Cherry Hill Sports Week in Review: Soccer, Tennis High Points

It was a busy week of action on the field and courts around Cherry Hill as the fall athletic season entered its second half. The Cherry Hill High School East girls’ tennis team began its quest to capture a Group 4 title, while the Cherry Hill High School West girls’ volleyball team had a dramatic win over Kingsway.

Below is a look back at all of last week’s action.

BOYS’ SOCCER

It was a solid week for Cherry Hill East, as the Cougars went 2-1, beating Washington Township and Seneca. Zach Steinbock netted a pair of first-half goals, while Andrew Adler and Greg Weinstock scored in the second half of a 5-3 win over Township. Jake Faford also had a goal.

Two days later, East got a pair of goals from Adler and one each from Steinbock and Garrett McVeigh in a 4-2 win over Seneca.

It wasn't quite as good a week for West—the Lions went 1-2, with a 2-0 win over Paul VI and 1-0 losses to Bishop Eustace and Washington Township. Dan Walsh and Gabe Watkins each scored in West’s win over Paul VI, while Sean Mullarkey recorded the shutout.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

The Cougars dropped a pair of 2-1 decisions, but rebounded with a 3-1 win over Seneca. Dana Barth, Brooke Beatty and Caitlin  Delaney each found the back of the net to help the Cougars move to a game within .500.

Taylor Gentile had a flare for the dramatic Friday afternoon when she scored with five minutes remaining to give Cherry Hill West a 1-0 win over Washington Township. Gentile took a pass from Mackenzie Tyler and fired a shot over the goalies head from just inside the 18. Christina Ogunsami made eight saves to help the Lions improve to 4-6.

FIELD HOCKEY

Taylor Janney found the back of the cage, but it wasn’t  enough to lead the Cougars to an elusive victory as they fell, 3-1 to  Seneca.

Colleen Clancey scored the lone goal for Cherry Hill West in a 6-1 loss to Washington Township.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Cherry Hill East opened its quest for a South Jersey Group 4 title in dominant fashion as . Allyson Wolf, Nikita Shukla and Amanda Elfman each won at singles, while the doubles teams of Adele Boyarski/Lauren Romisher and Tyler Haaz/Paige Leone won at doubles.

East will host No. 8 Lenape Tuesday in the second round.

The Cougars also took down rival Cherry Hill West, 5-0, in Olympic Conference action to remain undefeated.

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

The Cougars’ Nickolas Boensch had a strong performance at this weekend’s Shore Coaches Invitational, finishing in 27th place in a time of 17:38. Teammate Tyler Brake was 55th at 18:18.

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Cherry Hill West’s Casey Owens was the top local finisher at the Shore Coaches Invitational at Homdel Saturday. Owens placed 91st with a time of 23:19. Teammate Julia Marzocca crossed the line shortly after in 23:42.

FOOTBALL

Daishi Goto was a workhorse for Cherry Hill East, carrying the ball 30 times on the for 162 yards and a touchdown, as the Cougars pulled out their second straight win, 20-6, over Lenape.

Goto found the end zone in the second quarter, while Brandon Stern tossed a touchdown to Nick DiVito. Blaise Paglione also scored on a two-yard carry to close out East’s winning effort.

Cherry Hill East (2-3) will look to make it three in a row when it hosts Paul VI Saturday.

Cherry Hill West opened its game against Seneca with a touchdown drive, but had little success after, in a 29-6 loss. Rodney Williams returned from a hamstring injury to throw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Verzicko, but the Lions turned the ball over three times, and took a safety in the defeat.

West hosts Woodrow Wilson (0-4) Friday.

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Amanda Versace had six kills and 14 digs to lead Cherry Hill West to a 2-1 victory over Kingsway. The Lions dropped the first set 25-20, but rallied to take the final two, 25-16 and 25-23. Chelsea Holiday had nine assists and eight digs, while Sierra Machinski had eight assists and eight digs. Katherine Horiates also had six kills.

The Lions are back in action tomorrow when they host Washington Township.

Cherry Hill East went 1-1 on the week, defeating Kingsway, 2-0 and falling to 2-0 to Cherokee by the same score.