12/25/2008
Times Leader selects Soccer All-Stars
From Times Leader 12/25/2008

Rob Bertoni
Sr., Defense, Nanticoke
The defender didn’t help the Trojans to the division title on offense as he didn’t score any points this season, but he was one of the top defenders in Division II. The champions allowed only 24 goals with a first-year keeper largely due to the play of Bertoni, a four-year starter.

Josh Olzinski
Sr., Forward, Nanticoke
The Trojans claimed their first division championship since 2002 as Olzinski led the way with 18 goals, five assists and 41 points.

11/6/2008
Citizens' Voice selects Soccer All-Stars
From Citizens' Voice 11/2/2008

Selected by the coaches to the first team WVC Division II Soccer Conference was Robert Bertoni, Josh Olzinski, Mack Martin and Jason Zmiewski. Selected to the second team was Joey Zwiebel and Keith Moran.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

10/24/2008
Nanticoke ousted by Valley View
WVC Division II champion Trojans have season end with 3-0 loss to Cougars.
drosengrant@timesleader.com
Note: Edited for space by GNA Webdesign

Entering Thursday’s District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal match, Nanticoke was on an emotional high after clinching the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II title just 48 hours before kickoff.
The Trojans carried that momentum into the contest against Valley View, but lost it after two quick second-half goals by the Cougars, who went on to a 3-0 victory.
Valley View will play Coughlin in the semifinals on Tuesday and a site and time to be determined.
Nanticoke will lose a slew of players for next year, but one key cog returning is Yalch, a sophomore who made eight saves on Thursday.
“The one thing with Mike is when he gives up a goal or something doesn’t go right, he comes right back,” Matusek added. “He doesn’t hang his head. He recovers well from that and he did that again tonight.”
Nanticoke 0 0 — 0
Valley View 1 2 — 3
First half: 1. VV, Jeff Werts (unassisted) 28:38
Second half: 1. VV, Mark Mileski (Ryan Tomaine) 29:12; 2. VV, Werts (Brandon Jackson) 27:48
Shots: NAN 12, VV 16; Saves: NAN 8 (Mike Yalch), VV 8 (Josh Roberts); Corners: NAN 7, VV 8.

10/23/2008
Trojans - Road to the playoffs
Nanticoke (13-1-2)

Coach: Mark Matusek, 20th season
First Opponent: The Trojans, who got the third seed from the WVC, will travel to Valley View (11-1), the No. 2 seed from the Lackawanna League for a 6 p.m. match today.
Key Players: Josh Olzinski, F (18G, 5A, 41P), Keith Moran, MF (12G, 3A, 27P); Josh Lukaszewski, F (6G, 1A, 13P); Robert Bertoni, D; Mike Yalch, GK
The Skinny: The Trojans are on a roll. After losing their second game of the season, 2-1 to Meyers, they have gone 14 games without losing to claim the Division II championship. The last time they won a division championship, they advanced to the PIAA Championships.
In the district tournament last year, Nanticoke held a 2-0 lead over Scranton Prep late in a quarterfinal game before losing a heartbreaker 3-2 to the eventual district runner-up.

10/21/2008
Nanticoke Clinches Title
Berwick pulled off the biggest upset of the soccer season on Monday shutting out Lake-Lehman 2-0.

The loss for the Black Knights (13-2-1) gave Nanticoke (13-1-2) the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II championship. Both teams will begin play in the District 2 Class 2A tournament later in the week.
It marks just the third division title in school history for the Trojans. Their last championship was the D-II title in 2002. That year, Nanticoke claimed the title in a playoff game against Crestwood en route to a district championship.
On Monday, the Trojans found out the news at practice after a player’s parent relayed the message.
“I’m happy about it but I’m shocked too,” Nanticoke coach Mark Matusek said. “I give Berwick a lot of credit. They went out there and played hard.
“It’s a different feeling when someone else controls what you do, but my kids never stopped playing and went out there and played hard every day.”
Shane Kitzmiller scored both goals for Berwick (8-8), while Corey Klinger and Dennis Zielinski were credited with assists.
The win for the Bulldogs also clinched a season with a non-losing record for the first time in nearly a decade.

