Quakers too much for KC
NESHANNOCK TWP — Karns City withstood the onslaught early on.
The Gremlins, however, were done in by Quaker Valley's avalanche of offense in the second half.
The Quakers turned a 1-1 halftime score into an 8-2 runaway in a PIAA Class AA boys soccer quarterfinal playoff game Saturday at Neshannock High School's Bob Bleggi Field.
It was the first loss of the season for the Gremlins (20-1).
“Quaker Valley was the much more skilled and faster team,” said Karns City coach Jim Grenninger.
KC goalkeeper Jake Weckerly frustrated the Quakers in the first half, making 12 saves. The only blemish against him came in the 23rd minute when a shot from Grant Bando bounced off a Gremlin defender five yards in front of the Gremlin goal and ended up in the right corner of the net.
Quaker Valley (19-4-1) appeared to have the 1-0 lead secured entering halftime, but KC senior midfielder Spenser Myers had other ideas.
In the waning seconds of the first half, Noah Pollock was battling to keep possession against a pair of Quaker defenders. He got the ball to Myers, who booted a high, arcing shot from 30 yards that tucked itself in between a leaping Dom Lagnese and the crossbar just as time expired.
Despite having the field tilted against them for almost the entire first half, the Gremlins had pulled even at 1-1.
Quaker Valley coach Andrew Marshall knew what his team needed to take control of the game.
“We had to have more composure toward finishing,” he said. “We talked about it at halftime. We needed to have a bit more class.”
It took just over a minute for Marshall's words to pay off. In the 42nd minute, Ian Rodgers, who had several shots denied by Weckerly in the first half, found the net for a 2-1 lead.
That goal was the turning point in the game, according to Grenninger.
“After it was scored, I turned to our guys on the bench, the look on their faces, it just dropped,” he said.
It was the beginning of a scoring frenzy for the Quakers, the WPIAL champions. In the span of 20 minutes, they netted seven goals. Bando ended the afternoon with a hat trick.
Myers, KC's all-time leading scorer, scored again for the Gremlins on a free kick in the 66th minute.
Weckerly made 22 saves in the game. The sophomore joined the soccer team this year after being urged by his coaches and teammates.
“He's a baseball kid,” said Grenninger. “From where he was to where he is now, I can't say enough about him.”
Grenninger wants his players to focus on the entire season, not just the end.
“A loss like this can damper things, but I told the guys to go home and let the pain subside,” he said. “At the start of the season, I was thinking if we could go 15-3, that would be pretty good. But we went undefeated in the regular season and finished with 20 wins.”
