Scorer

Jeremy Lawimore first earned his reputation as a scorer - witness that last summer he led the Sonny Hill Future League in scoring with a 19.9 average. Yesterday, Lawimore, a 6-1, 175-pound junior guard from Roman Catholic, expanded his reputation by starring on defense. Yes, defense. Showing both anticipation and hustle, Lawimore turned three fourth-quarter steals into assists as Roman - ahead, 29-21, after three - spurted past West Catholic, 47-32, in a Catholic South semifinal played at Monsignor Bonner.

Carol Birnbohm, coach of the Cherokee girls' lacrosse team, figured she wasn't taking that much of a risk by putting a sophomore in to replace her leading scorer. After all, it was for only a couple of games. What harm could she do? As it turned out, inserting Cheryl Back into the starting role as an attack player last season may have been Birnbohm's best move ever. Back, now a 5-foot-6, lightning-quick junior with a deft shot, has been one of the most prolific scorers in South Jersey the last two years.

Great scorers in soccer are much like accomplished rebounders in basketball. Both are playing a game ahead of the real game, anticipating and moving and timing the ball as it heads toward the net. They are winning the mind game over everyone else around them. "Yeah, and sometimes you just get lucky," Strath Haven's Lori Kotzen said with a laugh. Kotzen's career with the Panthers, however, is more than mere luck. After knocking home a late goal to help the Panthers tie Great Valley, 3-3, on Monday, the senior striker has 75 career goals, the school record for either boys or girls at this District 1 soccer hotbed.

The last thing the Pitman boys' soccer team expected yesterday was a laugher, especially since the Panthers faced the daunting task of playing without their leading scorer against a team that had scored 21 goals in three playoff games. Yet in this season of firsts for Pitman, an anticipated state Group 1 semifinal battle turned into a showcase for the Panthers' depth, not to mention their offense and defense. Playing in a swirling crosswind at Zimmer Field, Pitman manhandled South River, 6-1, to earn its first state-final appearance.

1. Keep Carcillo. He can hit and score. 2. Put van Riemsdyk back in. He's the better scorer, and they need goals.

The American Hockey League yesterday announced that Phantoms forward Stefan Ruzicka has been suspended for five regular-season games as a result of his actions during a game at Bridgeport on Wednesday. Ruzicka, the Phantoms' third-leading scorer with 28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists, had an altercation with a Bridgeport player while both were in the penalty box at 18 minutes, 3 seconds of the second period. Ruzicka missed last night's game against visiting Hershey and will miss tonight's game at Bridgeport, Friday's game against Worcester, next Saturday's game at Binghamton, and the Feb. 6 game at Binghamton.

When Landrus Lewis took the head coaching job at Gloucester Township Tech for this season, he knew recruiting was just as important as X's and O's in building a successful program. Well, Lewis has accomplished his mission. Fifty-two kids came out for basketball this year. "Enthusiasm is growing," Lewis said. But since six of the varsity players have never played high school basketball before, Lewis also has had to teach fundamentals. So far, that's working smoothly, too. "The team has a good attitude," said Lewis.

West Chester East girls' basketball coach Dan Rudloff does not get technical in his assessment of senior forward Cindy Hooper. "She's a scorer. She puts the ball in the hole, and that's what we need," Rudloff said. That may sound simple, but it's true. Hooper, a 5-foot, 9-inch transfer from Lisle High School in Illinois, is the leading scorer for the improved Vikings. She is pouring in 17 points per game. On Jan. 12, Hooper scored 29 points to lead East to its first league triumph this season, a 60-48 win over Owen J. Roberts.

Marinette Pichon sees herself more as a goal-scorer than a pioneer. But this year, she has been both. The 26-year-old forward became the first professional women's soccer player from France when she signed a contract with the Charge before the season. Since then, she has been on the go, traveling between France and the United States to compete for the French national team and the Charge, for whom she has become one of the most dangerous goal-scorers in the Women's United Soccer Association.

Megan MacKannan's game is built more on efficiency than flash. She doesn't exactly glide on the field, but she has an uncanny knack for finding the back of the net, the most difficult job on the soccer field. While other stars specialize in the end-to-end rush, breaking down defenders before blasting a shot in the goal, MacKannan plugs along and eventually wears down her opponent. Last season, she scored 31 goals for a Delsea team that went 18-4. As one of only three senior starters, she once again has carried the scoring load.

The Union are hours away from opening their 2012 Major League Soccer season, with 13 fresh faces collected during a newsworthy offseason. It's a group the technical staff believes will vault the club past last season's 11-8-15 record and its inaugural MLS Cup playoff berth. During the Union's inaugural season CEO and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz said it would take "at least three years to build a championship team. " Welcome to Year Three. But do the Union have the pieces to make a serious run?