WAY TA GO BERWICK!!!

10/18/2008
Nanticoke 4, Berwick 2

Josh Olzinski scored twice while Mack Martin and Kyle Capie each added a goal and an assist to keep the Trojans alive for the Division II title.
Mike Henger and Corey Klinger each scored for the Bulldogs, who got 10 saves from Randall Jones.
Nanticoke finished the regular season at 13-1-2.
Berwick 2 0 — 2
Nanticoke 4 0 — 4
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Olzinski (Mack Martin), 37:10; 2. NAN, Martin, 33:32; 3. BER, Mike Henger (penalty kick), 26:38; 4. NAN, Olzinski (Kyle Capie), 21:09; 5. NAN, Capie (Josh Lukaszewski), 20:01; 6. BER, Corey Klinger, 15:47.
Shots: BER 7, NAN 23; Saves: BER 10 (Randall Jones), NAN 1 (Mike Yalch); Corners: BER 2, NAN 9.

10/16/2008
Nanticoke rally puts Trojans in postseason
drosengrant@timesleader.com
Trailing late in a crucial game against Pittston Area, Nanticoke coach Mark Matusek was looking for a spark to light up his offense.
The longtime coach made a substitution, sending senior Kyle Capie into the game to play on the outside.
Matusek’s strategy worked to perfection.
The Trojans scored two goals in the final 19:30 of Wednesday’s contest with Capie on the field to defeat the Patriots 3-2 and secure a District 2 Class 2A playoff berth.
“Kyle Capie usually stirs things up, and I said, ‘Kyle, stir something up,’” Matusek said. “He’s like a little sparkplug. It was now or never. We had to do something, and he kind of sparked us and we started to attack better.”
The jumpstart immediately paid off, as Capie was in the game for less than a minute when Josh Olzinski tied the score at 2-2 on an unassisted goal with 19:30 left on the clock.
Then with the clock winding down, Josh Lukaszewski won it for the Trojans off a pass from Keith Moran with 2:24 remaining. The goal was Lukaszewski’s second of the game.
“I knew I had to step it up at the end, and the assist from Keith Moran helped,” said Lukaszewski, who missed a month of the season due to a hamstring injury. “We played well as a team and kept (the ball) on the ground and that’s all that happened.”
With the loss in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II showdown, the Patriots (11-4) are mathematically eliminated from the postseason. They are now three games behind Nanticoke (12-1-2) in the loss column with just one match remaining on the schedule for each team.
Every other year, the WVC has a play-in game for the final D2 2A playoff spot between the Class 2A team with the fourth-best record in Division I and the team with the second-best 2A record in D-II. But before the season started, coaches voted to automatically take three teams from Division I and two from Division II.
The only game that could decide that last seed would be between D-I teams Crestwood and Holy Redeemer, which currently are separated by one game in the standings and are battling for the final spot.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was win the division and do something at districts,” Matusek said. “There’s a lot of tough teams at districts, but you never know what could happen.”
After Nanticoke took a 1-0 lead at the 31:02 mark of the first half on Lukaszewski’s first tally, the Patriots scored consecutive goals to take a 2-1 lead.
The tying goal came off the foot of Nick Webb with 19:36 left in the first half. Mark Dantone was credited with the assist. Dantone kept the ball alive near the Nanticoke goal, knocking it up in the air before Webb shot it into the back of the net.
Pietro Colella gave the Patriots a 2-1 lead with 33:09 remaining in the match on an unassisted tally. But the Trojans ruined any chances of a Pittston Area win a few minutes later.
“It was disappointing, but I thought the kids played well,” Patriots assistant coach Kevin Baumes said. “We had some kids that were hurting for us, but they stepped up.”
Pittston Area, which will finish up a tough week of matches against postseason teams on Friday, can now help Nanticoke’s chances for a division championship by beating or tying division leader Lake-Lehman (13-1-1) in its last game of the regular season on senior day.
The Patriots defeated Meyers on Monday. The Mohawks (9-5-1) have secured a District 2 Class A playoff berth.
Nanticoke 1 2 — 3
Pittston Area 1 1 — 1
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Lukaszewski (Josh Olzinski) 31:02; 2. PA, Nick Webb (Mark Dantone) 19:36. Second half: 1. PA, Pietro Colella 33:09; 2. NAN, Olzinski 19:30; 3. NAN, Lukaszewski (Keith Moran) 2:24
Shots: NAN 16, PA 12; Saves: NAN 3 (Mike Yalch), PA 9 (Brian Werts); Corners: NAN 8, PA 1.

