Blue Mountain's Hailey Scheuer advances the ball during Thursday's win over North Schuylkill in the Schuylkill League girls' soccer championship game (Photo by Justin Reed / Skook News).

ORWIGSBURG — It’s been 14 years since Tri-Valley played for a District 11 boys’ soccer championship.

A first-half blitz helped the Dawgs end that drought.

Nathan Hillard scored a pair of goals as Tri-Valley dominated from start to finish in a 4-1 victory over Minersville in a District 11 Class A semifinal at Blue Mountain’s Eagles’ Nest.

The victory advances the second-seeded Dawgs (12-7-1) to a championship date with top-seeded Schuylkill Haven, a 5-0 winner over Salem Christian, on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

“Tri-Valley has won one (district title) in 2010,” said Tri-Valley coach Phil Barry, who was the coach of that team. “That’s the last time we were there and the only time we were there.

“It’s been a long time coming and these boys are hungry, we’re hungry.”

Tri-Valley had defeated Minersville 5-0 and 3-2 in their Schuylkill League Division II matches, but did not score any goals in the first half in either contest. Barry said that scoring first was a point of emphasis entering Thursday’s semifinal.

“It’s huge. It’s momentum,” Barry said of scoring first. “If you can keep the other team from getting the momentum first, it means a whole heck of a lot. That was the first time we scored in the first half on them all season, so that was huge, too.

“We needed to get a first goal against them in the first half, because we hadn’t in the first two games.”

Hillard, a sophomore midfielder/forward, showcased his skills early and often. He scored on a 25-yard blast from the middle of the field 5:40 into the game to put Tri-Valley ahead, then added a second goal with 6:53 left in the first half of a great entry pass from Tyler Mowery.

Hillard possessed the ball to the left of the net with a defender on him, faked right, moved left, then switched back right before putting the ball in the net to the left of the goalkeeper.

“It’s just shifting my weight, faking, being light on my feet, it’s a lot easier to move around like that,” Hillard said. “Being good on both feet helps.”

Barry had a lot of praise for Hillard, who is also the kicker on Tri-Valley’s football team.

“Nate is a wonderful player to have on your team,” Barry said. “He missed most of his freshman season with a broken leg, so he’s looking for some payback this year on some teams that he didn’t get to play against last year.

“He can control the game. He can control the ball good, he gets his teammates involved, and that’s what we need. That’s great leadership for a sophomore.

Truman Hillard scored Tri-Valley’s second goal on a long grounder from the left side that squirted by Minersville keeper Robert McGrath. In the second half, Lukas Ruch scored to put Tri-Valley up 4-0 before Chase Zimerofsky ended the shutout bid by scoring for Minersville with 14:04 left.

“I’m super, super excited,” Hillard said of reaching the final. “No matter what the outcome, I think I’ll really enjoy it myself. Just playing with my friends, having my coach, who coached that team that won, that mean a lot to him, too. I’m hoping to have a lot of fun.”

Schuylkill Haven 5, Salem Christian 0

NEW TRIPOLI — Carter Daniel scored three goals and Luke Smith added two goals and two assists as Schuylkill Haven rolled past Salem Christian in a District 11 Class A semifinal at Northwestern Lehigh High School.

Gavin Wade made six saves for the Hurricanes.

District 11 Boys’ Soccer

Class A Semifinal

At Blue Mountain HS

Minersville (11-9)                          0               1               —              1

Tri-Valley (12-7-1)                          3               1               —              4

TV – N. Hillard, 5:40

TV – T. Hillard, 18:34

TV – N. Hillard (Mowery), 33:07

TV – Ruch, 52:41

Min — Zimerofsky, 65:56

Shots on goal: Minersville 7, Tri-Valley 13. Corner kicks: Minersville 3, Tri-Valley 4. Saves: Minersville (McGrath) 8, Tri-Valley (Leese) 5.

Class A Semifinal

At Northwestern Lehigh HS

Sch. Haven (14-6)                          4               1               —              5

Salem Christ. (8-7-3)                    0               0               —             0

SH – Daniel (Smith), 1st half

SH – Smith, 1st half

SH – Daniel (Fisher), 1st half

SH – Daniel (Smith), 1st half

SH — Smith, 2nd half

Shots on goal: Schuylkill Haven 12, Salem Christian 6. Saves: Schuylkill Haven (Wade) 6, Salem Christian (Marinari) 7.

Girls’ Soccer

Tide, Eagles reach Class 3A final

Schuylkill League Division I rivals Blue Mountain and Pottsville will clash for a fourth time this season after both the Eagles and Tide were victorious in Thursday’s District 11 Class 3A semifinal doubleheader at Lehighton.

In the opener, Bella Wright and Emma Quirin-Morris scored second-half goals as the Crimson Tide overcame an early deficit to beat Bangor 3-1. In the nightcap, Hailey Scheuer’s second-half goal pushed the Eagles to a 1-0 win over Southern Lehigh.

“It was a tough game with the wind and the cold and going against a good team, but we kept working,” Blue Mountain coach Matt Kenitzer said. “Second half we clicked better in our possession and attack and got a goal to fall. Then our defense continued to stay strong for our win. It was another great all-around effort.”

In the first semifinal, Reagan Toomey gave Bangor a 1-0 lead at the 12:50 mark, but Lauren Kelly converted a feed from Myla Fegley at 34:41 to knot the score at 1-1 at intermission.

Wright put the Crimson Tide (14-5-1) ahead 3 minutes into the second half. Quirin-Morris gave Pottsville some insurance with a goal off an assist by Abbie Davis at 52:35. Aubrey Scanlan made three saves in net for the Tide.

Scheuer, who had two goals in the Eagles’ Schuylkill League championship victory over North Schuylkill, added another postseason goal off a feed from Ella Smith for the game’s only tally.

Makayla Keck stopped all eight Southern Lehigh shots to notch the shutout, the Eagles’ third straight of the postseason. So far in the playoffs, Blue Mountain has outscored its four opponents 12-1.

Pottsville defeated Blue Mountain twice in the regular season, prevailing 2-0 on Sept. 4 in Pottsville and 2-1 on Sept. 25 at Blue Mountain. The Eagles took Game 3, winning 2-0 in the Schuylkill League semifinals Oct. 15.