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BOYS' SOCCER: Springside Chestnut Hill Upsets Previously Unbeaten Penn Charter

By Thomas Nemec - Temple University (photos & video by Tom Nemec), 10/15/19, 12:00PM EDT

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PHILADELPHIA-- This past Friday, a highly competitive Inter-AC boys’ varsity soccer game came down to one goal in the final minutes resulting in a triumphant celebration for the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCHA) Blue Devils as they came away with the 4-3 victory against previously undefeated William Penn Charter .

The first goal was an own goal, awarded to Vincent Sciarrotta, who touched the ball last for the Blue Devils after deflecting off of a Penn Charter defenseman and finding its way into the back of the net. The scoring was just getting started in this contest and intensity from both sides started to pick up. 

Penn Charter's 13-year-old freshman James Melnick showed he can compete along side his upperclassmen by knotting the game up at one with a goal off of an assist from senior captain Ryan Bradby. The Quakers then drew a penalty in SCHA’s box and were awarded a penalty kick, which junior captain Julian Fernandez capitalized on, putting his team ahead with 29 minutes remaining in the first half. Ten minutes went by before SCHA found a way to once again tie the game. This time it was a free kick from about 25’ out, which was deflected by the wall of Penn Charter defenders, but then Sciarrotta came in out of no-where and shot the loose ball right off the bottom of the crossbar. An absolute beauty to tie the contest at two goals. Right before the half ended, Penn Charter was awarded yet another penalty kick, this time to be taken by a different senior-captain, Jude Shorr-Parks. Shorr-Parks easily found the back of the net giving Penn Charter a 3-2 lead going into halftime.

SCHA came out in the second half with a sense of urgency by putting the pressure on the Quakers with aggressive play but could not find the back of the net. This was until Penn Charter committed a foul which resulted in a red card, leaving them a man short for the remaining 20 minutes of play. This completely changed the momentum of the contest and opened up much of the field for the Blue Devils to create some offensive opportunities.

SCHA's junior Vincent Sciarrotta scores to tie game (2-2) vs. PC.

Penn Charter played some very solid defense, but eventually started to slow down. With nine minutes left on the clock, the Blue Devils capitalized tying the game up 3-3 with a goal from senior center midfielder Kevin Buck. The Blue Devils' momentum continued.  Then with six minutes remaining on the clock, junior center midfielder Connor Koschineg took the role of the team hero by netting the game-winning goal. Koshineg triumphantly celebrated the win over their neighboring opponents by taking his jersey and waving it above his head as he ran to his teammates.

With this victory SCHA and Penn Charter are both 3-1 in the league.

SCHA junior Connor Koschineg talks about his team's comeback and his game-winning goal.

PC senior Ryan Bradby talks about team improvements to make moving forward.

The Blue Devils will host Malvern today, October 15th at 4 p.m.

Penn Charter will visit Germantown Academy. Game time is also at 4 p.m.