Unionville boys’ soccer blanks Panthers at Talen Energy Stadium

Chester >> The Unionville High School boys’ soccer team, which defeated Strath Haven 4-0 Tuesday night at Talen Energy Stadium, seems to like the large dimensions provided by the home of the Philadelphia Union.

“The field was a key for us tonight, it’s a pretty big space, and we like to move the ball,” said Unionville junior midfielder Kyle Ketterer, noting that the Indians played Garnet Valley at Talen Energy Stadium last fall and won 5-0.

Of course, Unionville advanced to the PIAA 4A state semifinal last year, allowing just 21 goals in 26 games and winning a share of the Ches-Mont American League title, so the Indians have a reputation of playing well just about anywhere.

The Indians (2-0), who have returned five starters and its top two bench players from the 2018 squad, have outscored their opponents 11-0 so far this season.

Tuesday evening, it took Unionville a little while to get started, as Strath Haven (1-1) battled the Indians to a scoreless draw for the first 24 minutes.

Unionville senior midfielder Michael Hewes, the reigning Ches-Mont American League Player of the Year, broke the scoring ice at 24:47, scoring on a restart with an assist from senior defender Garrett Pinkston, a fourth-year varsity player who is considered the Indians’ defensive quarterback.

Four minutes later, Unionville junior forward Haden Quillman scored his first varsity goal, with an assist from senior midfielder Evan Dougherty, another fourth-year varsity player, to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

“Strath Haven put pressure on us early, but later in the first half, our players got settled in,” said Unionville boys’ soccer head coach Rich Garber.

“The first half, we came out with high intensity,” said Unionville junior midfielder Anthony Zucchero, who scored the third goal of the first half at 40:57. “We have guys with quick feet, and we continued to move the ball forward.

“On my goal, [senior defender] Grady Farrell found my head, and I was able to put it in the left corner. When I saw it go in, I was super excited; I wanted to score a goal at this stadium.”

After halftime, Unionville continued to move the ball aggressively, and in the 13th minute of the second half Ketterer scored to make it 4-0.

“I got a nice pass from [sophomore forward] Peter Murray, stretched for it on the box, and put it in at the near post,” said Ketterer. “When I saw it go in the net, I felt relief – I really wanted to score in this stadium, and I had missed a scoring opportunity earlier in the game.”

Unionville senior goalie Alex Dolce, who posted 13 shutouts last fall, recorded five saves for the Indians Tuesday.

“Our kids played hard today, did a good job,” said Garber. “But we’re not looking beyond our next opponent, we’re just playing them one game at a time.”

On the Strath Haven side, Panther head coach Ryan O’Neill felt the contest was a learning experience for his squad.

“I think we can take a lot of positives from this game,” said O’Neill. “We had a lot of good play in the second half. This game was sort of like the state final last year, where we played on a big field that we weren’t used to, against a really good team. I think this game will pay dividends for us later on in the season.

“I thought that a lot of the play in the first half was back-and-forth, but we didn’t capitalize on any of our chances. We had a bit of uncomfortableness, a couple of mistakes in the first half – a couple of [unproductive] decisions in transition and giving the ball away – and they made us pay for it.

“I was glad that we didn’t stop fighting in the second half.”

Unionville 4, Strath Haven 0

Strath Haven       0       0       –        0

Unionville          3       1       –        4

Unionville goals: Hewes, Quillman, Zucchero, Ketterer.

Goalie saves: Strath Haven – Gillday 5; Unionville – Dolce 5, Regenye 1.