Soccer

BOYS Zach Westfall North Carroll, football Westfall played a major role in the No. 13 Panthers' 29-25 victory at Thomas Johnson of Frederick on Saturday. A junior slotback-defensive back, Westfall, 5 feet 10, 165 pounds, who is a sprinter on the school's indoor and outdoor track teams, caught a game-winning 67-yard touchdown pass from Stefan Mitchell with less than five minutes remaining. Westfall also had a 60-yard reception from Mitchell to set up the Panthers' first score. He finished his big game with six receptions for 200 yards and rushed five times for 54 yards.

WASHINGTON -- It probably wouldn't have rivaled the Beatles, who played D.C. Stadium in 1966. It might not have matched Princess Diana, who graced a state dinner with President Reagan in 1985. But as far as visits by British celebrities go, soccer glamour boy David Beckham's trip to the nation's capital for a Major League Soccer game tonight against D.C. United was shaping up as an A-list event, the sort that causes Washingtonians to use their connections or their cash to ensure they are included.

From the time he first kicked a soccer ball as a child, Loyola coach Lee Tschantret knew he wanted to be around the game for the rest of his life. Tschantret blossomed into a two-time All-American at Albany State and carved out a 17-year professional career, including seven seasons with the Blast. As he contemplates whether he will return for another season with the Blast, he has embraced another aspect of his soccer life. Tschantret, 38, is one of several former or current professional players coaching high school soccer in the metro area this season.

Sean Bunoski is an outstanding soccer player who scored seven game-winning goals as a junior last year during the Falcons' 14-3 season. A transfer from Archbishop Spalding, he fit right in at Severna Park, where he carries a 3.9 grade-point average and scored 1680 on his SAT. Bunoski also is a member of the National Honor Society, vice president of the Student Government Association and a member of several clubs. He referees and coaches youth soccer, as well. How is the team playing so far as one of the projected county and regional contenders?

Maryland forward Taylor Twellman, Freshman of the Year in men's college soccer, has decided to play for the Under-20 U.S. national team and did not enroll for the spring semester.However, Twellman is scheduled to return to College Park and play for the Terrapins this fall as a result of an "international competition" NCAA rules exemption.But the national team has forced him to forgo playing for the Terps baseball team, which had given him a full scholarship. So in accordance with the NCAA, Twellman will play in the fall under a soccer scholarship.

You want an indictment of what has high school athletics has become? Look to Centennial High School in Ellicott City.Its principal is actually fielding criticism from parents who are upset that their sons were punished for harming fellow members of the soccer team in a hazing incident. Fourteen upper-class team members forced a dozen freshmen on the junior varsity to line up against a wall and hold their ankles as soccer balls were ferociously kicked at them in a "ritual" called "butts up."

WE LIVE in troubled and uncertain times, but I am feeling good -- about myself; about my homeland; about all the nations of the Earth; and, yes, about the future of humanity. And I will tell you why: I am on painkillers.I got them from my doctor, Curt. Curt is a great doctor, probably the greatest doctor who ever lived, and I will tell you why: He gave me these painkillers. These are some STRONG painkillers. You should see the side effects! I started to read about them on the information sheet, but I got only as far as the part where it said I should report to the doctor's office if my ... I don't know how to say this in a family newspaper ... OK, I'm just going to come right out and tell you: I'm supposed to report to the doctor's office if my outputs turn black.

Sophomore Melissa Workman scored with 15 minutes remaining in regulation to give Hammond a 1-0 soccer victory over 10th-ranked and defending state champion Centennial in a Class 2A South region semifinal game yesterday at Hammond.Hammond (10-5-1), which won the Class 1A state title last season, will face 11th-ranked Mount Hebron, a 4-0 winner over Southern-AA, in the region final."We're playing our best soccer right now. Everyone is playing with confidence," said Hammond coach Pete Di Marco.

Meade senior striker Mike Cheman spent a hot August afternoon in the middle of the Mustangs' home field, just he and a soccer ball.A proper gauge as to how far Cheman has come in the sport he picked up 10 years ago can be found with the 15 or so minutes he was out there sweating. Touch after touch after touch -- an amazing 1,505 in all -- before the ball finally found earth."When I was little growing up, I'd go out in my front yard and juggle with the ball. I'd get 10 and that would be a big deal," he said.

Three years ago, high school soccer star Giuliano Celenza decided to stay home instead of leaving town to play for a ranked college team.Thanks in part to his talent, another ranked team is now less than a half-hour drive from his Highlandtown home.The UMBC men's soccer team is ranked No. 22 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll after going unbeaten in its first 14 games (13-0-1), and 17th in the Soccer America poll."They were a good team," Celenza said of the Retrievers during the previous two years, which he spent at Essex Community College.

While Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale battles through tough economic times with his banking and development businesses, he said he's certain those issues won't affect the team as it begins defense of its National Indoor Soccer League championship. "There's not any connection whatsoever," Hale said. "The staff that I have with [Blast general manager Kevin Healey], it's self-sustaining, and that's an anomaly with [professional indoor] soccer because most of the time you lose money with soccer operations.

Rudy Johnson, McDonogh, football The senior quarterback threw for three touchdowns in the final five minutes to rally the No. 2 Eagles from 19 points down to a 27-26 victory over Georgetown Prep in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game Friday. Johnson, who has committed to Buffalo, hit Gabe Macis for the game-tying 34-yard strike with 22 seconds left, and Sam Eby provided the winning point after. With his fourth touchdown pass of the game, Johnson was 23-for-35 for 335 yards.

Michael E. "Joe" Loftus, a retired lithographer who coached youth athletic teams, died from cancer Oct. 21 at his Perry Hall home. He was 83. Mr. Loftus was born in Baltimore and raised on Montford Avenue. He attended Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington for two years before dropping out in 1943 to enlist in the Navy. Mr. Loftus served aboard a Navy tanker in the Pacific until he was discharged in 1946. He remained an active reservist and was recalled to duty during the Korean War before being discharged in 1952.

Set to play lacrosse at Notre Dame next year, McDonogh senior Margaret Smith is realizing her soccer days are quickly coming to an end. Another reminder came Tuesday afternoon, when the No. 2 Eagles celebrated Senior Day with No. 7 Mercy visiting. Smith made sure it was a day to remember. Scoring two goals, adding an assist and putting in her typical 80 minutes of hard work at midfield, Smith was the catalyst in a 3-0 win over the Magic that assured McDonogh the second seed in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference playoffs.

Pete Caringi, Calvert Hall, soccer The senior forward scored the decisive goals last week in two victories that moved the No. 9 Cardinals into second place in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference after they missed the six-team playoff field a year ago. Caringi, who has 10 goals and four assists this season, scored in the 1-0 win over then-No. 1 McDonogh and added a goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over No. 14 Gilman. A club player with the Casa Mia Bays and the son of former Calvert Hall All-American Pete Caringi, the younger Caringi is considering UMBC, where his dad is head coach, Providence, North Carolina State and other colleges.

The Liberty boys soccer team was as close as it could get to a state title last year without winning it, losing the Class 2A championship to James M. Bennett on penalty kicks. For senior forward Marc Gillen, it provides added incentive to take his final high school season one step further and bring home the program's second state title. In his third year on varsity, Gillen, a captain, leads the Lions (10-1) with 10 goals and four assists. Last year, Gillen also played basketball, lacrosse and tennis, but his focus this season is on soccer.

Patterson soccer star Bash Kamara, originally from the African nation of Sierra Leone, is proud to say he has an 89 in the Spanish I course he's taking this semester. * Along with giving his grade-point average a boost, it's helping him score more goals.* Teammate Adrian Boodoo, a native of Trinidad & Tobago who moved here four years ago, recently enjoyed his first gyro when one of the team's newest members, Greek midfielder Dimitris Kyteas, brought a sample to school for lunch one day. Boodoo was quick to reciprocate, sharing his country's favorite street food -"doubles," a flatbread sandwich filled with curried chickpeas.

Steven St. Clair, John Carroll, football In a rare two-game week, St. Clair scored six touchdowns, made 17 tackles and intercepted four passes to lead the Patriots (4-2) to wins over Cardinal Gibbons, 29-28, in overtime on Monday and St. Frances, 28-0, on Friday. Against Gibbons, the senior quarterback-strong safety ran 7 yards for the touchdown that tied the score at 28, and then scored the game-winning conversion on a keeper. He also had a 57-yard punt against St. Frances. A second-team All-Metro selection last season, St. Clair has 16 touchdowns in six games.

Joseph Blackwell, Arundel, football In his first game as a Wildcat, Blackwell gained 257 yards and scored four touchdowns as No. 3 Arundel defeated Anne Arundel County foe and No. 6 Old Mill, 34-27. Blackwell, a running back who transferred last winter from Archbishop Spalding, carried the ball 28 times for 174 yards and one touchdown and caught five passes for 83 yards and three touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior, who hopes to play Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football, has a 3.8 grade-point average and is considering a pre-med major.

COLLEGE PARK -- The college recruiters had arrived at Fairfield (Conn.) Prep to recruit Garrett Brown, a solid defensive line prospect. But what about the other kid? The scouts couldn't help but notice Masengo Kabongo, a 6-foot-1, 280-pound defensive lineman who speaks four languages, reads "Beowulf" and possesses quickness that belies his bulk. Two years younger than Brown, Kabongo - a redshirt freshman expected to be a key addition to Maryland's defensive line this season - had left the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo with his mother, a physician, when he was 12, settling in Connecticut.