Hadley, Pa., October 12, 2011 -- The Grove City varsity boys soccer team (10-1-1, 4-1-1) picked up its 10th win of the season with a 1-0 victory over conference foe Commodore Perry.
When the two teams met on September 26 in Grove City, the weather was warm and breezy. When lightning drifted in from the west, the referees were forced to end the game with 11 minutes on the clock and the Eagles leading 4-0.
Although there was no lightning in the sky on this cold and drizzly day, lightning struck three minutes and forty-two seconds into the game when defender Andy DiStasi made a long pass to center forward Thomas Hummel. Hummel fired and scored from 18 yards putting the Eagles up 1-0.
The Eagles were the dominant offensive force for the next 16 minutes until dropping an additional player into a defensive set to preserve their lead going into halftime without stopper Brian Murone who picked up two yellow cards.
As the game wore on into the second half, the Eagles maintained their 1-0 lead and went into a defensive shell to prevent Commodore Perry's speedy strikers from tying the game. The strategy paid off as the Eagles picked up their fourth conference win.
Eagle keeper Ben Lilly made 9 saves while netminder Jared Kaller made 3 saves for his Panthers. Commodore Perry put nine of their 12 shots on the net; the Eagles put a third of their 12 shots on net. The Eagles mounted 28 offensive attacks to the Panthers' 21.
Panther Zach Anderson picked up a yellow card with two minutes and 36 seconds remaining after making a hard tackle on Eagle midfielder Sam Homan.
Grove City will play at General McLane in Edinboro on Saturday, October 15 (varsity at 2:30; JV at 1:00).
Courtesy: Grove City Soccer
