Baseball is called a game of inches, but yesterday Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe proved that the game of soccer can also put in the same claim.

The Olympians won the Schuylkill League contest, 1-0, as the Blue Raiders twice hit the crossbar, which measures only five inches in width."We certainly tried, but nothing would go in," said assistant Raider coach, Keith James, speaking on behalf of head coach, Ian Blyth.Jim Thorpe (3-1) also experienced how the wood that supports the net can be a goal keeper's best friend. Forty-five seconds into the game, Olympian freshman Chris Williams hit the left goal post with a shot. Thorpe then had the better of the play until Tamaqua's senior captain, Matt Miller banged one off the crossbar with just over 23 minutes to go in the half.With 16 minutes left in the half, JT's Jorge Macareno found sophomore, Chris Condly in the middle of a swarm of players and Condly drilled a right footer past the screened Raider goalie, Hunter Banavage with what would turn out to be the margin of victory."Our energy was really good at the start," said Thorpe coach, Anthony Dixon.Tamaqua fought back, however, by dominating offensive play in the final eight minutes of the half. The Raiders were able to penetrate Thorpe's defense and got off several shots, but most sailed over the crossbar.With only five seconds remaining, Raider midfielder, Josh Delp fired a point blank shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and then bounced hard to the ground where it was cleared by the Olympians' Logan Hunsicker."I got a hand on it," said the sophomore goalie. "It went straight up, but it stayed out. It was definitely my toughest save,"At the start of the second half, Tamaqua (3-2) kept up the pressure in the offensive zone. Hunsicker made three saves in the first 12 minutes. Tamaqua's Roberto Borrero nearly scored at the 26 minute mark, but his kick veered wide right.Dixon explained why his team was back on its heels."We lost our grip at midfield and we just couldn't get it back," he said.In the final 20 minutes, the Raiders failed to convert several corner kicks. Their strategy of throw-ins toward the crease also didn't succeed as many were tossed right into the hands of Hunsicker.The Raiders tried every way to score. With ten minutes left, midfielder, Ben Miller attempted a backward bicycle kick off of a rebound that slanted wide left. With five minutes to go, Delp's header right in front lifted to the left of the JT goal.Tamaqua's final good attempt to score occurred with 1:45 to go when Miller's corner kick was redirected by Borrero to Hunsicker's left."We just didn't finish," said James. "Give Jim Thorpe credit. They were defensively strong in the middle."Despite the victory, Jim Thorpe's Dixon saw room for improvement."We should have scored more," said Dixon. "We were rushing our shots rather than being patient. We also needed to get more support up front."Hunsicker registered 18 saves in earning the shutout while Banavage stopped 15 balls for the Raiders.In the final analysis of Thorpe's triumph, five inches went a long way in determining the outcome.