2012 SEASON: MY SITE NEWS: LADY COMETS SAIL PAST SCRANTON; ROUGHER SEAS AHEAD

A political spin master who wanted to make the Lady Comets look bad would open this article by noting that Scranton hit 100% of its shots against Abington Heights today. True enough. However, it is also true that Scranton was able to produce just one shot!  And, even though they did score with that one shot, they did little else. In fact, the girls from central city rarely pushed the ball across the halfline in a game where, if the truth be told, even the lopsided 5-1 score significantly under-expressed the non-competitiveness of the match. Some people would characterize this game as an"appetizer" for the Prep game. Perhaps this culinary characterization would be correct if one were ordering mozzarella sticks followed by filet mignon.

The goal-scoring started early, when Alex Chapman--who knows a thing or two about putting a ball into the net--knocked one home from inside the box after she gathered in a terrific entry pass from Katrina Helcoski. After the Chapman curtain-raiser, some time would pass before Abington scored again. There was a reason for this. The Lady Comets had total control of the game but were frustrated by the bunker defense of the Knights. Scranton was using a defensive scheme which planted a significant number of girls in front of the goal.  It did seem, however, that Scranton was willing to let Abington tear the living flesh from its players, as the Lady Comets pounded the bunker, rifling the ball into the thighs, backs, and midsections of their opponents in an exercise that resembled the old high-school gym-class game of Bombardment. And, obviously, with most of its personnel packed in around the box, Scranton would have little opportunity to mount a credible assault on the Lady Comets' net.

Finally, with just 6:40 remaining in the half, the Lady Comets scored again--this time courtesy of a beautiful goal from junior Abbey Burke, who would contribute a brace of goals on the afternoon, while steering much of the Abington attack from the hub of her central midfield position. At the half, Abington had a 5-0 corner kick advantage, and a 24-0 lead in shots. These would be incredible numbers for an entire game!

In the second half, Scranton caught a pushed-up Abington defense in a moment of complacency and managed a quick counterattack that resulted in a breakaway goal for the Knight's Jamaica Miller. This small consolation for Scranton perhaps irked the Lady Comets who took their revenge less than 5 minutes later when sophomore midfielder Perrine Wasser--who, by the way, played an outstanding game--hit a high-rising ball into the goal from near the top of the box. Then, just one minute later, Burke would score her second goal of the game, sending home a ball that was played into the box off of a corner kick from Helcoski. The Lady Comets hurled their final grenade into the Scranton bunker with just 48 seconds left in the contest when Helcoski hit a well-placed shot into the back of the net, utilizing a nice pass from Paige Eisenlohr to set up her position.

Scranton's Molly Comstock was a soldier in goal and racked up a phenomenal 14 saves to keep the score from turning into Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not material. But Abington has kept Comstock active before. Last year, the Scranton stalwart actually saved 28 in a September game against the Lady Comets. Indeed, the talented Comstock has the potential to become an icon in goal.

The back line of Izzy Clauss, Sarah Sopinski and newcomer Lydia Lovecchio did a solid job by deflecting what little attack they had to endure. Second-half goalkeeper Sarah Uhranowsky faced just one shot, and starting goalkeeper Melanie Coles could have spent the afternoon texting. The keeper is likely to be a bit busier in Saturday's game against Prep.

Speaking of Prep, they had the day off. Consequently, they did not enjoy, as Abington did, the luxury of a "warm-up" game. But some might wonder whether or not a game against Scranton constitutes a full warm-up for a match against Prep. After all, other than the fact that both Scranton and Prep put 11 hard-charging girls on the field, there may not be too much else that these two soccer sides hold in common. Scranton is indeed a plucky team with a commitment to developing its program. And the Knights will defintely have better games this year. On the other hand, Prep brings a caravan of formidable athletes to the pitch; they play disciplined, technical soccer; they bring mature tactical awareness; they bring speed of play and speed of foot; AND they will be looking for revenge after finishing on the short end of the score in both of their meetings with the Lady Comets last year.

So, as a Lady Comets' fan, are you tired of boring blowouts? Are you looking for some competitiion? Some intensity? Some genuine resistence? Well, when Prep comes to town, you're gonna get what you've been looking for.