10/14/2008
Nanticoke 2, Hanover Area 1

Josh Lukaszewski and Josh Olzinski each scored in the first half as Nanticoke (11-1-2) remained a half game behind Lake-Lehman (11-1-1) for the division lead.
Matt Lukachinsky tied Austin Bogart with his team-leading 15th goal for the Hawkeyes, who fell to 7-7.
Nanticoke 2 0 — 2
Hanover Area 0 1 — 1
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Lukaszewski 33:15; 2. NAN, Josh Olzinski 27:22
Second half: 1. HAN, Matt Lukachinsky 29:02;
Shots: NAN 44, HAN 20; Saves: NAN 19 (Mike Yalch), HAN 31 (Dan Tomko); Corners: NAN 4, HAN 1.

10/9/2008
Nanticoke 6, MMI 1

Josh Lukaszewski and Keith Moran scored two goals each for the Trojans, while Mack Martin and Josh Olzinski also helped the winners improve to 10-1-2.
Olzinski and Will Grabinski each notched two assists.
Niklas Anthony scored off a pass from Lewis Bevans for the Preppers (0-14).
MMI 0 1 — 1
Nanticoke 5 1 — 6
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Olzinski (Kyle Capie) 36:18; 2. NAN, Mack Martin (Will Grabinski) 28:37; 3. NAN, Keith Moran (Grabinski) 26:06; 4. NAN, Josh Lukaszewski (Martin) 9:25; 5. NAN, Moran (Olzinski) 8:02; Second half: 1. MMI, Niklas Anthony (Lewis Bevans) 17:14; 2 NAN, Lukaszewski (Olzinski) 15:40
Shots: MMI 4, NAN 24; Saves: MMI 10 (Robert Daugherty), NAN 3 (Mike Yalch); Corners: MMI 0, NAN 2.

10/7/2008
Nanticoke 2, GAR 0

Josh Lukaszewski and Keith Moran each scored unassisted goals as the Trojans improved to 9-1-2.
Grenadiers keeper Rich Williams made 16 saves.
Nanticoke 1 1 — 2
GAR 0 0 — 0
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Lukaszewski 11:51; Second half: 1. NAN, Keith Moran 10:23.
Shots: NAN 20, GAR 8; Saves: NAN 2 (Mike Yalch), GAR 16 (Rich Williams); Corners: NAN 5, GAR 3

10/4/2008
Lake-Lehman 1 - Nanticoke Area 1, 2OT
Citizens Voice

At Lake-Lehman, the Black Knights and Nanticoke Area each scored in the first half, but neither team could capitalize in the second half or two overtimes and had to settle for a 1-1 tie. Jimmy Dalkiewicz scored for Lehman off a pass from Casey Dawes. Kyle Capie had an unassisted goal for Nanticoke.

