RallyNorth.net

Mon, Sep 17, 2007 05:00 PM @ Manchester Essex

Team	Final
Rockport	1
Manchester Essex	2

Manchester takes doubleheader over rival Rockport

Tuesday, September, 18 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

MANCHESTER | Last night was a good night to be a member of the Manchester Essex soccer program.

The Hornets boys and girls soccer teams swept a doubleheader against rival Rockport at Sweeney Park in Manchester. The boys team won 2-1, while the girls won 2-0.

Hornets boys coach Rob Bilsbury was very pleased with his team's performance.

"I'm really proud of the team's effort," Bilsbury said. "This was an all around team effort."

The first half was a defensive struggle as neither team could get on the board. Rockport goalkeeper Colby Osier (11 saves) and defenseman Eric Juncker thwarted an aggressive Hornets attack.

The Hornets (2-1-1) also played good first half defense, allowing the Vikings (2-1-1) to record only two shots on goal. Ashton Davis and Rob Longcor powered the Manchester Essex defense.

The second half was beginning to shape up the same way as the first half until Manchester's Giuseppe Guerriero booted his shot past Osier midway through the second half. The Hornets lead would not last long as Rockport's Derek Osmond scored. The Hornets would take the lead with the game's third goal in three minutes when Guerriero scored his second of the game on a penalty kick.

Rockport head coach Dave Curley lauded Guerriero.

"The difference of this game was Giuseppe," Curley said. "This was a very well played game between two evenly matched teams. But Manchester Essex worked really well and they deserved to win."

Bilsbury agreed that Guerriero played well. "Guerriero sealed the game for us both offensively and defensively," Bilsburry said. "But the rest of the team played well too. We had great intensity throughout and we did a good job defending their scorers."

The girls game played out exactly the opposite of the boys game. The Hornets got two goals early in the first half from Alex Doyle, and then let their defense do the rest of the work. Manchester Essex was able to shut down the Vikings and earn their first victory of the season.

"This was a great back and forth game, no team had a clear advantage," Hornets head coach Keith Gray said. "Scoring first was a big deal. It gave us a big advantage in the first half, and our defense played great the rest of the way."

Hornets (1-3) goalie Jordan Bigger earned the shutout for Manchester Essex recording ten saves. Ali Hogan and Molly Osborne played well defensively for the Hornets as well. Meanwhile, Hannah Brunette played well for the Vikings (1-3), making plays all over the field.

All in all Gray was happy to see his team get a win against their rivals.

"This is an amazing rivalry, we are always happy to get a win against Rockport," Gray said. "It's always great to see these teams play because they both play good hard soccer."