Soccer

Labor Day is a good time to reflect on the guilty pleasures I can afford. I like Chinese, but I prefer a steak and potato. I like pina coladas and I don't mind getting caught in the rain. I like different types of music, but prefer classic rock. I'm not partial to broccoli. I'd rather have an ear of corn. Soccer isn't my favorite sport. I just enjoy football. I'll stop there. This sounds like an online dating profile. Everyone has a list of preferences.

Pete Grunberg has been the junior varsity boys soccer coach at North Hagerstown High School since 2002 and served as an assistant to varity coach Glenn Singer, so it seemed he was the logical choice to take over after Singer retired after the 2012 season. “I wanted the job because I enjoy coaching and interacting with the kids,” said Grunberg, who was officially named as Singer's successor recently. Born in the South American nation of Chile, Grunberg lived there for four years before the family moved to Hagerstown in 1970.

As a defender in soccer, Emily Cronise hasn't had her name in the newspaper very often, as she's not usually the one scoring the goals or making the assists. But that doesn't seem to bother the Boonsboro senior. What really bothers her is the opposition scoring goals, and that's why it rarely happens under her watch. This fall, Cronise led Boonsboro to an 8-4-4 record. While the Warriors only managed to score 19 goals on the year, they only had a mere seven scored against them as they posted 11 shutouts, including a 1-0 upset of Williamsport in the final of the Washington County tournament.

Pretty much everything Broadfording’s boys soccer team started this season, junior Andrew Torres finished. After scoring 21 goals and adding 10 assists in an All-County First Team campaign last season, Torres was moved to striker by Lions coach David Grimm this season. “It started off a little slow, but we got it together a little bit,” Torres said. “We got the lineup adjusted and really made a good run.” The new position fit Torres like a glove.

scottb@herald-mail.com Parents, spectators and even coaches in the 61-team Hagerstown Area Youth Soccer League had a challenging assignment Saturday: Keeping their mouths shut. As part of the annual Silent Saturday, soccer coaches and spectators were prohibited from giving instructions or shouting encouragement while games were in play. The goal was for the players to learn to rely on each other rather than on parents and coaches, soccer league commissioner Heidi Tennant said.

HAYSL (Sept. 8) U19 Reliable Inc. Daredevils 5, Gettysburg 0 Daredevils: Goals - Nelson Moreno 4, Michael Rohr; Assists - Rohr, Jesse Draper, Ben Kelly, Zachary Sauble; Goalkeepers - Matt Clukey and Tommy Rubino combined on the shutout. U15 CoEd Aladdin Awards Fluffy Bunnies 3, Reliable Inc. 3 Fluffy Bunnies: Goals - Zach Snyder, Kelsey Smith, Grant Long; Assists - Smith, Brandon Seiler 2. Reliable: Goals - Justin Sauble, Morris Maravilla, Dennis Gladhill; Assists - Richard Saltos, Zakary Gladhill, Cole Catlett.

The LUYAA SC 89/90 girls club soccer team, comprised entirely of Washington County high school players, recently won the U-18 division at the Shippensburg University FUTSAL tournament.

SYKESVILLE, Md. - Morggan McGill had a goal and an assist but the Williamsport girls soccer team was unable to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit in a 5-2 loss to Century on Tuesday. McGill assisted on Kendal Moss' goal and scored on Erin Moyer's assist. Katie Vancour had 13 saves for the Wildcats (2-3). Williamsport had five shots on goal.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- At a Waynesboro Area Senior High School soccer game on Thursday, it wasn't about the score or the players' athletic prowess. The focus was a 15-year-old boy not at the game because he was receiving chemotherapy at Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. Ethan Barnhart's classmates organized the faculty vs. student soccer game in tribute to his fight against Ewing's Sarcoma. Nine hundred students paid $1 each to watch the game during an advisory period. Barnhart's family selected the American Cancer Society and Four Diamonds Fund as recipients of the money raised.

Natalie Jack and Connor Troxell, representing Washington County, turned in outstanding efforts at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Invitational Soccer Shoot on March 8 at the Hagerstown YMCA. The event was sponsored by the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, USA and hosted by Hagerstown Elks Lodge No. 378 and the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Elks Association. Natalie won the Girls' Under-8 Division and Connor placed third in the Boys' Under-14 Division. Natalie and Conner were among 40 contestants representing state champions from five different state Elks' Associations; Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland-Delaware-D.

