The Charlestown Pirate Soccer team traveled back to Scottsburg Wednesday evening for a Sectional semi-final round match-up against the North Harrison Cougars.  “Today, we got were eliminated from sectionals, losing 2-1 against North Harrison. The Pirates showed a lot of character on the field and they played a perfect first half.  This is something they have not done all season”, commented Pirate Head Coach Christian Martinez.  The only Pirate goal came at the 17 minute mark of the first by Andrew Mattingly with an assist from Eric Sipes.  “The second half started really good, but a clear “off sides” that the referee didn’t’ call was the reason for NH to tie the game.  After that we held good on our lines, but unfortunately they scored another goal.  We kept trying to tie the game and had more opportunities to score, but it just didn’t happen.  I’m so proud of these boys for working so hard all the time! I want to thank the coaching staff – Mike, Franco, Russ, and especially Kimberly Wray for dealing with everything and supporting the team 100% which allowed us coaches to focus all of our effort on the boys. GO PIRATES!!” concluded Coach Martinez.  The Charlestown Goalie Matt Parrela had 3 saves and 2 allowed; as the Pirates had 18 shots and 8 on goal, while North Harrison had 8 shots with 5 on goal.

Charlestown Pirate Soccer, after trailing 2-0 at the half, defeats host Scottsburg 5-3 in the Class 2A Boys Soccer Sectional.  “We had a good comeback win against Scottsburg.  The Pirates had a horrible first half, making lots of mistakes on the midfield and defense lines and not keeping possession of the ball. We ended the 1st half with 2 goals against us. During half time, the assistant coaches, Mike and Franco, and I discussed what we could change for the 2nd half.  Luckily, it worked!  Even though Scottsburg scored 1 more goal at the beginning of the second half, we tied the game and then scored 2 more goals and ultimately won 5-3.  I’m so proud of this team and the coaching staff.  Everyone will rest tomorrow to be ready for our next game against North Harrison on Wednesday,” commented Pirate Head Coach Christian Martinez.

Charlestown’s first goal came at the 7:33 minute in the second half when Sergio Bolanos scored on an assist from Anthony Carey.  Demetrio Ortuno scored (assist by Bryson Andasol) shortly after and the rally was on.  Sergio Bolanos, assisted by Andrew Mattingly, scored twice to take the lead with just under six to remain.  Ian Flora sealed the deal for the Pirates with another goal, assist by Sergio Bolanos, with just under four remaining.  Pirate Goalie Matt Parrela had 8 saves with 3 allowed; as Charlestown had 15 shots, 13 on goal versus Scottsburg’s 14 shots, and 11 on goal.

The Pirates’ win advances them to Wednesday’s Sectional Semi-Final round versus North Harrison.  The game will begin at 5:30 pm at Scottsburg High School.  The above photo captures the team applauding Pirate fans in attendance for their support during the rally.

Pirate Soccer hosted CEC Tuesday evening in the Bone Yard to conclude regular season play.  Charlestown dropped their record to 5-7-1 with a 3-0 home loss Tuesday.  “Last night, we played against a really good team CEC, and we lost our last home game.  The Pirates started really slow and did not concentrate for most of the game. Also, we cannot exclude the fact that the players are not 100% physically.  However, this is not an excuse for losing this game.  The boys will rest tomorrow and we have practice on Thursday so we can focus on our sectional for next week”, summarized Pirate Head Coach Christian Martinez.

Pirate Goalie Matt Parrela had 10 saves and 3 allowed.  Charlestown had 11 shots and 5 on goal while CEC had 23 shots with 13 on goal.

Next up for Pirate Soccer is the Sectional opener on October 2nd versus Sectional host Scottsburg beginning at 6:30 pm.

Charlestown Pirate Soccer will play in Sectional #31 of the Class 2A State Tournament, hosted at Scottsburg High School.  The Pirates will play host Scottsburg on Monday evening, October 2nd, beginning at approximately 5:30 pm.  The Charlestown/Scottsburg winner will advance to Thursday’s (Oct. 5th) Semi-Final round second game versus North Harrison (bye), at approximately 7:30 pm.  The other first round match-ups include Madison v. Salem and Corydon v. Silver Creek.  Sectional admission is $6.00 per night or $10.00 for a tournament ticket.  The Scottsburg High School is located at 500 South Gardner Street (US 31), in Scottsburg, Indiana.

