HERSHEY – Sewickley Academy needed to make it into the second half of a second straight state final matchup before finally solving the Mountain View defense.
Once they did, the Panthers broke loose for four goals in less than 27 minutes to hand the Eagles their first loss in 36 games and prevent a state title repeat with a 4-2 victory in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A boys’ soccer championship game Friday night.
Anthony Stinson, a key reserve a year ago when Sewickley Academy was shut out, 1-0, by Mountain View in the state final, scored the first two goals and assisted on the last one.
“We’re here because of our defense,” Mountain View coach Roger Thomas said.
The Eagles had to rebuild their defense after winning a state championship last season, but allowed just eight goals in 21 games to make it back to Hershey.
If they had been able to maintain that goals against average for another 32 minutes, the Mountain View defense would have wound up with one of the best 10 performances in state history, joining a series of other historical performances by the program. As it turned out, Mountain View’s run to two straight finals produced a winning streak, career goal totals by Colby Thomas, career assist totals by Zeb Cross, two season goal totals by Colby Thomas, one season assist total by Cross (in 2012) and one season team scoring total (2012) that all ranked in the top 10 in state history.
“The season is a continuation of a program that we have, which is breeding excellence and producing excellence,” coach Thomas said. “It’s unbelievable that we got here two years in a row.”
Once there at Hersheypark Stadium, the Eagles put themselves in position to win another title.
Colby Thomas nailed a direct kick less than 14 minutes into the game, the defense held the explosive attack from the suburban Pittsburgh champions to seven shots in the first half and Bobby Pfahl made saves the first three times he was called upon.
The Eagles had the halftime lead because Thomas was able to rip a 31-yard kick just inside the post on the near (left) side.
Stinson tied the game with 30:55 left, when J.P. Bowell passed from the right corner to Stinson in the middle.
“They had a great defensive team,” Sewickley Academy coach James Boone said. “ … Coming back with that second goal right off the bat really helped us a lot.”
Stinson took a pass from Steve Munn, sent a header off the crossbar and knocked in the rebound for a 2-1 Panthers lead with 20:40 remaining.
The teams broke loose from there for the highest-scoring PIAA boys’ soccer final since 2004. The game tied for the third-highest scoring in the 84 state finals since PIAA boys’ soccer championships began in 1973.
Connor Zieden scored for Sewickley Academy with 18:01 left and Colby Thomas out for a yellow card.
Mountain View had been outshot, 12-1, for a stretch of 17 minutes before suddenly getting back in the game.
Thomas worked a ball loose back to Nick Jarrow, who lobbed a shot over the goalkeeper’s head from 24 yards out with 12:03 remaining.
A defensive mixup led to the clinching goal with 3:58 left.
After nearly colliding with a defender, Pfahl had to retreat and make a diving swipe to swat the ball away. Stinson recovered it and centered a pass to Matt Teitelbaum for the final goal.
“Sewickley is a powerful, polished team offensively,” coach Thomas said.
The Panthers finished with a 19-8 lead in shots. Both teams had two corner kicks. Pfahl made seven saves while Jackson O’Neill had three for Sewickley Academy.
WEEK IN REVIEW
SLATINGTON – Mountain View made it to the state final by winning another rematch Nov. 12 in a semifinal game at Northern Lehigh High School.
The Eagles outlasted New Hope-Solebury, 1-0, by winning a penalty kick shootout, 4-2, after going through 110 minutes – regulation and two 15-minute overtimes – scoreless.
Pfahl made nine saves to offset New Hope-Solebury’s advantages of 24-15 in shots and 6-4 in corner kicks. He then stopped two of the first four attempts in the shootout despite not practicing during the team’s extensive practice on the shots late in the season.
“At this time of the year, even if we were practicing in the gym then running outside at the end, we’re finishing just about every practice with PKs,” coach Thomas said.
Goalkeepers are at a distinct disadvantage on penalty shots in soccer where shooters make a significant majority of the attempts. The coach said Pfahl was protected from adding to existing injuries by not facing an onslaught of the shots in practice.
“I hate them,” Pfahl said. “I don’t stand in net for them at practice. I don’t like to be diving that much.”
When it became necessary to face the shots, Pfahl was outstanding.
“We knew we had probably the best goalkeeper I’ve seen,” coach Thomas said.
New Hope-Solebury went first in the shootout and jumped in front on a Matt Barile shot before Ed Bognatz tied it by blasting a shot almost straight ahead.
Pfahl put Mountain View in control with a diving stop against lefty Riley Smith.
