Chargers Trounce Camden Catholic

CHERRY HILL—The boys' soccer team (5-1-1) was cool and collective for a full 80 minutes on Tuesday as they cruised to a 7-1 win against a young and inexperienced Camden Catholic team.

“Everybody on their field kept their composure,” said Timber Creek head coach Sean Ortzman. “It's good to see all the kids play. They all contributed. Guys scored goals that don't normally score goals. So it's good developmentally for them.”

The Chargers, ranked No. 6 in the Courier-Post Top 10, ran away with the game by scoring three first-half goals in a four-minute span.

Steven Ersing scored a goal off of a free kick in the 21st minute to open the Chargers' lead up to 2-0. Three minutes later, a misplay by Fighting Irish goalkeeper Everett Minchew allowed Timber Creek's Alex Kourahanis to tap a pass to Jeffrey Morgan, who scored easily on an empty net. His goal made it a 3-0 score.

Giuseppe DeLuca would add a fourth Timber Creek goal a minute later on a penalty kick. This gave the Chargers a 4-0 lead and enough momentum to put things into cruise control the rest of the way.

The key to Timber Creek's big first half was its ability to control the middle of the field. It was apparent that Camden Catholic didn't have the speed of the Chargers and Timber Creek used that to its advantage, making a lot of crossing passes and moving the ball quickly to wear down the Irish backfield.

“That's huge to keep ball possession,” Ortzman said. “It's especially important with a team that maybe isn't as skilled, if we can keep ball possession and keep bad things from happening, then eventually we're going to break through because we have that speed that they can't stop.”

"We don't have the talent that all the other kids have,” said Camden Catholic coach Socrates Nicolaidis about his young squad. “We're going to play against really talented teams. So it's just trying to get them to not think about what the score is and to continue to play our game, which is a passing and moving game.”

The large deficit allowed the Chargers to play some of their younger guys, especially late in the first half and in the second half. Ersing, in particular, made an impression on Ortzman.

In addition to his first-half goal, Ersing assisted on Morgan's second goal of the game in the second half. Ersing was being closely defended while driving to the net when he found Morgan wide open behind him. A quick pass back allowed Morgan to drive a shot into the upper right corner of the net.

“Ersing played outstanding,” Ortzman said. “He played some tough soccer here today. He's a sophomore so he's getting a lot of minutes in and it's a good experience for him.”

The stat sheet was full of numbers for the Chargers when the final whistle blew. DeLuca and Morgan both scored two goals in the game. Kourahanis had a goal and two assists. Ersing finished with a goal and an assist. Sonimi Halliday also had a goal in the game.

The Chargers will be back in action today at home, when they play Cherry Hill East at 3:45 p.m.