The final home game for the Mercersburg Academy Blue Storm was played at the Steiger Field in Mercersburg on Saturday, October 27.  It was against MAPL rival Peddie School.  The Storm beat Peddie 2-0, bringing their record in the MAPL to two wins (Blair, Peddie) and three losses (Hun, Lawrenceville, and Hill), and elevating the overall record to 8-5-2.

At only 4:10 elapsed, a Peddie player committed a foul resulting in a free kick for the Blue Storm.  Captain Ethan Strickler ‘08 took the free kick and Josh Rosenblat ‘08 was in great position to head the ball into the Peddie goal for his first goal of the season.  There was quite a bit of defensive action for the Storm in the first half, even though they were up 1-0 for almost the whole 40 minutes.

The Storm took eight shots throughout the first half and Peddie had seven.  Senior goalkeeper Andrew Reichardt did an outstanding job protecting the Mercersburg net, and created many outstanding plays, saving the ball in the air as well as on the ground.

Head Coach Peter Kempe addressed his players at half-time saying “Well, we’re ahead one-nothing, and we certainly had the better and cleaner chances, but we didn’t put it away.  Hopefully, that’s not going to hound us down the stretch.  I have no doubt that we can win this game, but we have to be disciplined, and we have to play effectively.”  Kempe instructed his players to outrun the Peddie defensive line, saying, “Valentín and David Strider will play up high, where I want you to utilize ALL the chances.  It’s crucial that when someone shoots, someone else be there to finish it.”  After announcing his midfield and defensive strategies, Kemp encourage the players to get off of their heels and win more 50-50 balls in order to better control the game at midfield and to get the ball upfield more quickly.

In the second half, there was a bit of tension here and there as play became more physical.  The referees stayed busy, as a total of 15 fouls went against Mercersburg and 9 against Peddie.  The edginess was especially present when the Peddie goalkeeper was given a red card and removed from the game.  With only about three minutes remaining in the game, Marcel Wontorra ‘09 fed a ball upfield to Valentín Quan Miranda ‘08, who passed it to senior David Strider.  As the substitute Peddie goalkeeper came off his line to challenge for the ball, Strider put the ball just past him into the back left-hand corner of the goal to clinch the victory for the Storm, 2-0.  It was Strider’s 10th goal of the season, and he remains the team’s high scorer.  The Storm next travels to Landon School on Wednesday, October 31 for the final game of the season.

-- by assistant coach Heather Prescott

-- photos by Robert Shabb '09