Hornets run win streak to 7 games, double up North Penn-Liberty
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | September 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy The Home Page Network
The Wellsboro Varsity Boys Soccer team increased their win streak to 7 games by beating rival North Penn-Liberty 4-2 on Wednesday, September 26.
12 minutes into the game Wellsboro got on the scoreboard as senior Cam Tennis converted a direct kick from sophomore Will Poirier to take a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later senior Brett Rudy dribbled into the keeper box and scored unassisted, putting the Hornets up 2-0.
"Anytime you can score early and get a little bit of a cushion it feels good," head coach Todd Fitch said. "Overall, I was very pleased with the boys execution in the match. Credit to Liberty, they took advantage of two of our miscues and converted the opportunities into goals."
Wellsboro maintained their 2-0 lead through the end of the first half and scored quickly to start the second. Just over two minutes into the half sophomore Kaeden Mann took a pass from Rudy and got his shot past the keeper to make it 3-0.
Despite holding a 3-0 lead the Mounties began crawling back to make the game interesting. With 12:01 remaining Liberty's Caiden Alexander cut the Hornets' lead to 3-1 as he cleaned up a blocked shot by Nathaniel Johnson.
Wellsboro added their final goal with 4:50 remaining as Poirier scored off an assist from Rudy to make it 4-1.
Liberty, however, struck against with 3:59 left in hopes of pulling off the upset as Johnson got a shot past senior Nate Redell to make it 4-2. Wellsboro hung on and ran out to clock to take the win.
Wellsboro took 17 shots on the evening compated to North Penn-Liberty's 5. Liberty edged Wellsboro 5-3 in corner kicks. Redell saved 4 shots in goal for Wellsboro and Nick Grinnell made 8 saves for the Mounties.
The JV game ended in a scoreless tie.
The win improves the Hornets to 7-3 (6-1 NTL) while the loss drops North Penn-Liberty to 3-3 (3-2 NTL). Wellsboro is back in action on Saturday, September 29 at Coudersport. North Penn-Liberty is on the road in Addison on Friday, September 28.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.