9/30/2008
Tie vs. Nanticoke deals blow to Meyers’ title hopes
Mohawks are a game down in the loss column to Trojans, Black Knights.
drosengrant@timesleader.com

It might still be September, but don’t tell that to Nanticoke and Meyers.
The two teams battled on Monday in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division II epic soccer match like it was November and they were playing in the postseason.
The fans were fired up.
The play was intense.
The weather was getting chilly.
There was even a bizarre play that could have decided the outcome.
The only thing missing was a penalty kick shootout to decide the winner.
Instead, the teams settled for a 3-3 tie after 100 minutes of play. With the tie, Meyers’ chance of three-peating as division champion took a hit. The Mohawks (6-2-1) are currently one game behind the Trojans (8-1-1) and Lake-Lehman (8-1-0) in the loss column. Meyers plays at Lake-Lehman on Wednesday, while the Trojans travel to Lehman Township for a showdown on Friday.
“It was a very evenly-matched game all the way around,” said Nanticoke coach Mark Matusek. “Both teams played hard. Both teams played to win. It was a physical game for both teams. It was a tough game all the way around.”
One of the biggest plays of the game came with 6:41 remaining in the second overtime when one of numerous pushing calls were made.
Meyers’ Jon Montalvo was called for the foul near the Nanticoke goal. An official blew the whistle, but it wasn’t heard by everyone at Gibby Field.
Nanticoke stopped playing, but the Mohawks kept going and found the back of the net and thought they had the victory.
A few seconds later, the goal was waived off and the Trojans were awarded possession.
“I didn’t hear a whistle. I did see Montalvo mixing it up a little bit after the ball left, but I thought they were both mixing it up,” Meyers coach Jack Nolan said. “But I’m not going to blame the game on referees. We had opportunities and Nanticoke had opportunities. They make calls against them and make calls against us.”
Nanticoke got on the board first when Mack Martin took a corner and got it to Jason Zmijewski, who headed the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead with 35:35 in the first half.
The Mohawks retaliated about five minutes later when Montalvo fed a pass to Jeff Frail, who tied the score at 1. Meyers took a 2-1 lead with 10:48 left in the first when Montalvo beat three defenders to slot the ball in the corner of the net off a pass from Felix Ngolo.
At halftime, Matusek switched from a 5-4-2 to a 3-4-3 and it paid huge dividends for his team.
The Trojans outshot Meyers 10-5 in the second half and controlled the ball for most of the period. If not for the solid play of Meyers sweeper Steve Knooren and other defenders Chris McGavin and Ryan Naperkowski, the Trojans might have scored six or seven times.
“Knooren is a senior and he has just been phenomenal for us all year,” Nolan added. “We have a sophomore keeper (John Nargoski) and this is his first year playing for us. To have that experience playing in front of him has been tremendous.”
Nanticoke scored twice in a six-minute span to take a 3-2 lead in the second half. The first score came off the foot of Keith Moran unassisted at the 18:14 mark. The final Trojans goal was with 12:20 remaining in the half off another corner kick. This time, Will Grabinski lined it in front of the net. After a melee, Joey Zannetti was awarded with a goal.
“It was two different halves,” Matusek noted. “The first half, they controlled the momentum and were the more aggressive team and in the second half. We came back and played better and it shows.”
Ngolo got the equalizer with 5:23 remaining in the second half off a pass from Montalvo.
“(Winning) the division is nice. It would be nice to continue that,” Nolan noted. “We’re just going to do some scoreboard watching and hope somebody can help us out. If not, we will go into districts and try to win a district title.”
Nanticoke 1 2 0 0 — 3
Meyers 2 1 0 0 — 3
First half: 1. NAN, Jason Zmijewski (Mack Martin); 2. MEY, Jeff Frail (Jon Montalvo) 30:00; 3. MEY, Montalvo (Felix Ngolo) 10:48. Second half: 1. NAN, Keith Moran 18:14; 2. NAN, Joey Zannetti (Will Grabinski) 12:20; 3. MEY, Ngolo (Montalvo) 5:23.
Shots: NAN 22, MEY 9; Saves: NAN 2 (Mike Yalch), MEY 9 (John Nargoski); Corners: NAN 2, MEY 4.

