Wm. Penn Charter Plays Host for Booter's Second Scrimmage

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.