Wallenpaupack Area’s boys varsity soccer team enjoyed another successful season on the local pitch this fall.
Under the watchful eyes of veteran Coach Scott Bonagura, the Buckhorns finished fourth in the Lackawanna League’s always rugged Division One.
The Road to Districts
Paupack compiled a 7-5-2 record in regular season action and earned a berth in the District Two tournament.
Sadly for the Buckhorn faithful, Coach Bonagura’s ballclub suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Wyoming Valley West in the Class AAA semifinals.
The Spartans then went on to capture the D-2 team title, defeating Delaware Valley in a shootout to claim the crown.
“I’m very pleased with how the year went,” Coach Bonagura told TWI Sports. “This group of kids worked very hard and we really improved as a team.”
As reward for this excellent campaign, Paupack has begun raking in the awards.
Ryan McDevitt earned a First Team berth on the Division One All-Stars. He was joined on the mythical squad by fellow Buckhorns Brendan Beilman, Chris Schneider and Riley McConnell ...each of whom was named to the Second Team.
Signature Victory
Without question, the defining moment of Paupack’s 2009 boys soccer campaign came on Monday, October 19th.
On that day, the Buckhorns traveled to Clarks Summit for a battle with top-ranked Abington Heights. The Comets rolled into that contest with a perfect record and were sitting pretty atop the division standings.
The first time these two teams met, Abington had cruised to a convincing 4-2 victory. The re-match was a completely different story, though.
Paupack ratcheted up the defensive pressure, totally shutting down the Comets’ high-octane offensive attack.
Jesse Brown found the back of Abington’s net late in the opening half and Chris Schneider made that goal stand up. Paupack’s battle-tested keeper was a veritable brick wall, stopping each of the 18 shots he faced.
“This was a huge win for us,” Coach Bonagura said after the upset. “We lost to them the first time we played, but I knew we were good enough to play with them...and we proved it.”
Awards & Accolades
On the heels of this victory... and an equally impressive win over DV...Scott Bonagura voted Division One Coach of the Year by his peers.
“It’s definitely an honor and I really appreciate it,” he said. “I was excited and a little overwhelmed when I found out.”
