Free Kick

In a span of 11 seconds, the momentum changed for Oxford in the second quarter of its 20-7 nonleague football loss to visiting Sun Valley on Friday night. The Hornets (1-2) had a 7-0 lead, but they were punting from their 1-yard line. Dave Lee had his back foot against the back line of the end zone as he awaited the snap. Lee was unable to get the punt off, and it was blocked by Jack Starkey. Oxford's Dave Cooper fell on the ball to prevent a touchdown and was smothered by a host of Sun Valley defenders for a safety with 8 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half.

In soccer, "set piece" is a catch-all term for any situation where the ball is put back in play after a stoppage, usually following a foul. The most common set piece is a free kick, a stationary kick from where the foul occurred. Easy enough, right? But just to vex sports fans on this side of the pond, free kicks come in two flavors. There's the direct free kick, in which the kicker is allowed[] to score a goal . . . directly. And there's the indirect type, where the kicker needs to pass it (with his foot, remember)

When the season started, Bordentown High's soccer team wasn't even rated as a serious Burlington County League Freedom Division contender. But when the season ended at Trenton State College last night, the Scotties owned more than the Burlco Freedom title. They were the newly crowned NJSIAA Group 1 state champions. John Blum scored on a 25-yard free kick - his second goal of the game - with 5 minutes, 17 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting Bordentown to a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Chatham Township.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In 2011, the Philadelphia Union scored first in just five of 17 regular-season road games. In their 2012 Major League Soccer season opener Monday night, on the road, the Union took an early lead but couldn't hold on to it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez' 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat. Backed by a raucous sellout crowd of 20,438, Portland controlled most of the possession in a scoreless first half.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In their first road game of 2012 Monday night, the Union took an early lead, but couldn't hold onto it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez's 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat in their Major League Soccer season opener. Backed by the raucous Timbers Army fan club, Portland controlled the ball early in the game. But the Union's defense - especially outside backs Sheanon Williams and Porfirio Lopez, a new signee - held firm within the narrow confines of Jeld-Wen Field's artificial surface.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In their first road game of 2012 Monday night, the Union took an early lead, but couldn't hold onto it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez's 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat in their Major League Soccer season opener. Backed by the raucous Timbers Army fan club, Portland controlled the ball early in the game. But the Union's defense - especially outside backs Sheanon Williams and Porfirio Lopez, a new signee - held firm within the narrow confines of Jeld-Wen Field's artificial surface.

As a first-time member of the Public League's elite Gold division during the 1997 soccer season, Bartram was the whipping boy - and swiftly found itself back in the lower Silver division after a winless season. "We lost all of our games," Bartram sixth-year coach John Derkits said. Now, Bartram has returned to the top division and is feared by its opponents. Going into yesterday's match with defending Public League champion Northeast, the Maroon Wave were unbeaten and rolling over top competition, overwhelming Frankford (by 3-1)

The United States team opened its World Cup soccer play yesterday with a tie against Switzerland. Which could mean any of a number of things. It was good. It was terrible. It was the start of better things. It was the end of any realistic chance to move into the second round. Take your pick. "The worst thing we could have done was come out of here with zero points, so I don't think this is bad at all," said goalkeeper Tony Meola, who made several nice stops, but never reacted on a free kick that gave the Swiss their goal in the 1-1 game.

The first play from scrimmage in Oxford's home opener against ELCO proved to be an accurate indicator of what was to follow for the remainder of the game. Dallas Noll's 79-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Haley was the first of many big plays in ELCO's 34-27 nonleague football victory. But he biggest player of the game was Oxford's Craig Mahon, who accounted for 21 of his team's 27 points. In the end, ELCO finished like it started and broke a 27-27 tie with a 45-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jason Artz with only 38 seconds left in the game.

The first play from scrimmage in Oxford's home opener against ELCO proved to be an accurate indicator of what was to follow for the remainder of the game. Dallas Noll's 79-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Haley was the first of many big plays in ELCO's 34-27 nonleague football victory. But he biggest player of the game was Oxford's Craig Mahon, who accounted for 21 of his team's 27 points. In the end, ELCO finished like it started and broke a 27-27 tie with a 45-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jason Artz with only 38 seconds left in the game.

