The following varsity players were recognized for their play during the 2011 Central League season:

Tyler Helms – 1^st Team All Central League

Dean DerSimonian – 2^nd Team All Central League

Congratulations to the players for their recognition.

The Raiders hosted Penncrest on Senior Night. After a nice ceremony celebrating the ten seniors, Radnor went out with a great opportunity to secure a district playoff bid with a win in their last regular season Central league game. Unfortunately for Radnor, there was a defensive miscommunication at the 5 minute mark that led to the game’s only goal by Penncrest. That would be one of only two quality chances Penncrest would have all game. Radnor had numerous chances but either the shots were not on the frame or the Penncrest goalie made the save. With 16 minutes left in the game, Penncrest was awarded a penalty kick which, most likely, would have sealed the win. The penalty was missed which further invigorated the Raiders. The Raiders continued to pepper the goal for the remainder of the game but just could not capitalize.

The team knew they lost a great opportunity to solidify a playoff bid with their loss to Penncrest. However, even though their record was not overly impressive, their overall play left an impressive mark as they received the good news about making the playoffs.

Radnor finished the regular season 7-9-2 overall and 4-5-2 in the Central League. Their first round playoff game will be against North Penn on 10/25/Tuesday, 7pm.

Radnor JV ends its season 13 - 1, scored 29 goals with an incredible 1 goal against.  Congratulations to goalies Jud Solomon and Ryan Freedman and the entire JV defense!!!  Thank you to coach Horace Campbell as well for the great coaching!

About 5 minutes into the game, Sam Camp took a nice pass from Adam Erkis and hit an amazing shot that clipped the crossbar prior to going into the back of the net.  Radnor thought they had a second goal (twice!) when Mike Kleinman's shot that looked like it went in was put in the top corner(again) by Teddy Blickwedel but the "referee" did not see it that way and allowed play to continue.

Radnor scored in the middle of the first half and held on to win against a tough Strathhaven team at Strathhaven.  Gerardo Montiel sent a fantastic cross to Sam Camp who calmly settled the ball and buried it in the back of the net for the only goal of the game.

Fernando Summo was outstanding in defense seemingly stopping every SH charge.  When the ball did get through, Ryan Freedman was always there and made a very nice charging save in the first half to stop the best scoring chance by SH.

Radnor JV goes to 10 - 1 on the season with the win.

The Radnor varsity traveled to Haverford High Monday and came away with a tightly contested 2-1 victory. Alec Fischman got Radnor off to a quick start at the 10 minute mark by anticipating and stealing a pass between the Haverford defenders. He took a touch to get inside the right side of the box and delivered a quality finish right out of a FIFA video game that beat the goalie for the lead. Radnor continued to get quality chances as Chris Martin also had a good opportunity but his shot deflected off the post and went out. Haverford was not able to threaten much as the backline of Erik Hotaling, Peter Donato, Matt Lundstrom, and Dalton Morris did a good job of stifling any Haverford opportunity. Right before the half, Radnor almost built on the lead as Dean DerSimonian beat the defender with the ball to the right corner and delivered a nice cross that was met by a teammate’s head but the shot went wide.

The 2^nd half started with another great chance for Radnor as Fischman got the ball on a counterattack, 1-v-1 against a Fords central defender. Fischman megged the defender as he went from the right side of the box to the middle and got a strong shot off with his left foot. Just as it seemed he was about to register his second goal of the match, the goalie got a glove on it and deflected it off the goal post and away from danger. Haverford finally broke through a few minutes later as their forward caught goalie Wes Dickson off his line and dribbled to the side and scored to tie the game. However, the Fords excitement and tie were short-lived. On the ensuing tap, Martin and Alex Hayes, with effective, short passing back and forth, brought the ball into the offensive end of field. Ultimately, Hayes ended up with the ball on the left sideline about 30 yards away from the end line and delivered a gorgeous service into the box. It sailed over everyone’s heads, to the right of the goal frame, onto the waiting foot of DerSimonian, who settled it with one touch and blasted it in from a tight angle to regain the lead. Radnor continued to control play due to the solid midfield play of Kevin Hartnett, Tyler Helms, Nico Pelaez, Kevin Riley, and Mike Cox, who never allowed Haverford to string together multiple passes while providing opportunities to the Radnor forwards with quick, crisp passes. Helms and Hartnett, in particular, dominated the middle of the field with their effective play. As the game wound down in the final minute, the Fords were able to garner two threatening free kicks. Neither was put on frame and Radnor celebrated its second consecutive win.