Leading Three-Point Scorers in Southeastern Pa.   Here are some of the top three-point scorers in Southeastern Pennsylvania basketball. Totals are through Wednesday. Boys Player   School   Gms.   No.      John Decamara   Upper Dublin   23   81    Kieran Bolger   Pennsbury   25   79    Ben Holl   Friends Select   22   78    Mike McKale   Springfield (Delco)   23   64    Billy Cassidy   Friends' Central   27   64    Anthony McKie   Plymouth Whitemarsh   25   62    James Mobley   Upper Merion   19   61    Tim Abruzzo   Pennridge   22   58    Billy Shank   Neumann-Goretti   25   57    Aaron Morgan   Council Rock North   26   57    Steve Vasturia   St.

Freshman swing guard Aliyah Godwin scored 12 in the first half en route to a career-high 19 points, as host Cherry Hill East took control early and breezed by Burlington City, 60-49, on Thursday in nonleague girls' basketball. Brooke Rose added 13 points for the Cougars, who led by 11 after the first quarter and widened the advantage to 16 by halftime. Courtney Davis' 25 points couldn't keep the Blue Devils close. In other nonleague action: Junior guard Ali Dandrea came through with 19 points, four steals and four assists while senior center Karli Ernst went to work in the paint, producing 16 points and a dozen rebounds to key Our Lady of Mercy's 57-49 win at Buena.

The biggest question facing the Union as they prepare for their third Major League Soccer season will be how to replace leading scorer Sebastien Le Toux. But at least there won't be a shortage of candidates. The team added to the pool by signing Colombian first-division forward Lionard Pajoy on Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed for the 30-year-old Pajoy, who led Itagüí Ditaires in scoring with 13 goals while adding three assists in 27 starts. During Colombia's Clausura, held in the second half of the calendar year, Pajoy had 10 goals in 18 starts.

The Union might enter their third Major League Soccer season without Sebastien Le Toux, their leading scorer and, arguably, most popular player. Ives Galarcep of Foxsoccer.com reported Wednesday that the Union may sell Le Toux to Bolton of the English Premier League. Le Toux posted on his Twitter account, "On a jet plane headed to England. " Union manager Peter Nowak sent a text Wednesday saying, "Team policy is we don't comment or discuss on anything that is not certain.

What has made Mike Ryan's soccer career so impressive is not just the goals he has scored, but also the competition they came against and how many came in clutch situations. The Cherokee senior forward had yet another big game Friday, but this one was with added significance, even by his high standards. With two goals in a 2-0 win over visiting Washington Township in a South Jersey Coaches Tournament quarterfinal, Ryan became Cherokee's all-time leading scorer. He has 52 career goals, surpassing John Farese, who owned the record of 51. A more accurate definition of Ryan's career is that Cherokee, ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer and the top seed in the Coaches Tournament, won another big game.

First of a five-part series When Rod Thorn watches a 76ers game, a slew of words could be used to describe him: restless , fidgety , impatient , slightly tormented . He shifts from one side of the seat to the other, rolls his stat sheet until it's as thin as a pencil, and labors with each made and missed basket. Because he perches in different seats at different opposing arenas, finding Thorn on the road is a lot like playing Where's Waldo. And after you find him, it's hard to stop watching, so naturally do his movements reflect precisely what's happening on the floor: a shake of the head for a poor rotation, a slap of the stat sheet for a missed three, a quick shift in positioning for a steal and fastbreak.

It was a simple question, yet Lorin Dixon paused, then smiled before answering it. On Monday, the Connecticut reserve guard was asked, "What's your role on this team?" "I get that question a lot," Dixon chuckled inside the locker room. "But it's hard to answer. " That's because when she was a senior at Christ the King (N.Y.), everyone expected her to become a lethal scorer at Connecticut. The former high school McDonald's All-American was supposed to use her fleet feet to routinely produce double-figure point totals.

If the All-South Jersey boys' basketball team was a real team, the players might need more than one basketball. These guys can score. This year's first team has three 2,000-point career scorers, and two other players who averaged better than 21 points a game. As a group, the First Five this season generated 86 20-point games, 15 30-point games, and two 40-point games. Leading the way is Player of the Year Isaiah Morton of St. Augustine Prep. Morton, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, led the Hermits to the Non-Public A state title as well as the No. 1 ranking in The Inquirer's final South Jersey Top 10. He averaged 21.1 points this season and scored more than 2,200 in his career.