2012 SEASON: MY SITE NEWS: LADIES OF TROY FALL VICTIM TO ABINGTON'S SPARTAN EFFORT

If you look at the season's stat sheet, you will notice that midfielder Emma "Waste Not, Want Not" Henzes has put together a glowing record of goal-scoring efficiency. The freshman flank player has taken just 5 shots this fall but has scored goals with 4 of them. So far this season, she has been selective about when to make angled sojourns into the box and about when to shoot; but, when she does make her runs, she seems to reach her destination--and when she sends the ball goalward, she has so far been on target. Henzes has shown a particular knack for slipping into the six and finishing balls in front of the net. And, in this regard, perhaps a new partnership is brewing, since three of her goals have come from crosses played in by Katrina Helcoski.

Helcoski, who now leads the team in assists with six, twice combined with Henzes today to help lead the Lady Comets to a 7-1 victory over the North Pocono Ladies of Troy. But the artistry of Henzes and Helcoski was only part of the show. In what might be considered the Lady Comets most animated effort of the season--particularly in regard to off-the-ball runs--North Pocono was driven back into its defensive third for most of the match, making only a couple of brief incursions into Abington territory. One of these incursions occured early in the second half, when--in a manner reminiscent of the goal Scranton scored earlier this season against the Lady Comets--Brooke Bauman got behind a pushed-up Abington back line and scored off of a breakaway. This was, however, the only joy that the vistors would experience. The rest of the day was pretty stressful for the guests.

But before any of this happened, the Lady Comets experienced their own moment of concern when, in the 11th minute of action, striker Alex Chapman went down with a knee injury. She was able to walk off the field with some help, but did not return to action, Early word is that she has at least a severe sprain and will be checked for possible ACL damamge. Prior to the injury, Chapman was already distinguishing herself by scoring the first two goals of the game. Just two minutes into the contest, Chapman took a fed from Helcoski and hit the game's first goal from the center of the penalty area.Then, less than six minutes later, Chapman would get on the end of a bouncing ball near the top of the six-yard box to produce an unassisted goal.

Henzes and Helcoski put a cap on the first-half scoring when they produced their first connection of the day just over midway through the opening stanza. 

Shortly after North Pocono had sliced the lead to 3-1 with Bauman's second-half counter-attack score, Ally Christman would record her first career goal, utilizing a stealthy cross from Izzy Clauss. This goal quickly shattered any hopes that the Trojans had for staging a comeback. Indeed, it would turn terribly darker for the visitors at the 62nd minute, when North Pocono suffered the embarassment of an "own goal," the timing of which must have added an intolerable acid to the Trojans' already-substantial wounds.

Nevertheless, there was more to come. Following a review of what was originally scored as an another North Pocono own goal, Paige Eisenlohr was eventually credited with what would become the sixth Abington tally of the game. The shot from Eisenlohr was headed into the goal but was redirected into another portion of the net by the foot of a North Pocono defender. After careful review of the scorer's manual and its various scenarios--and upon reconsideration of the nature of the defender's actual interaction with the ball--the "own goal" was changed to an offensive goal.

The final goal of the game was supplied by the second Henzes-Helcoski combination.

An unkind scorer would credit North Pocono with just 1 shot in this game, while the most generous person in the world would credit the team with two. However one slices it statisticially, there were not a lot of positive moments for the Ladies of Troy today. Meanwhile, the Lady Comets posted their third straight 50% or better shot-on-goal percentage. They also played with more energy than we have seen. They will now take their 4-0-2 record into next Tuesday's 4:15 match at Delaware Valley, a game in which they will be favored once again and a game in which they can continue to make some progress.