The Radnor varsity beat the visitors from Christopher Dock 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Radnor came out of the gate strong and at the ten minute mark had a fantastic chance to take the lead. Forward Chris Martin anticipated a run to track down defender Erik Hotaling’s long goal kick as it bounced over the Christopher Dock’s defensemen. Martin had a near breakaway from 30 yards out but, unfortunately for Radnor, his penultimate touch was a bit too hard as he was entering the goal box, which gave the Dock goalie an opportunity to come out and cut down the angle. Martin still reached the ball first and his shot avoided the onrushing goalie but just went wide of the far goal post. At the 26 minute mark, Radnor was able to capitalize. Sander Yu was fouled which provided Radnor a direct kick from approximately 35 yards out. Hotaling took the free kick and struck the ball well. The ball bounced right near the goal line as the goalie dove to his right but it squirted through for the Radnor lead. The first half played out with Radnor carrying the play and never being threatened by Dock. The 2^nd half favored Christopher Dock as they tried for the equalizer. Their most promising chance came with 10 minutes left when their creative forward split two of Radnor’s defenders and emerged from the right corner to provide a dangerous low cross through the box. His teammate deflected the ball towards goal but Radnor goalie, Wes Dickson, was in the proper position to make the quick-reflex save to preserve the deserved win. Radnor now begins a crucial five game stretch against Central League opponents.

On Saturday afternoon, Radnor Raiders varsity lost 3-2 to Shipley on the Gator’s new home turf field. Radnor was without its usual starting goalie who had received a red card the previous game. Shipley’s creative and dynamic forward was responsible for all three Shipley’s goals in the first half with two goals and an assist. Radnor, facing a 3-0 deficit at halftime, came out with more life and scored their first goal four minutes into the half. The goal was due to a beautiful serve by defender Erik Hotaling to Kevin Hartnett, who placed a pinpoint header into the corner of the goal, not giving the goalie any chance. The fired up Raiders continued to press and a just a few minutes later shrunk the lead to 3-2. Chris Martin received a ball, holding a defender on his back, about 40 yards out. Martin turned with the ball and the footrace towards goal was on. Even with the Shipley defender grabbing his jersey, Martin was able to fend him off while maintaining possession of the ball. Just inside the box on the right side, Martin struck a controlled, hard grounder past the diving goalie just inside the far post. Radnor had 32 minutes left to find the equalizer. Even though the majority of play ended up in Shipley’s end, Radnor could not convert. The handful of free kicks and, with the narrow field, the offensive end throw-ins provided numerous opportunities in the box for Radnor but to no avail.

Playing their first home night game on Saturday, the Radnor varsity suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the visiting Neshaminy Redskins 3-2. The two teams combined for 3 goals in the first 10 minutes but it was the last 30 seconds of regulation and the first 30 seconds of overtime that led to Radnor’s heartbreak. Chances were plentiful, early and often. In the first minute, Kevin Cox, starting as the left fullback, after some effective back and forth with left midfielder Alex Hayes, delivered a low, hard serve from 30 yards out that went dangerously through the right side of the box, untouched by either team. Radnor kept the pressure up and a few minutes later, striker Tyler Helms picked up a lob on the right side of the box, that went over the defender’s head, and placed a shot that eluded the onrushing goalie. Radnor was not able to hold the lead for very long as a few minutes later Neshaminy mounted a counterattack. A Neshaminy player provided a nice through ball towards the left side of the Radnor box. Radnor goalie, Wes Dickson, came off his end line and arrived at the ball just as the Neshaminy forward was meeting up with it. Dickson was not able to secure the ball and it rolled to the end line where the Neshaminy player was able to chase it down 20 yards wide of goal. As Radnor’s defenders and Dickson hustled back to protect the goal, the Neshaminy player brought the ball in to the field and from a difficult angle shot the ball perilously close to the goal. By the Radnor player’s reaction, it appeared they were able to get the ball out before it completely crossed the goal line but the referee called it a goal. That tie did not last long as Radnor continued to string together some nice passes that led to another ball in the back of Neshaminy’s goal. It started with the ball on the left side of midfield. With quick, crisp passes from central midfielders Chris Martin and Peter Donato the ball found its way to right midfielder Dean DerSimonian. With a Neshaminy player quickly closing in, he rolled it back to right defender Erik Hotaling, who delivered one of his many effective long balls towards Neshaminy’s goal. Kevin Hartnett gathered Hotaling’s pass and beat the goalie from essentially the same place where Helms scored. Good play from both teams ensued with each team able to muster scoring chances. On one occasion, on a free kick for Neshaminy, 15 yards in to their offensive end, their player delivered a lofty ball towards the Radnor goal. Dickson patiently waited for the ball on his goal line and knocked it over the crossbar as Neshaminy attackers were surrounding him.

