For Chatham to remain in the boys’ soccer race, they needed a key victory over ICC Thursday night to set up their showdown with Maple Hill for the league title later this week. The Panthers got just what they needed with a convincing 4-0 win over the rival Riders. Chatham picked up a hat trick from senior Joe Van Allen, while Tim Novine added a goal and Andrew Knight had two assists in the win. The Riders held terrific possession in the first half but could not finish, while Van Allen put away the Panthers’ only true opportunity in the first and never looked back. The victory keeps Chatham with just two league losses, one game behind Maple Hill, who they play on Thursday.
Taconic Hills against Ichabod Crane field hockey was a battle of two 6-1 teams vying for Patroon Conference supremacy. The Riders lone league defeat came at the hands of the Titans, while TH had fallen to ICC in a nonleague game earlier in the season. With sole possession of the league lead on the line, the Titans came from behind to capture the game 2-1. Allie Olender scored the first goal of the game for the Riders, but the combo of Rachel Preusser and Rachel Gellert was too much for the Riders to overcome. Preusser tied the game off a Gellert assist in the first half before Gellert put away the game winner off a Preusser assist in the second half for the win.
The win puts the Titans in the driver’s seat for the league title as they square off with Germantown on Tuesday. The Clippers are the only team to beat Taconic Hills in the league this season, while the Riders need to win out and hope for a Titans loss to gain a share of the crown.
What more does the Chatham Panthers boys’ varsity football team have to do before they gain respect? First, they defeated pre-season projected powerhouse Watervliet; then they beat all comers in improving to 4-0; but still people said they couldn’t stop Fonda and Tamarac and their offense without Zach Kraham couldn’t put up the points. So the Panthers hosted powerhouse and also unbeaten Fonda and came away with a huge 20-19 win, but still respect evaded them. Friday night the Panthers played their final true test at Tamarac who came in with just one defeat.
The Panthers left no doubt who the top seed in the Class C South Division was as they pounded the Bengals 42-7. With the game tied at 7-7 in the first quarter, Ryan Coon took a kickoff 80 yards to the house for a touchdown, and the Panthers never looked back. Coon added another touchdown later in the game, while quarterback Parker Niles ran for three scores of his own. The Panthers’ final test comes this Friday when they host Catholic Central in their last regular season game of the year before sectionals begin.
