Downingtown East slides past Shanahan on Urbanski’s goal

DOWNINGTOWN — In the boys soccer crosstown battle between Bishop Shanahan and visiting Downingtown East on Tuesday, one goal was enough to decide the winner, but chances went wanting by both teams.

Joey Urbanski scored just 10 minutes into the first half to give the Cougars (3-3-1) a 1-0 victory Ches-Mont League National Division contest.

Urbanski took control of a short corner and weaved his way in the penalty area, after getting a fortunate bounce off a defender, beat a second defender, and snuck a shot in the near post past goalie Alvir Visnolas for the lead.

“We had some really nice attacking plays today,’ Urbanski said. “There was a lot more opportunities then we usually have, overall we played a really good game of soccer.’

Shanahan had a few good chances in the first half as they controlled the pace of play. Samuel Goforth had a prime opportunity for the equalizer, but Davis Alliger made the one-arm save.

Nick Peter of Downingtown East came right back down the field and forced Shanahan’s Alvir Visnolas into an impressive save.

In the second half, the possession started to tilt towards East’s end. Showing they were comfortable playing with the lead, the Cougars were patient with the ball, making crisp passes helping the offense flow.

“I think the second half was the best soccer I have seen these boys play as far possessing the ball, swinging the ball, switching fields, and being smart with the ball,’ Downingtown East head coach Kirk Johnson said.

“We had a great first touch the whole second half and we made our passes accurately, it was fun out there because we were clicking as a team,’ Urbanski said.

Anthony Eells gave Shanahan its best chance to tie the game. Just a few minutes into the second half he ripped a shot right at Alliger, who held onto the drive.

After that chance the attackers for Downingtown (Ayden Namoglu, Dave Reimold, Peter, John Geiger, and Urbanski) controlled the ball and limited Shanahan’s opportunities.

The Eagles’ co-captain Patrick Hegarty also came close to tying it shortly after he returned from sitting out after getting a yellow card. His first touch was right outside the box, where he settled the ball down and launched a shot that barely went wide.

“We have gotten ourselves out of a pretty big hole, ” Johnson said. “We are up to 3-3-1 and I really hope that we have gotten the ball rolling and keep this momentum going forward and get over .500.’