In soccer, "set piece" is a catch-all term for any situation where the ball is put back in play after a stoppage, usually following a foul. The most common set piece is a free kick, a stationary kick from where the foul occurred. Easy enough, right? But just to vex sports fans on this side of the pond, free kicks come in two flavors. There's the direct free kick, in which the kicker is allowed[] to score a goal . . . directly. And there's the indirect type, where the kicker needs to pass it (with his foot, remember)

PORTLAND, Ore. - In 2011, the Philadelphia Union scored first in just five of 17 regular-season road games. In their 2012 Major League Soccer season opener Monday night, on the road, the Union took an early lead but couldn't hold on to it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez' 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat. Backed by a raucous sellout crowd of 20,438, Portland controlled most of the possession in a scoreless first half.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In their first road game of 2012 Monday night, the Union took an early lead, but couldn't hold onto it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez's 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat in their Major League Soccer season opener. Backed by the raucous Timbers Army fan club, Portland controlled the ball early in the game. But the Union's defense - especially outside backs Sheanon Williams and Porfirio Lopez, a new signee - held firm within the narrow confines of Jeld-Wen Field's artificial surface.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In their first road game of 2012 Monday night, the Union took an early lead, but couldn't hold onto it. The Portland Timbers ran roughshod over the Union after Gabriel Gomez's 51st-minute free-kick goal, dealing the Union a 3-1 defeat in their Major League Soccer season opener. Backed by the raucous Timbers Army fan club, Portland controlled the ball early in the game. But the Union's defense - especially outside backs Sheanon Williams and Porfirio Lopez, a new signee - held firm within the narrow confines of Jeld-Wen Field's artificial surface.

Showstoppers Unbeatable? Maybe not. But it's going to take a mistake-free performance to beat Downingtown West this season. The Whippets return eight starters from a team that was nine minutes away from winning last season's PIAA Class AAA state crown. This year, with seniors Brian Forgue, above right, and Joe Sales leading the way, Downingtown West is favored to win the state title.

Haddonfield's Maureen O'Donnell hasn't scored many goals this season, but she tallied the all-important icebreaker against Haddon Heights yesterday in a Colonial Conference Liberty Division girls' soccer game. As a result, the visiting Bulldogs, ranked No. 5 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, got off to a good start and finished with a 4-0 victory. Haddonfield ran its record to 12-0 overall and 10-0 in the conference. "The first goal was important because Haddon Heights was pumped and we needed to get up early," O'Donnell said.

Hollis Irvine is known by his Cumberland teammates as a player who uses his head, and the senior midfielder didn't disappoint them yesterday afternoon at Clearview. Irvine head-flicked a free kick into the left side of the net with 6 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Colts a 2-1 victory in a Tri-County Conference Royal Division soccer game. Irvine's goal lifted Cumberland (5-2 overall, 4-1 division) into first place in a highly competitive division. "[The kick]

It was just the preseason for both of the European clubs, and at times the pace wasn't quite Champions League level, but the goals gave them away: Those were world-class soccer teams last night at Lincoln Financial Field. A perfect 87th-minute free kick by AC Milan scoring star Andriy Shevchenko, buried just inside the right post from 28 yards out, gave the Italian power a 3-2 victory over Chelsea at the Linc, finishing off the American ChampionsWorld Tour for both clubs and saving everybody from a penalty-kick shoot-out.

Zhao Lihong's free kick with 5 minutes left lifted the visiting Charge to a 1-1 tie yesterday against the Washington Freedom in a Women's United Soccer Association game. The tie extends the Charge's unbeaten streak to nine games, which equals the second best in WUSA history. Philadelphia (9-1-4) last lost on May 19. The Charge is in second place, two points behind Carolina. The teams meet Saturday (4 p.m.) at Villanova Stadium. Washington (6-5-4) scored first. Abby Wambach took a short pass from Steffi Jones in front of the net, turned quickly and fired a shot past goalkeeper Melissa Moore in the 75th minute.