2012 SEASON: MY SITE NEWS: GOALKEEPERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS LADY COMETS SLIP PAST WALLENPAUPACK

Over the past few seasons, Wallenpaupack has fielded solid, credible teams that have been pretty much in the "middle of the pack" when it came to league play. The Lady Buckhorns have made some noise in the district playoffs, but have yet to establish themselves as a consistent post-season team. During this time, Coach Alicia Sodano's goal has been to rise above mediocrity and build the program to a level where the Lady Buckhorns could compete toe-to-toe with the top programs in Lackawanna County. If yesterday's performance was any indication, Sodano's troops have reached that plateau.

As we predicted just two days ago on this very website, the Lady Comets were put to the test by a Wallenpaupack team that came to town, not only with talent, but with a vengeance. The hometown girls scored early and then held on by their fingernails to sneak away with a 1-0 win.

Wallenpaupack fields a team with an iron-fisted defense that surrenders less than one goal per game. They also feature a flashy and athletic offense that today kept the Abington back line busier than it has been in a long time. In today's game, Wallenpaupack's Mann sisters showed that they deserve a place along side the Falcone sisters, the Insalaco twins, and any of the other big-time "sister acts" in the league. The pair were an absolute handful all afternoon, and it was positively engrossing watching the Lady Comets try to match the intensity of these girls.

The only score of the game came in the 18th minute of the match, when Katrina Helcoski and Emma Henzes combined for the fourth time this season on a "cross and finish" routine that is quickly becoming a trademark of their play. The rangy senior hit the eager freshman with a sweetly-timed service off of the right flank, and Henzes wasted no time sending the ball into the Wallenpaupack goal. Henzes now has five goals in the first eight games of her rookie season. Quite a feat for a first-year performer playing out of the midfield. In fact, since 2009, only two other Abington Heights' girls have notched 5 or more goals by the same point in their freshman years--and both of those players were strikers 

Aside from the offensive highlight, this match was mostly a battle of goalkeepers. As we also predicted on this website, Melanie Coles had to respond to a few quality shots this afternoon. And she rose aggressively to the challenge! Coles was able to show off her superb athleticism with some super saves, some nice work collecting crosses from the sky, and some astute distribution. Her counterpart Irene Dispenza (a surprise starter) performed effectively as well, coming up with six quality saves. As a side note, the Lady Comets were whistled for a fair number of fouls in this game--9 to be exact--and the team had a yellow card shown to the bench for dissent. But the girls overcame adversity--including the absence of Abbey Burke and Alex Chapman from the starting lineup--and prevailed in a spunky and focused manner.

All in all, this match offered defense, passing, possession, and crafty attack--it offered a lot of "back and forth" action as well--in other words, it was a real soccer game.

BOX SCORE AVAILABLE BY CLICKING BELOW

SALLY SUNSHINE SAYS: The Lady Comets have collected FORTY ONE (41) corner kicks in just their last three games.

DEBBIE DOWNER SAYS: The team has failed to convert on all 41.