Women’s Soccer Posts Shutout in Opener
On a hot and humid afternoon, new Mercersburg varsity women’s soccer coach Jason Bershatsky helped lead his team to a convincing 2–0 victory over the St. Maria Goretti Gaels.  

The match opened with outside midfielder Wynn Holzwarth ’11 showing some great ball control up and down the left side of the field. Two minutes in, Holzwarth sent a nice cross to Olivia Bulcao ’10, whose shot went wide right.  Good communication helped the Blue Storm keep the ball on the offensive end for much of the first half. In the 5th minute, veteran Jenn Dillon ’09 had a great scoring opportunity, but her shot sailed over the crossbar. Laura Rahauser ’12 proved to be a real force at striker as she almost single-handedly controlled play in the middle of the offensive end with exceptional dribbling and some superb soccer instinct.  But it was Holzwarth who, in the 7th minute, sent a long shot past the Gael goalie to put the Storm up 1–0.

Despite several solid scoring opportunities, though, the Storm did not score again in the first half. Asia Walker’s ’09 hard hustle resulted in a few scoring chances. Holzwarth landed a hard shot on goal in the 8th minute. Ana Kelly ’11 then sent a nice feed to Dillon at the top of the box, who in turn sent a laser to the upper left corner that was stopped on a diving save by the Gael tender.  

Solid defense from the ‘Blue Wall’ combination of Paige Harry ’10, Alicia Furnary ’09, Hannah Miller ’10 and Camille Hodges ’11 helped keep the Storm on offense. Rahauser beat two Goretti defenders on the left side in the 12th minute before being tripped. Then Holzwarth took a one-time shot that smacked off the left post.  Rahauser followed in the 24th minute with a hard but wide shot.  Outside midfielder Ellen Pierce ’09 showed some good positioning and nice ball control and, like most of the Storm players, she simply seemed to want the ball more than the Gaels.

In a four-minute span, Rahauser and Holzwarth combined for four corner kicks, while Kelly and Mackenzie Quinn ’12 both took hard shots on net. In the 28th minute, the Gaels had their first real scoring chance as a striker broke through the Storm’s defensive line. The ensuing save by Storm goalie Rachael Porter ’09 led to the first of three consecutive Gael corner kicks.  

Some real grit and great hustle down the left side by Bulcao led to a couple of nice passes from Bulcao to Quinn and on to Harry, who took a hard shot on goal from the top of the box.  Two minutes later, Bulcao deftly dribbled around a Gael defender and sent a perfect cross to Walker in front of the goal, but Walker’s shot was just wide.   

The second half saw more of the same, beginning with a smart Gael save off a long shot on goal by Rahauser. Kelly then shot over the goal off a deflection from an outside shot by Rahauser. In the 49th minute, defenders Miller and Furnary combined to stop a Goretti drive and send the ball upfield. The Storm took several shots, but too many sailed high and wide of the Gael net. Good ball control and great communication again marked Storm play, especially on a play that began with a nice pass from Furnary to Bulcao, who sent the ball to Rahauser, who dribbled into the box and crossed to Holzwarth at the far post.  Holzwarth’s shot was just wide.  Furnary was impressively composed on defense, always in the right place and fully aware of where to send the ball.

In the 57th minute, Rahauser took the first of two consecutive corners as Mercersburg continued to keep the play largely restricted to the offensive end of the field. In the 61st minute, Harry stripped the ball from a Gael midfielder and turned the play around. The Storm continually intercepted Goretti goal kicks. With 15 minutes left, Furnary stripped the ball from a speeding Gael striker and a minute later Holzwarth sent a huge cross to the far post where Kelly leapt and headed the ball off the right post and into the net to give the Storm a 2–0 lead.  

Another long cross in the 68th minute from Holzwarth almost landed in the left corner of the goal as the Storm continued to press the play. While the whole team showed great hustle and teamwork, Furnary, Rahauser and Holzwarth really stood out.

—Phil Kantaros
photos by Trent Grogan ’09

Update: As of Wednesday, September 8, the team is now 3–0 on the season after victories over Washington High School and St. James School. Mercersburg has outscored its opponents 7–0 during the span.