Chesapeake Boys Race Past Northeast

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Pat Brennan scored three goals in 10 minutes, Sam Colebrook followed suit with a hat trick of his own and Ryan Gruss had a four-point day to lift the Chesapeake boys soccer team to a 7-0 victory over Northeast on September 9.

Brennan, a senior, started the scoring 30:35 into the game, the first of his three goals in the opening half. Gruss, a fellow senior and captain on the team, assisted all three of Brennan’s goals. Gruss has been on the varsity team since he was called up in the middle of his freshman year.

“Honestly, I was in the right spot at the right time,” Brennan said, “but that was all Ryan Gruss. He basically just set me up right for those goals. It was just easy one-on-one from his through balls, and all I had to do was just tap it in the corner. That was all him.”

Colebrook, a junior, got started on his hat trick during extra time in the first half, pumping home a pass from sophomore Jake Fitzsimmons. He scored his second and third goals 19:21 and 23:20 into the second half off passes from junior Tyler Miller and senior Alex Reichert. The third one in particular drew the attention of head coach Chris Collins.

“Sam had a nice goal – that last goal,” Collins said. “He was in the right place. He worked hard. He did what we asked him, which was to slow down and take his time and stay poised and composed. And that’s when he started scoring his goals, which was really good.”

The Cougars controlled possession throughout the game, directing 27 shots towards the Eagles goal as opposed to just three on the other end. Chesapeake put pressure on early in the contest, with Gruss and sophomore Greg Adams just missing on some scoring opportunities right near the Eagles’ goal.

The Cougars have a younger squad than they did in 2013 – this year they have nearly as many upperclassmen (seven seniors and four juniors) as they do underclassmen (five sophomores and four freshmen). Still, they were able to work together to possess and move the ball in their first game of the season.

“Last year, to be honest, we had way more skill, but we just couldn’t work together as a team,” Brennan said. “Here, we’re all just working together as a team. We all just want to win. We have a real good offense. Our defense, we can step up. We’re just working really well together. We’re talking a lot, communicating.”

As young as Chesapeake is, Northeast (0-3) is nearly as young, without quite the experience level. The Eagles have seven seniors, six juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen on their roster. Northeast struggled all game to possess the ball long enough to put together some quality scoring chances.

“Out of the 11 starters, I think nine of them have never played or started a varsity game before,” Eagles head coach Nick Hovaker said. “So it’s going to take some growing.”

Hovaker, however, liked the work of his sophomore goalkeeper Joe Garner, who made 12 saves, as well as sophomore defender John Godleski, who was on the varsity squad as a freshman. Hovaker also singled out one of his seniors, Chris Mansolf.

“Chris Mansolf up top just busts his hump every game,” Hovaker said, “so it’d be nice to reward him with a couple goals.”

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