From the Pottstown Mercury

http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120920/SPORTS01/120919398/boys-soccer-methacton-edges-phoenixville&pager=full_story

·  CHARLESTOWN — It was not the prettiest and tidiest of Methacton’s boys soccer victories to date, but the notch still went on the victory side of the ledger at the same time.

Junior goalkeeper Taylor LeSage pitched a shutout at host Phoenixville, and the Warriors made senior midfielder Matt Skelly’s goal at the 14-minute mark of the first half stand up for a 1-0 Pioneer Athletic Conference victory Wednesday afternoon at the Phoenixville Area Soccer Club field on the campus of Valley Forge Christian College.

  Phoenixville continues to struggle finding the back of the net. The Phantoms, who were shut out at Pottsgrove last week, were blanked again but did have several solid chances. The Phantoms hit the crossbar and then the left post during first-half action and then continued the pressure in the second half but still did not score.

  “They started to use the sun to their advantage,” said LeSage. “They went over the top. They had a lot of chances that went wide.

  “It didn’t look good, but the scoreboard says we won so we’ll take it.”

  Methacton evened its PAC-10 Liberty Division record at 2-2-1 while Phoenixville fell to 3-2 (3-4 overall) at the top of the Frontier Division.

  “We’ve been known as a team that likes to keep it nice and exciting until the end,” said LeSage. “We would like to have more 2-0 and 3-0 games, but we have to keep doing what we are doing. We do what it takes. It all depends. There is a lot of season left. Most of our seniors do play. And myself, I started last year so we do have a lot of expectations. We have a lot of experience, but we also have some younger guys to fill the shoes of the seniors who have left. The younger guys are stepping up and playing well, too.”

  Methacton finished with a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal and 9-1 cushion in corner kicks taken by senior midfielder and main distributor Tony Rajabi, who also assisted Skelly on the game-winning tally.

  “They (Phantoms) were using an offsides trap to slow our runs,” said Methacton coach Brian Robbins. “We stepped in and went over the top. Early in the first half we were offsides four or five times. We had to bend and find the space behind them.”

  Phoenixville junior goalkeeper Bryan Furr recovered from the goal to post 12 saves with six of them coming in each half of the contest.

  Methacton senior midfielder Luke Herber chased every ball in the air, which pleased Robbins, and the Warriors also got strong games from senior defenders Glenn Diener and Clay Henery. Juniors Chris Parisi and Joe Ruhl also aided the defensive cause.

  Herber and senior midfielder Anthony Santoleri were active with offensive penetration for the Warriors.

  Phoenixville junior midfielder Isaac Levine hit the crossbar with a shot 35 minutes into the first half, and Phantom senior midfielder Ian Harrigan’s shot caromed off the left post shortly thereafter.

  “It was pretty ugly, but tomorrow it looks like a win,” said Robbins. “That is what we wanted. They (Phantoms) had the momentum from the end of the first half on. They hit the post and the crossbar. They were their two best chances. It was one of those gut-check things. They were on their home field and they were tough and strong and fast, number 2 (junior forward Josh Granese), 10 (Harrigan) and 7 (senior Justin Wentz). They were all guys we knew we had to defend.”

  Senior Alex Monteiro also made some runs for Phoenixville, which used four backs on defense with senior Joey Little, Jake Sims and Jeff Potts and junior Mick Bauer in the alignment. Wentz, who usually anchors the back line, was moved up to midfield in some lineup shuffling by Phoenixville coach Alejandro Franco.

  “The ball just doesn’t want to go in,” said Franco. “We’ve been so unlucky. The second half we stepped it up and they pushed. That is all we can do is create chances. It is mental. That is our second loss in a row and I hope we recover. That is the main thing. They didn’t have the confidence today to play the ball out.”

  Robbins is still looking for the proper combination of players on attack.

  “We are trying to find which combination of forwards can find the back of the net,” said Robbins. “The goal by Skelly was the difference today.”