Ridgway boys soccer honors seniors

October 2, 2012

The 2012 Ridgway boys soccer seniors. From left, Peter Pontzer, Luke Bobby, Robbie Byrd, Jesse Schneider, Michael Knarr.

The Ridgway boys soccer team lost 3-2 to Coudersport in action Tuesday afternoon at Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School.
Coudersport took the lead with a strong first 20 minutes of play with a pair of goals for a 2-0 lead.
“We gave it up at the beginning,” Ridgway coach Todd Voss said. “Unfortunately, those things happen. We’re on the edge, it’s crazy. We can’t lose any more games.”
Ridgway would get a good scoring chance as senior striker Peter Pontzer would have a shot stopped by the Coudersport goalkeeper with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Pontzer would score Ridgway’s first goal with 8:24 left in the first half to cut the margin in half. About 90 seconds later, fellow senior Luke Bobby rocketed a shot off the crossbar and over as Ridgway began to put offensive pressure on the Falcons at the half. The Elkers couldn’t add another goal and trailed 2-1 at halftime.
In the second half, Coudersport scored in the fifth minute of play to take a 3-1 lead.
Ridgway began to tilt the play in their favor in the final 20 minutes of play as Pontzer was able to score his second goal of the game with 16:08 left to cut the margin to 3-2.
Bobby and Chris Persinger each had good chances five minutes later but could not find the back of the net. Pontzer nearly had a hat trick with eight minutes later but had a shot just go wide.
Bobby and Pontzer each had shots go wide again in the final six minutes and Coudersport made a fingertip save on a shot near the end of the game which preserved the win for the Falcons.
I thought Peter’s shot was going to go in,” Voss said.
Ridgway (4-8) is scheduled to host Brockway at 4 p.m. Monday. Ridgway has only four games left on the schedule this season. The Elkers came off of a loss at Brockway Monday night and Voss said with a couple of big wins, he will fight for the team’s inclusion in the district playoffs.
“They had a tough game [Monday],” Voss said. “The kids have a lot of heart to play.”
At halftime, the team honored its five seniors. The team’s seniors are Peter Pontzer, Michael Knarr, Luke Bobby, Jesse Schneider and Robbie Byrd.