PIAA Boys’ Soccer: Masterman rallies past Schuylkill Haven
Schuylkill Haven head coach Gary Hess gathers his team during Tuesday's PIAA Class A boys' soccer first-round match against Masterson. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
ORWIGSBURG — Schuylkill Haven couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
Carter Daniel’s penalty kick just 32 seconds into the match gave the Hurricanes the lead, but Julia R. Masterman kept pushing forward and eventually created the pressure that produced a 2-1 victory in a PIAA Class A first-round boys’ soccer match Tuesday evening at Blue Mountain High School’s Eagles’ Nest.
“They’re a good team,” Schuylkill Haven coach Gary Hess said. “We got beat on two pretty awesome goals.”
District 12 champion Masterman (7-7-2) advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals against District 3 champion Camp Hill (18-3-1), a 1-0 winner over District 1 runner-up New Hope-Solebury in a first-round match. The site and time for that match will be announced by the PIAA.
Schuylkill Haven (15-6) pressured in the opening seconds, and Masterman fouled in the penalty box. Daniel stepped to the spot and drilled a hard, low shot past Masterman goalie Nery Tlapaya-Ceron.
“We came out, we did our job, we got a call in the box, and we finished the penalty,” Hess said. “We tried to ride that momentum, and unfortunately it didn’t work out for us.”
Slowly, Masterman started to apply more and more pressure. Haven keeper Gavin Wade proved up to the task, stopping all nine shots in the first half and 16 for the match.
Repeatedly playing up the wings and crossing into the middle, Masterman kept producing chances. For the match, Masterman outshot Schuylkill Haven 18-7.
It seemed to be only a matter of time until Masterman, which had the majority of the possession, converted.
That time came at 54:56 when Sam Weisz delivered a cross right to left to Omar Abouelatta, who drilled the equalizer into the back of the net.
The match got increasingly physical as both teams received yellow cards and several players went down or hobbled off with injuries.
With time winding down in regulation, Masterman got the opening it needed. Ali Hawkes corralled a loose ball inside the box and blasted the game-winner at 75:32.
“We got ourselves hanging back a bit at times,” Hess said. “As we pushed forward, we could control the game and we could have dangerous situations created, but when we sat back, we’re kind of like sitting ducks, and they can fire on us at will.”
Schuylkill Haven seniors Carson Auker, Daniel, Chase Fisher, Jaden Miller, Shawn Prentice, Luke Smith, Cameron Snyder, Wade and Justin Watson added to the Hurricanes’ rich soccer tradition with a District 11 championship and a trip to states.
“I wanted to continue the legacy of winning that Vanco (Georgevic) and Andre (Georgevic) created for us,” Hess said. “I think we did that. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us tonight, but he’s still smiling down on us.”