Zeb Cross put the Eagles ahead in the shootout, 2-1, with a lefty shot to the left side.
Jack Natale tied it for the Lions before Colby Thomas sent a shot to right, beating a leaning goalie for a 3-2 advantage.
When Pfahl stopped Alan Smith, he gave Mountain View three straight chances to clinch the win, by making either of its two remaining attempts or with another Pfahl save.
Noah Pepper made the last round of attempts unnecessary with a shot for the decisive 4-2 advantage.
“Once Bobby made the second save, I knew I’d have a chance,” Pepper said. “Somebody had to finish it.”
Although the Eagles made it through the shootout efficiently, Colby Thomas said the team never reached a point where it was content with letting the game be decided that way.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I always have faith in our guys. We wanted to do it in the game.”
The game went to a shootout when Pfahl and Lucas Ebeling matched shutouts.
Pfahl stood up to more consistent pressure, but Mountain View had many of the game’s best chances, including two brilliant saves by Ebeling when he came rushing out to shut down Colby Thomas after Thomas had split defenders and broken down the middle.
Mountain View’s season ended three days later, but Colby Thomas, Cross and Pfahl still had one more game left.
Thomas scored two goals when the North defeated the South, 3-2, in the UNICO All-Star Game for graduating Lackawanna League players Saturday at the University of Scranton’s Fitzpatrick Field.
Forest City’s Meagan Goben scored the only North goal in a 5-1 loss to the South in the girls’ game.
In high school football, Wyoming Valley West, Berwick, Lake-Lehman and Old Forge captured District 2 titles.
Wyoming Valley West is the only one of those teams that does not go on to state play.
The Spartans defeated Scranton, 56-28, in a title game that was set up after both were knocked out of the District 2-4-11 Class AAAA Subregional in the first round.
Mike Baur passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score in the win.
Unbeaten Berwick topped Abington Heights, 35-28, to avenge a loss in last year’s Class AAA final.
Kyle Trenholm returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown to erase a 14-7 Abington Heights lead.
Dustin Jones carried 38 times for 311 yards and three touchdowns to lead Lake-Lehman past Lakeland, 37-21, in Class AA.
The Black Knights had reached the final with a semifinal shutout of Susquehanna and also beat Montrose earlier in the year.
Old Forge, which clinched sole possession of the LFC Division 3 title with a win over the Sabers two weeks earlier and also defeated Montrose, won its second Class A title in three years.
The Blue Devils handled Dunmore, 27-7, as Brandon Yescavage carried 36 times for 227 yards and three touchdowns.
Old Forge limited Daiqwon Buckley, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season and 6,000 in his career, to 71 yards on 21 carries.
Delaware Valley won the Eastern Conference Class AAAA championship with a 35-28 victory over Nazareth.
In high school field hockey, Wyoming Seminary used a goal with three minutes remaining to defeat Crestwood, 2-1, Saturday in the third PIAA Class AA state championship game in 13 years that featured two District 2 teams against each other.
Crestwood, the defending state champion, had won 39 straight.
In professional football, West Scranton and Penn State graduate Matt McGloin thrived in his first National Football League start, leading the Oakland Raiders to their highest point production of the season in a 28-23 win over the Houston Texans.
McGloin finished 18-for-32 for 197 yards and three touchdowns.
In winter high school sports, basketball, wrestling and swimming practices opened Monday.
COLLEGE CORNER
Allison Hall, a junior from Blue Ridge, was a key part of the California University of Pennsylvania women’s cross country team that won a pair of invitational titles and climbed into the national NCAA Division II top 20 this season.
Hall was part of the five-runner team score Oct. 26 at Kutztown when California finished eight out of 17 teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships. She finished the 6-kilometer course in 25:09.8 to place 92nd out of 160 runners.
Hall was among the seven California runners who competed at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional when the team placed sixth out of 22 at Lock Haven. She was 84th out of 162 runners in 23:10.3 for 6K.
After each of her previous two seasons, Hall made the national coaches All-Academic List.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Old Forge, the last Lackawanna Football Conference team playing, will face Southern Columbia in a meeting of state contenders to begin PIAA Class A football tournament play Friday night at Shamokin.
The Blue Devils are 11-1 while the six-time state champion Tigers are 12-0 and averaging more than 50 points per game.
Our predictions will conclude when Old Forge’s season end.
Last week, we were 4-1 (80.0 percent), making our playoff record 7-5 (58.3) and our season mark 104-30 (77.6).
This week’s prediction: Old Forge 47, Southern Columbia 39.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
