H.S. BOYS SOCCER: Chambersburg overcomes Greencastle-Antrim’s strong defense, 2-0

Sept. 28--GREENCASTLE -- Nine saves and six defensive stops weren't enough to slow down Chambersburg's boys soccer team.

On Saturday afternoon at Kaley Field, Greencastle-Antrim put up a nice fight in a non-league game, but the Trojans used an early goal and some late insurance to earn a 2-0 victory.

"Their goalie did a great job, but we're pretty dangerous," Trojan coach Guy Furfaro said. "We like to be dangerous on the transition, and it was OK today, but I thought he did a great job."

Blue Devil keeper Josh Ehko made some timely stops, including a beautiful diving save of a Rene Quintanilla shot late in the first half. Ehko's defense also helped him in a big way; Greencastle (8-3-1) deflected and redirected several Trojan attempts so they never even made it to the net.

"We knew they made a lot of runs, and they played a lot of deep balls as well," Blue Devil defender Austyn Smith said. "We aren't a very tall defense, but we have enough speed that even if we get beat, we can get back and pressure. We played well today, and we did what we could with what we had."

The Trojans (10-1) did break through the strong defense early in the first half. Marc Furfaro juked around three defenders on the sideline and sent a cross in to Erik Espinosa, who put it into the back of the net.

"I was trying to get past their center mids, and I beat out one defender on the side," Marc Furfaro said. "When I put the cross in the middle, I knew one of our guys was going to be there. It was Erik. He was right there, and he got the finish."

Chambersburg added another five shots on goal throughout the final 30 minutes of the first half, but nothing else got past Ehko.

"They had a couple of breakaways, and our defense was just strong the whole game," G-A coach Scott Gelsinger said. "We had Jake Kline back there in the first half, but we were down 1-0, so we thought we had to get him up the field. But our three in the back still did a great job in the second half, but they're very dangerous offensively."

After a golden opportunity to end the half sailed wide right, Greencastle controlled much of the possession in the second half. The Blue Devils had two shots on goal in a span of three minutes, and added three corner opportunities later in the period.

"We play a low-pressure defense," Chambersburg's Alex Maynard said. "We basically give them the space when they're not dangerous, and take away the space right in front of the 18. We were aware of Jake Kline and Ian Rohrbaugh, who have pretty good shots, so we just wanted to stay tight on them."

The Trojans' ability to shut down Rohrbaugh was likely their most impressive feat. Greencastle's leading scorer had just one shot and was boxed in for much of the contest.

"We had one up top because we were trying to play a little more defensive game against them," Gelsinger said. "He struggled because he had two or three guys on him all the time."

Chambersburg also capitalized on its opportunities in the second half where Greencastle could not. With just under ten minutes to go, Drew Betz did his signature throw-in down low, and Maynard headed in the final goal of the game.

"We got lucky to get Drew Betz and his flip throw," Maynard said. "He's really dangerous, and we knew we'd get one eventually. He put one in the right spot, so it was an easy finish."

Guy Furfaro said, "Compared to a corner, the throw-in is going toward the goal, so you just need some kind of redirection, so that makes it so much more difficult for the defense. Drew just flings it in there, so it's going in with some speed. As long as we just touch it a bit, it's usually there."

Madison Armstrong was solid in net for the Trojans. He had five saves to secure his second straight shutout and his fifth of the season.

Chambersburg 2 Greencastle 0

Chambersburg 1 1 -- 2

Greencastle 0 0 -- 0

First half -- (Ch) Erik Espinosa, asst. Marc Furfaro, 13th min.

Second half -- (Ch) Alex Maynard, asst. Drew Betz, 71st min.

Shots -- Chbg 15, GA 10; Shots on goal -- Chbg 11, GA 5; Corner kicks -- Chbg 2, GA 5; Saves -- Chbg 5 (Madison Armstrong), GA 9 (Josh Ehko); Yellow cards -- Chbg 1.

JV score -- Chambersburg 1, Greencastle-Antrim 1. Asher Schwartz scored for the Trojans with an assist from Cameron Dale.

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