans, all of these games are prime time. We will host the Prep (9/15) and LaSalle (9/22) at Archbishop Ryan at 5 PM. Our remaining games will be under the lights, Ryan at Ryan (10/2-7PM), Roman at Ryan (10/5-7 PM), O’Hara at Lighthouse (10/9-8 PM), Bonner at Lighthouse (10/16-8 PM) and Judge at UGH (10/20-8 PM). Also at UGH is our away game versus Judge (9/29-8 PM).
The Catholic League, especially the Red Division should be a battle this year and arguably one of the toughest conferences in the State. Perennial powers LaSalle and St. Joe’s Prep are once again strong. Father Judge is also a favorite for the crown along with the Ryan Raiders, coached by Hall of Famer George Todt and the Cahilites of Roman also in the mix. Without question there will be 8 teams vying for 6 playoff spots and every game meaningful. The Red Division also includes former Southern Division powers O’Hara and Bonner. The PCL summer league was quite a contest for all of these teams. In the Blue Division, Archbishop Wood looks strong after winning the PCL summer league.
Playoffs begin with a play-in round on 10/26 and culminate with the championship on 11/3. For all of you soccer junkies, let the games begin.
Any questions, you can contact me at tcrosset@northcatholicsoccer.com.
It is hard to believe that summer is quickly coming to an end and soccer season is just around the corner. The Falcons have just posted its upcoming 2009 schedule. All games, including junior varsity and freshman games, are posted at www.northcatholicsoccer.com. Additionally, if you go to www.highschoolsports.net, all of North’s athletic events are available. There are no excuses now for not knowing.
The campaign includes a trip to highly regarded and nationally ranked St. Benedict’s on Sunday, 9/20. This game will be played at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Campus in Newark, NJ. The game time has not yet been determined so stay tuned.
The Falcons open camp on Monday, August 17th. Our first scrimmage is against an old foe, Suburban One power, Council Rock North. CR North is coached by former North stand-out Wendell Beres. This is Wendell’s second year at the helm of the Indians. Additional preseason games include familiar schools Penn Charter, coached by North alum Bobby DeBennedetto, Wildwood Catholic and Friends Central, coached by North Alum, Mr. Chris Campbell. The Falcons have also included a contest versus St. Augustine’s Prep in Vineland, NJ. The regular season finally gets rolling on Friday night, September 11th against Roman and will be played at Lighthouse Field at 8 PM.
North will host 7 Catholic League games. As a pioneer in making our games available to our player's families, our thousands of Alums and our fans, all of these games are prime time. We will host the Prep (9/15) and LaSalle (9/22) at Archbishop Ryan at 5 PM. Our remaining games will be under the lights, Ryan at Ryan (10/2-7PM), Roman at Ryan (10/5-7 PM), O’Hara at Lighthouse (10/9-8 PM), Bonner at Lighthouse (10/16-8 PM) and Judge at UGH (10/20-8 PM). Also at UGH is our away game versus Judge (9/29-8 PM).
The Catholic League, especially the Red Division should be a battle this year and arguably one of the toughest conferences in the State. Perennial powers LaSalle and St. Joe’s Prep are once again strong. Father Judge is also a favorite for the crown along with the Ryan Raiders, coached by Hall of Famer George Todt and the Cahilites of Roman also in the mix. Without question there will be 8 teams vying for 6 playoff spots and every game meaningful. The Red Division also includes former Southern Division powers O’Hara and Bonner. The PCL summer league was quite a contest for all of these teams. In the Blue Division, Archbishop Wood looks strong after winning the PCL summer league.
Playoffs begin with a play-in round on 10/26 and culminate with the championship on 11/3. For all of you soccer junkies, let the games begin.
Any questions, you can contact me at tcrosset@northcatholicsoccer.com.