Lack of bounces separates SV from state title
HERSHEY — George Williams summed it up best.
“This was just one of those nights when the ball wasn’t going to bounce our way,” said Seneca Valley’s boys soccer coach.
Williams offered that thought shortly after his team had completed a furious second-half rush, only to be held scoreless in a 2-0 loss to Central Bucks East in the PIAA Class AAA title game Saturday evening at Hersheypark Stadium.
The Raiders fell behind by two goals in the first half, but had the edge in corner kicks (4-0) and shots on goal (4-1) in the final 40 minutes.
SV’s frustration came to a head with just over a minute to play. Senior forward Matt Saluga sent a crossing pass from the left of the Patriots’ net. Goalkeeper Austin Prime dove forward to cut it off, but the ball bounced off of him and directly to Gage Bitzer, who was charging toward the goal. Bitzer booted a shot that could have at least saved the Raiders from being shut out, but Prime, who was still on the ground, raised his leg to block SV’s final scoring chance of the game.
Earlier in the half, Saluga had a shot from 30 yards out that was saved by Prime. The ball skipped back toward an oncoming Griffin Mathew, but Prime raced out to retrieve it before the forward arrived.
Several other crossing passes gave the Raiders (18-3-1) hope that was quickly dashed by an alert CB East defenseman or a shot that was off the mark.
“It was definitely frustrating,” said Williams, “but our guys are competitors. We weren’t going down without a fight.”
With most of the action taking place at the other end of the field, Seneca Valley goalkeeper Luke Pecora had a relatively quiet second half. His only save in the final 40 minutes came in the 77th minute of play on a free kick from 50 yards out. He ended the game with six stops.
“Seneca Valley pressed,” said Patriots’ coach Mike Gorni. (Adam Mascio, Mathew and Saluga) are a chore. We knew we would have to withstand it and we did.”
The Patriots (26-0) scored the game’s first goal thanks to perfect ball-placement by three different players.
In the 13th minute of play, Ian Lutz took a free kick 50 yards from Pecora and the Raiders’ net. The ball sailed toward the left post, where Evan Vare headed it back toward the middle of the goalface. That’s where Brian Gilligan was waiting. His header put the Patriots up 1-0.
Pecora was caught in no-man’s land.
“They played the ball in and I was waiting for a shot from the first guy,” Pecora said. “Instead, he got a cross with a header. It was a great goal. This was by far the best team we played all season. I can see why they are ranked so high (10th in the nation).”
Seneca’s best chance in the first half came after Macen DiPaolo took a free kick 70 yards from CB East’s net. The ball was headed by Saluga, but Prime jumped and punched it just over the crossbar, leading to the Raiders’ lone corner kick of the half, which was cleared.
Prime stopped six shots in the game.
Vare made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute when a ball was booted high and into CB East’s attacking third. The senior forward gained control amidst several SV defenders and sent a shot sailing past Pecora.
“Evan is a great player, All-State and a regional All-American,” said Gorni, “but we have a lot of great players. We are not a one-man team. That first goal was picture-perfect.”
“The first goal took the wind out of our sails a bit and put us behind the 8-ball,” said Williams. “We came out a little nervous tonight and you can’t be nervous against a team this good. But we collected ourselves at halftime and pushed back.”