Pete Grunberg has been the junior varsity boys soccer coach at North Hagerstown High School since 2002 and served as an assistant to varity coach Glenn Singer, so it seemed he was the logical choice to take over after Singer retired after the 2012 season. “I wanted the job because I enjoy coaching and interacting with the kids,” said Grunberg, who was officially named as Singer's successor recently. Born in the South American nation of Chile, Grunberg lived there for four years before the family moved to Hagerstown in 1970.

Rhys Seaman was just playing in a recreational soccer league one day last fall when he noticed something out of the ordinary going on between fields. A local Elks Lodge was hosting a soccer shoot. When Rhys - pronounced “Reese” - found out it was an open competition, he asked his father for permission to give it a try. Rhys, 12, of Falling Waters, W.Va., walked away from the Martinsburg field that day feeling confident that he had done well. A couple weeks later, his father, Archer Crebbs, received a call confirming that.

The Hagerstown Elks Lodge will host the annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Invitational Soccer Shoot Friday through Sunday. The tournament will have boys and girls from six states competing in their respective age categories, as well as the six state teams competing to see who has the highest score total. Teams are coming from Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the Delmarva area. The winner takes home the roving regional trophy. The weekend is filled with soccer and social activities, beginning with a Friday evening pizza party at the Elks Lodge in Hagerstown.

For more than 30 years, Robert Stum paced the sidelines at Waynesboro High School and left an indelible imprint on the community as he pioneered the school's first boys soccer team in the 1960s and paved the way for the formation of its first girls soccer team in the late 1990s. Now, the torch has been passed on to his son. Brian Stum was named Waynesboro's new boys soccer coach on Feb. 13. Stum, who replaces Doug Beckner, will be just the Indians' fourth head coach, as they prepare for their 50th season.

A 21-year-old Williamsport man who was a well-liked former member of the Williamsport High School boys soccer team was killed in an accident early Wednesday on Spielman Road just south of Downsville Pike (Md. 632), according to Maryland State Police. Derek Munro died after his vehicle hit a tree at 2:20 a.m, police said in a news release. Munro was driving north on Spielman Road in a Toyota Corolla when the vehicle crossed the center line and the southbound lane before leaving the road and hitting the tree, police said.

Lynn Mills has been involved with youth coaching for a good number of years, but the 2012 season was his first venture into the high school ranks. He made the most of his opportunity as head coach of the Clear Spring boys soccer team, which won the Washington County Public Schools tournament for the first time in school history. After a win over Boonsboro to open the tournament, Clear Spring fashioned rock-solid wins over tough Williamsport and North Hagerstown teams. “If I would have bet coming into the beginning of the year on whether we would have beat both Williamsport and North, I would have lost money,” said Mills, whose Blazers finished the season with a county-best 13-3-1 record.

Martinsburg's loss became Clear Spring's gain. Corey McClure moved to Clear Spring when he was 4 years old and started playing soccer when he was a first-grader. The years go by quickly and McClure will soon wrap up his days as a senior at Clear Spring and head on to bigger things. His individual numbers weren't gaudy, but he was the main force when it came to delivering key goals. He finished with a team-leading 15 goals this past season and also had a pair of assists. When all was said and done, Clear Spring had a 13-3-1 record, one of its best ever, and a county championship.

As a defender in soccer, Emily Cronise hasn't had her name in the newspaper very often, as she's not usually the one scoring the goals or making the assists. But that doesn't seem to bother the Boonsboro senior. What really bothers her is the opposition scoring goals, and that's why it rarely happens under her watch. This fall, Cronise led Boonsboro to an 8-4-4 record. While the Warriors only managed to score 19 goals on the year, they only had a mere seven scored against them as they posted 11 shutouts, including a 1-0 upset of Williamsport in the final of the Washington County tournament.

St. Maria Goretti senior Kevin Proctor has no problem staying busy throughout the year - especially the last two years. It is likely that Proctor is the first Gaels athlete to compete in four sports during the school year - and may be one of the first in all Washington County schools. “I love all the sports I play,” Proctor said before he prepared for a recent Goretti basketball practice. For the second year, Proctor is competing in basketball, baseball, soccer and cross country at Goretti.