9/28/2008
GNA downs MMI in soccer
Times Leader

Nanticoke Area avoided an upset in boys soccer to MMI by scoring three consecutive goals in the second half en route to a 6-4 win on Saturday after trailing 4-3.
Joey Zannetti, Keith Moran and Kyle Capie scored the second-half tallies for Nanticoke.
Capie also had a goal in the first half, as did Jason Zmijewski and Josh Olzinski.
Leonid Moroz paced the Preppers with two goals, while Michael McGraw, Alexander VanHoekelen also scored.
Nanticoke 3 3 — 6
MMI 3 1 — 4
First half: 1. NAN, Jason Zmijewski (Keith Moran) 28:24; 2. MMI, Leonid Moroz (Joe Hornak) 21:48; 3. NAN, Josh Olzinski 19:20; 4. NAN, Kyle Capie (Moran) 15:43; 5. MMI, Michael McGraw (Ryan Scirrotto) 13:17; 6. MMI, Alexander VanHoekelen (penalty kick) 2:39; Second half: 1. MMI, Moroz (Niklas Anthony) 23:47; 2. NAN, Joey Zannetti 22:37; 3. Keith Moran (Will Grabinski) 20:33; 4. NAN, Capie 21:53
Shots: NAN 11, MMI 10; Saves: NAN 9 (Mike Yalch), MMI 11 (Robert Dougherty); Corners: NAN 7, MMI 2.

9/25/2008
Switch pays off for Trojans
Trojans 3 - Wyoming Area 2

Trailing by a goal at halftime, Nanticoke switched to a 3-4-3 look midway through the second half. The strategy paid off as the Trojans scored twice to beat Wyoming Area 3-2 on Wednesday in a Wyoming Valley Conference boys soccer game.
Keith Moran scored off a cross from Kyle Capie with 13:25 remaining to keep the Trojans (7-1) in a first-place tie with Lake-Lehman in Division II.
Josh Olzinski had the other two scores for Nanticoke, including the equalizer at 15:57 of the second half.
Ian Scrobola and Chris Scatena had the goals for Wyoming Area (3-6).
Wyoming Area 2 0 — 2
Nanticoke 1 2 — 3
First half: 1. WA, Ian Scrobola (Chris Scatena), 34:12; 2. NAN, Josh Olzinski, 32:56; 3. WA, Scatena, 16:32. Second half: 4. NAN, Olzinski (Will Grabinski), 15:57; 5. NAN, Keith Moran (Kyle Capie), 13:25.
Shots: WA 4, NAN 20; Saves: WA 10 (Michael Romanoski), NAN 2 (Mike Yalch); Corners: WA 1, NAN 5

9/23/2008
Nanticoke 3, Berwick 0

Keith Moran and Josh Olzinski scored first-half goals as the Trojans raced out to a 2-0 lead and didn’t look back.
Joey Zannetti also scored for Nanticoke, which improved to 6-1.
For Berwick (4-3), Randall Jones stopped 15 shots.
Nanticoke 2 1 — 3
Berwick 0 0 — 0
First half: 1. NAN, Keith Moran 5:34; 2. NAN, Josh Olzinski 7:49
Second half: 1. NAN, Joey Zannetti 24:22
Shots: NAN 23, BER 9; Saves: NAN 5 (Mike Yalch), BER 15 (Randall Jones); Corners: NAN 5, BER 3.

9/21/2008
Nanticoke 5, Lakeland 0

Kyle Capie and Josh Olzinski each scored twice to lead the Trojans in the exhibition game. Keith Moran also found the back of the net for Nanticoke.
Lakeland has a 3-3 record playing in Lackawanna League Division III.
Lakeland 0 0 — 0
Nanticoke 2 3 — 5
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Olzinski (Kyle Capie) 35:00; 2. NAN, Capie 32:17; Second half: 1. NAN, Capie 37:15; 2. NAN, Olzinski (Mack Martin) 33:04; 3. NAN, Keith Moran (John Mavus) 14:21; Shots: LAK 7, NAN 26; Saves: LAK 13 (Justin Kubilas), NAN 3 (Mike Yalch, Tony Baranoski); Corners: LAK 2, NAN 5.