Charlestown Pirate and Lady Pirate Soccer teams hosted a varsity conference double-header in the Bone Yard Thursday evening.  North Harrison came into the contest with one conference defeat (girls) on the season between the two teams; and a win for their boys program would complete a conference undefeated season for the Cougars.  The Pirates played first and fell 0-2 to North Harrison, “we were at a disadvantage because five of our players are currently dealing with injuries.  two of those injured players were not able to play at all.  Then, one of the Pirates received a red card, which should have never happened.  We were left with 10 players for the remainder of the game.  Everyone played well and the Pirates made many “almost” goals.  It just wasn’t our night to win.  All in all, I am happy with the performance and the effort of my players”, summarized Pirate Head Coach Christian Martinez.  Pirate Goalie Matt Parrela had 4 saves and allowed two.  Charlestown had 15 shots and 7 on goal while North Harrison had 10 shots with 6 on goal.  The Pirates are next in action Tuesday vs. CEC High School @ the Bone Yard, this will be our last home game.

The Lady Pirate Soccer team’s game with North Harrison didn’t start until 8:00 pm; and resulted in 4-9 loss.  North Harrison scored 5 goals in the first half; however Charlestown came back quick and scored 1 goal within a minute of the second half by Ilayah Keltner.  North Harrison responded quickly and scored 3 more within 10 minutes.  Charlestown didn’t give up and Keltner put away a second goal with 20 minutes left in the game.   North Harrison was able to put one more in the net around the same time. Scoring summary:  Charlestown 4 (Ilayah Keltner (3), Gracie Murphy); North Harrison 9 (Lynsey Butler, Samantha Fell (3), Jessicka Chiquito (2), Natalie Robertson, Kelsey Bruce, (plus one unknown).  Charlestown finished the game with 2 more goals with 2 minutes remaining by Gracie Murphy and the last right at the final buzzer by Keltner.   Lady Pirate Goalie Brenley Berger finished the game with 14 saves.  “I currently have 12 healthy players who play until the last minute of the game and I couldn’t ask for more from them. We came back from a 5-0 deficit at half and tied the score for the 2nd half so we’re going to celebrate the small victories. We played 3 games last week and this week. I know my girls are tired but we’ll be back at home Monday and ready to play some more minutes”, summarized Lady Pirate Head Coach Kelsey Rogers.

Charlestown Pirate Soccer evened their season record at 5-5 Tuesday evening after hosting the Lanesville Eagles and posting a 7-3 win.  “Today was a good win against Lanesville.  The Pirates did much better in the field.  Yes, there were a few slip-ups that cost us some goals, but my boys had a better attitude than last night.  They were more focused and played with skill. We have another home game on Thursday, so the Pirates need to rest tomorrow.  I love the effort I saw today, but we have several players dealing with minor injuries and they need time to recuperate”, summarized Pirate Head Coach Christian Martinez.  First half scoring for the Pirates included a goal by Sergio Bolanos with assist by Demetrio Ortuno; Bryson Andasol solo goal; another Sergio Bolanos goal with assist by Demetrio Ortuno; Eric Sipes with assist by Sergio Bolanos; and another solo goal by Bryson Andasol.  During the second half, the Pirates got two goals by Andrew Mattingly; both assisted by Bryson Andasol.  Pirate Goalie Matt Parrela had 6 saves and 3 allowed.  Charlestown took 20 shots, 13 on goal; while Lanesville logged 15 shots with 9 on goal.

The Pirates are next in action vs. North Harrison, in the CHS Bone Yard, as part of a huge MSC clash double header with the boys varsity playing first with then the girls varsity following.

Charlestown Pirate Soccer (4-4-1 & 2-2-1 MSC) traveled to Austin Tuesday evening for an important conference match up with the Eagles.  The Pirates got a dominating 10-0 victory, however Pirate Head Coach Martinez didn’t see everything he wanted.  “This evening, we played against Austin and won. However, I was not happy with the Pirate’s performance. They played like it was a practice game. The team was not applying passes fast enough and they were not getting open when they needed to. Regardless of the outcome, I have seen them play better”, commented Coach Martinez.

Scoring for the Pirates in the first half was Bryce Wray with assist from Sergio Bolanos; Gryphon Brading with assist from Andrew Mattingly; Sergio Bolanos solo; Andrew Mattingly with assist from Sergio Bolanos; Gryphon Brading with assist from Sergio Bolanos; and Andrew Mattingly solo.

During the second half, the Pirates got goals from Ian Flora with assist from Sergio Bolanos; solo goal by Bryson Andasol; Sergio Bolanos with assist from Bryson Andasol; and Eric Sipes with assist from Bryson Andasol.

Kameron Kimmel had 1 save and allowed none; while the Pirates had 42 shots and 27 on goal.  Austin had 3 shots with 1 on goal.  The Pirates return to action Monday versus Jeffersonville in the Bone Yard.