The 2^nd half continued with good action from both teams. Radnor’s Helms ran down a ball in the right corner and provided a ball through the crease but Radnor was not able to put it away. Neshaminy had a similar chance as they pressured the Radnor defense into a turnover. The Neshaminy player chased the ball down on the right side of the goal, passed to a teammate right in front of the goal who missed the ball completely. Radnor’s Hartnett delivered some threatening corner kicks that Radnor just could not convert. On one corner, DerSimonian, manning the back post, took a shot that hit the post and went out for a goal kick. Throughout the 2^nd half, as Neshaminy attempted to get the equalizer, Radnor’s defenders (primarily Sander Yu, Peter Jacome, Shane Hickey, Matt Lundstrom, Cox, and Hotaling) were able to clear the ball out of the box before Neshaminy’s players could connect or Dickson was nimbly up to the challenge when a shot was taken. With under a minute left, Neshaminy got a long throw-in in to Radnor’s box. Radnor was not able to clear the ball from danger and a Neshaminy boot ultimately found the ball and placed it in the back of the net through numerous bodies. The teams played out the remaining 19 seconds and headed into overtime.

The varsity earned their first Central League win of the season at Garnet Valley 2-1 on a chilly night. Radnor came out with a shuffled lineup that quickly paid dividends in the first few minutes as left midfielder Alex Hayes received a pass just inside the box but his shot swerved to the right of the frame. That early chance set the tone as the Raiders continued to press and had numerous scoring opportunities. Among which was a low cross to the center of the goal from Dean DerSimonian on the right flank. Both Hayes and Peter Donato had chances at it from a few yards out but could not capitalize. Also, another good opportunity arose as a perfectly placed pass from Kevin Hartnett over the defender just inside the right box to DerSimonian’s chest which he brought down but his shot missed the mark, too. Later in the first half, Alec Fischman was inserted as striker and had a good chance on a feed by Dalton Morris, who played another solid game at left fullback. Fischman outworked the defender to win the ball and went in on the goalie with defenders in pursuit. Just as he approached the left side of the box, he got off a low, left-footed shot that the goalie was able to corral.

Garnet Valley also had some chances but could not put anything past goalie Wes Dickson and the new backline of Erik Hotaling, Sander Yu, Matt Lundstrom, Morris, and substitute Shane Hickey. The most lethal weapon Garnet Valley had was a player with a very long throw-in, which made every offensive end throw-in a simulated corner kick. Either the Radnor defenders were able to clear them out or Dickson, with his aggressive approach, was able to grab them before any damage could be done.

The 2^nd half started and one could sense the energy that Radnor came out with. The play was mostly in the GV end of the field. One opportunity had striker Tyler Helms chasing down a long clearance from the Radnor defense but his slide to reach the ball was a few inches short as the GV goalie was able to reach the ball first. At the 25^th minute, Radnor was finally able to break the scoreless tie. The play started with a determined Helms pressuring the left GV defender whose attempted clear was deflected by Helms back toward the GV end on the left sideline. Helms got to the ball with the defender on his heels. After settling it, Helms delivered a perfect cross to DerSimonian on the right side of the goal, roughly 15 yards out from goal. DerSimonian blistered a shot which the GV goalie saved but left the rebound in the crease for a hustling Hartnett to put away for the lead. The invigorated Raiders continued to press and had additional quality chances to add to their lead. On one occasion, Morris, as the left defender, provided an effective switch to the right side where it was met by DerSimonian who got off another strong shot that just went a foot wide of the far post. With about 15 minutes to play, Radnor was able to get an insurance goal. Sander Yu, playing central defense, picked up a ball around midfield. After slaloming around a few GV players with the ball attached to his feet, allowing his teammates to regain their shape, Yu delivered a most precise pass of 25 yards, with the outside of his right foot, that gingerly fell over the GV left defender and was met by a hard-charging Chris Martin. The speedy Martin got the ball in stride behind the defense, took a few dribbles, and calmly beat the goalie to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead. Garnet Valley did mount an attack at that point and were able to cut the lead in half with just under 10 minutes to play. Radnor was able to fend them off as time ran down to earn their first league game.

Once again, Radnor started on their heels as Lower Merion came out strong. Unlike the Marple Newtown game, Lower Merion was able to capitalize on one of their scoring chances in the 5^th minute. After that, Radnor was able to settle down but the damage had been done. One of their lone chances in the first half came when Nico Pelaez, after a nifty move on the defender, took a ball down the left side and delivered a cross through the box but no Radnor player was able to meet it. The 2^nd half had more play in the midfield with neither team mounting much offense. Radnor was able to move the ball from their defensive third to the middle third but could not consistently transfer possession to their offensive third to threaten the Lower Merion goal. With 19 minutes remaining, Radnor’s Peter Donato had one of the few chances when he shot a low, hard left-footed shot from 30 yards out that bounced wide of the net. As time was winding down, Radnor was able to generate their lone corner kick of the match at the 3 minute mark. Unfortunately, Sander Yu’s delivery went over the end line and fell harmlessly on top of the goal.