9/19/2008
Nanticoke Area 2, Pittston Area 1 2OT

At Nanticoke Area, MAck Martin scored on a penalty pick with 4:55 left in the second overtime to lift the Trojans to a win over Pittston Area. Martin also scored in the first half off a pass from Josh Olzinski. Jake Shane tied it up for Pittston when he scored an unassisted goal in the second half.
Mike Yalch had five saves in the goal for Nanticoke and Brian Werts postd 12 in the net for Pittston.
Pittston Area 0 1 0 0 — 1
Nanticoke 1 0 0 1 — 2 First half: 1. NAN, Mack Martin (Josh Olzinski), 26:03. Second half: 2. PA, Jake Shane, 24:24. Second overtime: Mack Martin (penalty kick), 4:55.
Shots: PA 6, NAN 18; Saves: PA 12 (Brian Werts), NAN 5 (Mike Yalch); Corners: PA 1, NAN 3.

9/17/2008 - Citizens' Voice
Nanticoke Area 7, Hanover Area 1

At Nanticoke, Joe Zannetti scored a natural hat trick in the first half to highlight the Trojans’ win. Will Grabinski had two assists. Josh Olzinski scored two goals and assisted another and Kyle Capie added a goal and an assist.

Nanticoke 9, GAR 1

Keith Moran scored four first-half goals for the Trojans, who cruised to the win.
Maurizio Illiano had the lone score for GAR.
GAR 0 1 — 1
Nanticoke 8 1 — 9
First half: 1. NAN, Will Grabinski, 31:24; 2. NAN, Keith Moran (Joe Zannetti), 21:14; 3. NAN, Moran (Grabinski), 19:13; 4. NAN, own goal, 18:59; 5. NAN, Moran (Mack Martin), 15:10; 6. NAN, Josh Olzinski (Martin), 13:52; 7. NAN, Moran (Kyle Capie), 13:32; 8. NAN, Zannetti, 12:00. Second half: 9. GAR, Maurizio Illiano, 10:34; 10. NAN, John Mavus (Alex Pawlush), 4:27.
Shots: GAR 8, NAN 22; Saves: GAR 11, NAN 6 (Mike Yalch, Mavus, Tony Baranowski); Corners: GAR 1, NAN 3.

Nanticoke 6, Lake-Lehman 3

Josh Olzinski broke out for three goals to lead the Trojans in the slugfest.
Jimmy Dalkiewicz scored two of Lehman’s three goals, while Danny Precone had a goal and assist.
Joe Zannetti chipped in two goals and two assists for Nanticoke, and Will Grabinski had a goal and assist.
Lake-Lehman 1 2 — 3
Nanticoke 4 2 — 6
First half: 1. NAN, Josh Olzinski (Joe Zannetti) 33:05; 2. LL, Jimmy Dalkiewicz (Danny Precone) 18:40; 3. NAN, Zannetti (Will Grabinski) 15:54; 4. NAN, Olzinski (Zannetti) 14:03; NAN, Zannetti (Cody Bukowski) 8:00
Second half: 1. LL, Dalkiewicz 29:12; 2. NAN, Olzinski 23:12; 3. LL, Precone 12:41; 4. NAN, Will Grabinski 1:30
Shots: LL 8, NAN 15; Saves: LL 4 (John Butchko), NAN xx (Mike Yalch 4, Tony Baranowski 2); Corners: LL 2, NAN 5.

Mohawks have Nanticoke solved
Jon Montalvo keys a Meyers’ rally to beat the Trojans for a fifth straight time.
It’s official. Meyers has Nanticoke’s number.