BOYS SOCCER: Rebound goal lifts Greencastle-Antrim over Shippensburg

GREENCASTLE >> Every day during practice, Greencastle-Antrim boys soccer coach Scott Gelsinger has the Blue Devils work on crashing the goal when a shot goes toward the goalkeeper in hopes that he isn't able to control it and it rebounds out for another chance.

That hard work paid off big when Kaleb Hurley stuck the only goal of the match in G-A's 1-0 victory over Shippensburg in Mid Penn Colonial Division action Tuesday night at Kaley Field.

"We've been emphasizing going hard at the keeper on every shot that we take in case they bobble it," Hurley said. "Coach tells us it will give us extra chances to score."

Gelsinger added with a laugh, "At least I know they're listening to me."

Hurley's tally came with 16:33 left in the opening half and followed a shot by Brandon Stuhler that Ship keeper Spencer McKenna was able to deflect but unable to gather in.

McKenna denied Hurley's first shot attempt of the match with 30:27 left in the first half and Devil keeper Bryson Robinson returned the favor when he stopped Matt West's try with 23:28 to play until the break.

"We were really flat in the first half tonight. Probably the flattest we've been all season," Shippensburg coach Warren Jones said. "We were a little better in the second half, but not at the level that we need to be. I knew they'd come at us strong and they did."

Kaleb Jentzsch almost doubled G-A's lead with 18:56 left in the match, but his shot hit the left post and bounded away. Hurley then found an opening, but shot wide to the left with 13:03 remaining before McKenna denied Nick Heinze on a direct kick from 35 yards out with 9:14 left and then snagged Ian Gelsinger's header with 8:26 to go.

Ship (3-2, 2-1 MPC) had one other shot on goal and that was taken by Jackson Van Horne from 20 yards out with 3:47 to play and it was handled easily by Robinson.

"We've gotten better defensively every game since our opener against Waynesboro (a 2-1 loss)," Scott Gelsinger said. "We talked at halftime tonight about keeping the shutout. That was our goal in the second half."

The result means that every team in the division now has at least one loss in the division and G-A, Ship, Boiling Springs and Big Spring all sit at 2-1.

"We expect a battle every time we play Ship," Gelsinger said. "They're a great program with a great coach."

G-A (3-1, 2-1) held a 6-2 edge in shots on goal and a 4-1 advantage in corners.

Greencastle 1, Shippensburg 0 Shippensburg 0 0 — 0 Greencastle 1 0 — 1

First half — (GA) Kaleb Hurley, asst. Brandon Stuhler, 16:33

Shots — Ship 2, GA 6; Corner kicks — Ship 1, GA 4; Saves — Ship 5 (Spencer McKenna), GA 2 (Bryson Robinson).

JV score — Greencastle 2, Shippensburg 1.