Quakers boys extend win streak, while girls soccer continues to struggle

Boys soccer

New Philadelphia’s boys soccer team continued its torrid play, stretching their win streak to five with wins over Tri-Valley and Mansfield Senior, both at home to improve their overall record to 6-4-1 after starting the season 1-4-1. 

New Philadelphia beat Tri-Valley 1-0 Sept. 18 and Mansfield 4-1 two days later. They Quakers were set to host Akron North Sept. 23 and Minerva two days after that, meaning the odds of stretching the streak were better than good. 

Against Tri-Valley, Elvin Herrera-Lopez scored just six minutes in with an assist from Ryan Sauser and New Philadelphia’s defense made it stand up. Nathan Siegler scored twice, Herrera-Lopez added one goal and a pair of assists, and Luis Herrera-Lopez scored in the win over Mansfield. Asher Zimmerman added an assist. 

The Quakers took a 3-2-1 Ohio Cardinal Conference record into the week. Wooster and Madison Comprehensive had the top spots at 5-0 and 4-0-1, respectively.

Girls Soccer 

Things continued to be a struggle for the Quakers, who were shut down offensively twice more in a scoreless tie with Mansfield Senior Sept. 20 and a 7-0 loss to Zanesville Sept. 22. New Philadelphia fell to 2-9-1 overall and has been held scoreless in all but three of those 12 matches. The Quakers will have a bit of a break before returning to action Sept. 29 against Carrollton. Their next Ohio Cardinal Conference match is Oct. 2 at Wooster, where New Philadelphia will look for its first league victory.

Volleyball

The Quakers split a pair of Ohio Cardinal Conference matches last week, beating Mansfield Senior in straight sets before dropping a tough 3-2 decision at home against Ashland. At Mansfield, NPHS rolled 25-9, 25-13, 25-5. The Quakers’ 75 points featured just 26 kills, led by freshman Abby Sweitzer’s six. They nearly matched that number in aces, totaling 21. Junior Kaitrin Burnworth led in that column with eight, despite playing just two sets. Sophomore Stella Halter added five. Burnworth also had a team-best six assists. The Quakers fell to Ashland 21-15, 25-15, 17-25, 25-21, 15-7. Sweitzer again paced the attack with 12 kills. Senior Aubrie Watson led with 22 kills, two more than Burnworth, who was two ahead of senior Marisa Loader, who paced the team with 15 assists. The Quakers stood at 4-10 overall, 4-6 in the OCC with a match looming at first-place Wooster Sept. 23.

Cross country

The Quakers had the weekend off this past week and were set for a midweek race at the County Classic at Tuscarawas Central Catholic Sept. 23 before heading to Olentangy the Berlin Bear Dash Invitational. The New Philadelphia boys, still ranked No. 1 in the state in the Division II coaches poll will run in the premier race, which will include several of the state’s best programs, including No. 2 Lexington. The girls will run in the double blue race.