Boys’ Soccer: Blue Mountain blanks Pine Grove for 5th straight Schuylkill League title
Blue Mountain players celebrate after winning Thursday's Schuylkill League championship game 3-1 over Pine Grove (Photo by Justin Reed / Skook News).
ORWIGSBURG — Chris Brauer gathered his Blue Mountain boys’ soccer team together into a circle in the corner of the end zone.
“One,” the coach yelled. “One,” his players answered.
“Two,” he continued, his voice rising. “Two,” his players responded.
The sequence continued until finally, “Five,” Brauer screamed.
“Five,” his players followed, hands flying in the air followed by an enthusiastic celebration.
For the fifth straight year, the Eagles are the Schuylkill League boys’ soccer champions.
Sophomore Evan Burcik scored seven minutes into the game and junior Drew Waschko added two more in the second half as Blue Mountain defeated Pine Grove 3-1 on Thursday night at the Eagles’ Nest.
It’s the Eagles’ 10th straight victory and the program’s 21st boys’ championship overall.
“This feels amazing right now,” Burcik said.
The son of former Blue Mountain girls’ coach Mike Burcik and the grandson of Hall of Fame Blue Mountain boys’ coach Rob Burcik, Evan Burcik scored off a corner kick at 7:01. Blake Batory delivered a short corner to an oncoming Burcik, who one-timed it into the upper right corner of the net.
“It felt amazing,” Burcik said. “We’ve been playing (that shot) for a while now, just doing it at practice, and it finally paid off. It was nice to score that there for us.”
Brauer said getting an early goal was a key objective for Blue Mountain in Thursday’s title match.
“It is incredibly important (to get an early goal),” Brauer said. “We had worked on the training ground on doing just that. The kids recognized the situation and executed.
“Blake’s ball was perfect and Evan’s shot was brilliant.”
Pine Grove (14-4-2), looking to win its first Schuylkill League championship since 1996, controlled the game for the final 12 minutes of the first half, collecting three shots on goal and two corner kicks.
But the Cardinals couldn’t get one past Blue Mountain keeper Caden Wargo. Pine Grove’s only shot on goal in the second half came with 6:35 left when Blake Ludwig scored off an assist by Tanner Kolb. By then, Blue Mountain led 3-0.
“I was very proud of our defense, the way we moved together,” Brauer said. “We challenged for the ball, cleared the ball when it was necessary to clear it, played it out when we could do that. Pine Grove is a very, very good team and they’re very well-coached, so it means a lot to play that well.”
Waschko put the game away with a pair of goals on similar plays … the ball was advanced up the left side, sent into the middle, and he blasted a shot to the top left corner of the net.
His first goal, at 55:49, came off a feed from Blake Batory. His second, at 69:02, was unassisted.
“We knew going into the second half that a 1-nil lead wasn’t safe,” Waschko said. “We knew we had to take some shots, try to pressure their keeper. We did the same play twice, it worked both times. I was really glad to get those off.”
The victory also vaulted Blue Mountain to the top seed in the Class 3A bracket for the District 11 playoffs. The Eagles will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Jim Thorpe and Bangor in the semifinals Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Brauer said he was proud of the way his team grew as the season progressed, adding another championship to the program’s long list of Schuylkill League crowns.
“It feels great (to win five),” Brauer said. “It wasn’t that long ago … Pine Grove came here and tied us on the 18th of September. The 19th, after playing 100 minutes, we got beat at Notre Dame-Green Pond, which is a good team. At that point, we were sitting at 5-5-2.
“I took the guys to the side, we sat down under a tree and I said, ‘Look, better days are coming. We’re too good.’ They kept together, they kept working together, and we’ve gone from 5-5-2 to 15-5-2 and the fifth league championship in a row. It feels awesome.”
