Senior-heavy Burlington Twp. races past Northern Burlington

COLUMBUS » Take a lot of inexperienced players, then add in a lot of heat, and you get the dilemma which faced the Northern Burlington High varsity boys soccer team Wednesday.

Hosting a Burlington Township squad with 13 seniors, the Greyhounds, with 14 underclassmen in their fold, were forced to grow up quickly in their sizzling season opener, in which temperatures rose above 90 degrees for a second consecutive day.

Shortly after their first weatherinduced water break, the Northern youths found themselves trailing the Township men by a pair of goals.

The second half brought better news for the home team, which cut the lead in half eight minutes in, only to see the Falcons swoop in for another goal after the second weather-induced water break to secure a 3-1 win.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Burlington Township senior forward Sukhdip “Sunny” Singh said. “But we were confident that if we stuck to our system, good things would come.”

Singh kept the Falcons flying in the right direction with a goal and an assist.

After Luke Andris beat Northern Burlington goalkeeper Kristian Slaby to a pass from Knight Dean and re-directed the ball into the net with 24:25 left in the first half, Singh doubled the visitors’ lead with 15 minutes left by charging ahead for a solo score.

Despite the relentless backfield pressure of Burlington’s TJ Scott, Daniel Tum Suden, Shane McMe- namin, Hunter Klosinski and Emir Selimovic, the home side was able to break through when Davis Hallman cranked a pass from Brady Wille past Township goalkeeper Alex Hirt eight minutes into the second half to make things interesting.

“I would’ve rather tied it, but I’m happy I scored,” said Hallman, a senior. “A lot of our players hadn’t played varsity yet. They are very talented, but they’ve still got to get used to this.”

“There was a point in the first half when some of them had their ‘Oh My God, This is Varsity!’ moment,” sixth-year Northern head coach Justin Faust said. “The guys played better in the second half, then (the Falcons) caught us on a counter-attack because guys were watching the play again.”

Singh made them pay when he led Justin Giordano for the final tally with 12 minutes left.

It was just one more lesson the sun-drenched and weary Greyhounds learned their first time out this season in the re-organized, but always difficult Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division.

BurlingtonTwp.(1-0) 2 1 — 3 No.Burlington (0-1) 0 1 — 1 Goals: Andris, Singh, Giordano (BT), Hallman (NB); Assists: Dean, Singh (BT), Wille (NB). Shots: 10 (BT), 7 (NB); Saves: Hirt 5 (BT), Slaby 6 (NB).

FLORENCE 1, NEW EGYPT 0 (2OT) NEW EGYPT » Connor Kurtz connected on a pass from Joe MacArthur in the final minute of overtime to lift the Flashes past the Warriors.

Florence goalkeeper Antonio Carnivale made 10 saves to stymie New Egypt.

Florence (1-0) 0 0 0 1 — 1 NewEgypt(0-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0 Goals: Kurtz (F); Assist: MacArthur (F). Shots: 9 (F), 10 (NE); Saves: Carnivale 10 (F), Blomgren 8 (NE).

PDS 1, GERMANTOWN AC. 0 FORT WASHINGTON, PA. » Wesley Leggett converted a pass from Nasim Amer in the first half and the Panthers’ defense made it stand as they knocked off Germantown Academy on the road.

Princeton Day School goalkeepers Sal Rego and Bruno Cucchi split 12 saves.

PDS (1-0) 1 0 — 1 GermantownA(0-2-1) 0 0 — 0 Goals: Leggett (PDS); Assist: Amer (PDS). Shots: 13 (PDS), 12 (GA); Saves: Rego 6, Cucchi 6 (PDS), Kotik 12 (GA).