Boys soccer lost its chance to claim the district title after getting bumped out of districts due to a loss to Oley Valley on Monday, October 28.
After two close games against Hamburg in the preliminary round and Gettysburg in the quarterfinals the Warriors played a close game, but in the end were unable to pull off a win, ending with a score of 1-0 in the district semifinals. The score remained tied at 0-0 throughout regulation play with a Warrior shutout by senior goalie Mike Jones, who was able to block all ten of Oley Valley’s shots. The game came down to double overtime where the Lynx’s were able to score on Jones 2:01 into overtime, ending the game and the team’s chances at a district title.
Jones contributed to the team’s journey at districts by not having a single goal scored on him for six regulation halves of district play.
“It felt good to have six halves of shutouts, but it wasn’t all me. The defense and Clay played a huge role in my success,” said Jones. “The whole defense really stepped it up and worked together in the Oley Valley game. We just got to move past it and win our next game.”
Prior to the Oley Valley game, the Warriors were able to make headlines with their quarterfinal win against Gettysburg, the number one team in the Class AA district power rankings.This game took place Thursday, October 24 at Papermakers Stadium in Spring Grove.
The score was tied 0-0 throughout the regulation game and two overtime periods until the Warriors were able to pull out a 4-2 win in penalty kicks. Slipping the last shot by Gettysburg’s goalie in the bottom right corner was senior center defensive midfielder Timmy Wilson, securing a spot in the semifinals.
Shots on goal were even for the game at 4-4 and Gettysburg outkicked the Warriors with 8-0 corner kicks. This was the first time this season that Gettysburg had been shut out in regular play.
Coming before this game was the preliminary round of districts on Monday, October 21 against the Hamburg Hawks 2-0, scoring both goals in the second half. After a slow start, senior center attack midfielder Nathan Bilbie was able to start the scoring just 30 seconds into the second half with an assist from junior forward Alex Rebich. Scoring the next goal with 14:08 on the clock was junior outside midfielder Andrew Sweigard with the assist from junior center attack midfielder Duncan Mitchell.
Bilbie was ecstatic after his goal as he celebrated with his team.
“It felt pretty good to start the scoring in the second half,” said Bilbie. “After the goal we were so pumped we pretty much knew we were going to win. It felt so great to be the one that got that feeling started. The crowd and the team were all so excited and cheering.”
Both teams had six shots on goal and Hamburg led Susquehannock with two corner kicks to the Warriors one. Jones recorded eight saves compared to Hamburg’s goalie who had 4.
Coach Brett Maxwell thinks the team has been successful this year.
“I feel like we’ve had a very successful season overall,” said Maxwell. “We’ve definitely had our setbacks and disappointments, but we always bounce back and have continued to improve throughout. Our number one goal was to qualify for states, and we are one win away from that.”
Although the team has been knocked out of districts, they will fight for a spot in states on Saturday, November 2 against Manheim Central in Hershey.
