Eagles, Cards advance to Schuylkill League boys’ soccer championship
Pine Grove's Nate Frankenfield (35) shoots the ball past North Schuylkill goalkeeper Kaden Onuschak for a goal in the second half of Monday's Schuylkill League boys' soccer semifinal at Blue Mountain's Eagles' Nest. The Cardinals defeated the Spartans 2-1 in overtime (Photo by Justin Reed / Skook News)
ORWIGSBURG — Quinn Brommer was at the right place at the right time Monday night for the Pine Grove boys’ soccer team.
The senior defender banged home the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory over North Schuylkill in a Schuylkill League boys’ soccer semifinal at Blue Mountain’s Eagles’ Nest.
The victory advances the Division I champions (14-3-1) to Thursday’s championship game where they will meet four-time defending league champion Blue Mountain (14-5-1), a 1-0 winner over Shenandoah Valley, at 5 p.m. at the Eagles’ Nest.
Dylan Knittle’s goal off a feed from Shawn Batory at 25:08 proved to be the game-winner for the Eagles.
It will be a rematch of last year’s title match, won 2-0 by Blue Mountain.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Brommer said of reaching the league final. “I’m hoping we can get it this year. I feel like we have a good group here and we can really do something this year. I really want to get it this year, especially being my senior year.”
For a while, it looked like Brommer’s teammate Nate Frankenfield was going to be the hero for Pine Grove.
The Cardinals dominated the game from start to finish but couldn’t put the ball in the net. Pine Grove outshot North Schuylkill 8-0 in the first half and had a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks, but strong play by the Spartans’ defense and goalkeeper Kaden Onuschak kept the game scoreless.
Frankenfield broke the ice at 56:57, corralling a loose ball after a North Schuylkill foul gave the Cardinals a free kick from 45 yards out.
It looked like Frankenfield’s goal would stand up until a wild sequence in the final minute allowed North Schuylkill to tie it. A throw-in from the Spartans’ Zack Marcinowski on the left side of the zone was headed by a Pine Grove defender off goalkeeper Peyton Renninger and into the net, tying the game at 1-1 with 29 seconds left.
Despite being shot 13-1 and giving up 10 corner kicks in regulation, North Schuylkill forced overtime.
“It gets frustrating, but we generated a lot of opportunities and we kept working,” Pine Grove coach Marv Weber said. “(Onuschak) made some nice saves. I thought their defense and their team in general played really well. I thought it was a great game.
“Early in the game we had opportunities on throws and corners and we weren’t as aggressive going to the ball as we could have been. In overtime we were aggressive. Good things happen when you’re hungry and and aggressive and attacking in the box.”
Pine Grove was aggressive from the outset of the 15-minute overtime period but again couldn’t score despite generating five shots and two corner kicks.
With 1:10 remaining, the Cardinals garnered another corner kick. Frankenfield sent a high-arching ball from the right side toward the front of the net, where Brommer was waiting in the middle of the crowd.
A defender, Brommer comes up to the offensive zone on corner kicks, throw-ins and other set plays. His header squeaked past Onuschak for the game-winner at 93:53.
“Our center back, Gino (Pompei), said ‘You have to go up there. We need to finish this,’” Brommer said. “I took a look at the clock and I said, ‘I want to go to the league ‘chip, I want to put it in right here.’
“I saw the ball coming for me and I was like, ‘This is it, I’m putting it in.’ I saw it up, scrambled for it, went up for it, got it, ran through it … and it just ended up in the goal. I couldn’t believe it.
“I headed it right into one of their defenders on the goal line and it ricocheted off him. I was just running for it and trying to put it in, get the job done.”
The first semifinal followed a similar plot to the second one, as Blue Mountain controlled the action from the outset but struggled to finish.
Knittle’s goal came off a great entry pass by Shawn Batory. Batory advanced the ball up the left side and got it into the middle to Knittle, who blasted a shot top shelf to the right of goalkeeper Caleb Campos. It was Knittle’s third goal of the postseason after he scored twice in the Eagles’ quarterfinal win over Tri-Valley.
“Brayden Lightcap pressed it, got the ball to Shawn and I was able to slot one home for the win,” said Knittle, a sophomore forward. “It was a great ball by Shawn. I just needed to work on putting that far post to make sure the goalkeeper had no chance to stop it.”
Blue Mountain controlled the action for nearly the entire game, collecting 10 corner kicks and outshooting the Blue Devils 6-2.
The Eagles’ midfielders prevented Shenandoah Valley from making runs at the net and Blue Mountain’s four defenders — Owen Gretsky, Aidan Varney, Sean Gaddy and Robert Bowitz — did an excellent job of keeping the ball away from Shenandoah Valley’s top two scorers, Ayden Zamudio and Joan Menjivar.
“We knew what quality those players were, so we organized in our trainings to try and make sure that we doubled whenever we could and knew where they were at all times,” Blue Mountain coach Chris Brauer said.
Shenandoah Valley, making its first-ever appearance in the Schuylkill League playoffs, only managed a shot by Zamudio at 5:32 and a long shot by Dante Garcia at 44:12.
The Blue Devils played with great effort and maintained their intensity through the final horn but couldn’t get one past Blue Mountain keeper Caden Wargo.
“Their heart is never in question,” Shenandoah Valley coach John Burke said. “I thought we started slow, which we typically do. They got one in early but in the second half we played a lot better. These guys give it their all no matter what.”
For Blue Mountain, Monday’s win was its ninth straight. The Eagles are in the Schuylkill League finals for the fifth straight year and 23rd time, looking to win their fifth straight crown and 21st overall championship.
The last time a Schuylkill League boys’ soccer team won five straight crowns was when Blue Mountain captured seven in a row from 1999-2005.
“We started this season losing to some excellent teams, like Conrad Weiser, who is ranked second in the state,” Brauer said of his bunch. “I’ve been saying instead of results we got lessons. So we learned our lessons. We kept together, we kept working, made a couple of adjustments position-wise and now we’re playing our best soccer.
“For us to be in this position, it’s something our kids deserve and we’re really thrilled to be there.”
Pine Grove, meanwhile, hasn’t won the Schuylkill League title since 1996, having lost in the finals in 2007, 2018, 2019, 2021 and last year.
In their two Schuylkill League Division I regular-season meetings, the Cardinals defeated Blue Mountain 2-1 on Aug. 26 in Pine Grove and the teams battled to a 1-1 tie Sept. 18 at the Eagles’ Nest.
“It’s going to be a tough one. It’s tough when you play a team three times,” Weber said. “I expect a good game. We match up well. Fast, skilled and back and forth just like the other two were.”
