2011 SEASON: Welcome

The 10th annual UNICO all-star game was held on November 19, 2011 at the University of Scranton's Fitzpatrick Field. Top players from all over the Lackawanna League were selected to particpate--including players from Scranton Prep, Valley View, Mountain View, Western Wayne, Dunmore and others. But it was our own Abington Heights girls who provided the offensive fireworks.

The Lady Comets' crafty attacking tandem of Emma Black and Maggie Scanlon had produced distinctive play alll season. However, in this game, these two speed merchants found one more context for displaying their talents as they provided, between them, all of the goals and all of the assists in the Pink Team's  5-1 victory over its all-star opponent.

After recording the game's first goal, Black repsonded by adding three more goals in the second half on her way to registering an extremely rare "perfect" hat trick (one left-footed goal, one right-footed goal, one header goal.)  Scanlon scored the other goal for the Pink Team while providing beautiful assists on two of Black's tallies.

Another Abington standout, Emily Sullivan, also particpated in the game for the Lady Comets and was selected to start in the midfield along with Scanlon. Sullivan played a solid defensive game in the center of the pitch and helped hold the opponents (a group of of veteran all-stars) to just one first-half shot. Both Scanlon and Black were interviewed after the match and Black was awarded the game's MVP plaque.

After enjoying such a wonderful regular season, it was nice to see the Lady Comets continue their success in this post-season affair.

The jv girls rose with the dawn's early light on Saturday to make their way up to Kingsley for the Congdon Cup Junior Varsity Tournament held on the campus of Mountain View high school. The bus carried a smaller-than-usual roster of players, a roster that--due to injuries and the early departure requirements of certain players--would dwindle to 10 by the start of the second half of game two. The team dropped its opening game 3-1 to Forest City, but recovered to bounce Western Wayne 5-1 in their next match.

Several players could be given the Abington MVP award for their performances on the day. Due to a number of JV player absences, varsity goalkeeper Melanie Coles was given a chance to play as a substitute at several field-player positions, putting in minutes at stopper, center midfield, and forward. Coles responded to this "utility player" role by recording three goals and an assist on the day. However, her performance may have been eclipsed by freshman Perrine Wasser who played impactively, judiciously, intelligently--and scored two goals. Another candidate for MVP might have been Nora Caputo, who picked up a goal and an assist, following her two-goal effort on Friday against Prep. Caputo is now the points leader for the junior varsity.

Although each of the above three girls played well, many would give the MVP award to goalkeeper Sarah Uhranowsky, who played with poise and spirit in all aspects of the game, coming up with seven big saves on the day, a couple of which were highlight-reel material. Uhranowsky also read the field well and made some excellent distribution decisions. In addition, she did a fantastic job coming off her line to clean up dangerous loose balls in the box. And the good news in the long run for Abington is that Uhranowsky is only a freshman. With further training and experience, she appears to have a bright future ahead of her.

Forest City. Abington ran up against an athletic and technically-competent junior varsity team in the first game of the tournament. The Forest City program appears to be deep in soccer talent this year, as they fielded several jv players who actually looked strong enough to play varsity soccer for many other teams in the league. Nevertheless, the junior Lady Comets were able to hang close, after falling behind 1-0 early when Forest City converted a penalty kick. A goal from Coles put Abington even at 1-1 going into the half. However, two Forest City goals in the second half finally told the story. Even though Forest City fielded what is likely to be the strongest set of jv starters our players will see this year, the game was a close battle much of the way. The junior Lady Comets were beaten--beaten, by the way, for the first time this season--but they were not dominated. Forest City led in shots 16-11. Sarah Uhranowsky came up with five stellar saves for Abington.

Western Wayne. By the time the teams got to the second half of this one, the Lady Comets roster had been siphoned down to ten players. Center defender Rachel Stanton went down in the Forest City game with a broken wrist. Several other players had mandatory band commitments upon which their grades would in part depend. So, those girls had to leave early. In order to put a full team on the pitch for the second half of the second game, E.T. Hunter hastily pulled together a borrowed kit of cleats, shinguards, and jersey (gathered from departing girls) and called the team photographer into action to play at sweeper.  Nevertheless, Abington ruled the field in this 5-1 game, outshooting the junior Wildcats 20-5, while holding a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks. The jv girls showed off their footwork and demonstrated more dexterity in their passing skills --incorporating some attractive touch passes into their routine. The Western Wayne keeper was forced into making 6 saves to keep the scoring margin from growing totally out of proportion.

In a tournament that witnessed many unusual things, including a Division 2 junior varsity team besting an undefeated and untied first division junior varsity team, some normalcy ultimately prevailed. The team, for example, enjoyed some great fun and bonding along the side lines. Plus, outside of the first game--and apart from the injuries--there were some good moments during the day. The team received lovely medals, breathed country-fresh air while taking in the mountain view, enjoyed hoagies on the bus ride home, and introduced Coach Hunter to Airhead Belts candy.