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Lewisburg girls headed to 1st state final

HAMBURG — As soon as the horn went off at Hamburg High School, the celebration was underway.

A handful of Lewisburg players hugged each other and screamed near the 18-yard box. Others around midfield and some near the bench held Hershey’s chocolate bars, smiling from ear to ear. Even Lewisburg’s coaches were smiling and excited.

That’s because for the first time in program history, the Lewisbug girls soccer team is headed to the state championship game at Hersheypark Stadium.

The Green Dragons used a second-half goal to defeat Boiling Springs, 1-0, Tuesday night and propel themselves to the PIAA Class AA championship game Saturday at 11 a.m. Lewisburg plays Bedford, who defeated South Park, 3-2, in penalty kicks last night.

“I don’t know how I feel right now. It was an emotional game. They fought so hard,” Lewisbug coach Jose Vega said. “We’re going to the state final. We are so proud. I’m at a loss for words.”

“It’s absolutely crazy, it means everything for us. We worked so hard this season,” Lewisburg junior defender Chloe Michaels said. “First part of the season went a little rough and then we got to playoffs and coach told us we’re dangerous. We came in here, we gave it everything and we’re going to Hershey.”

With how the first half developed, it seemed as if whoever scored first would likely come away with the win. Neither team’s defense was allowing the opposing offenses to do much. Both teams kept throughballs to a minimum.

After a combined four shots on goal — two each — in the first half, Lewisburg finally got the opportunity it was hoping for and cashed in.

Allie Reed fed a great cross from outside of the 18 to Ella Reish, who got it just inside the box and sent a perfectly-placed shot to the left post out of the reach of Boiling Springs goalie Bekah Becker just five minutes into the second half.

“It was a back-and-forth game, both teams were knocking on the door. I told them whoever scores the first goal is going to win the game,” Vega said. “And then I saw it go in. The way we play defense, in the back, we had a chance to go to the final.”

And while Lewisburg was playing superb defensively, it knew the Bubblers wouldn’t go away without putting up a fight.

“I knew they were going to come at us with everything they had, so we just had to stay tight. I was a little nervous there,” Michaels said. “We just shut it down. Sarah Burns had to mark their best player and she did absolutely amazing. Stayed on her the whole game. Me, Chelsea (Stanton) and Elena (Malone) had to stay as a unit. Communication was key and we had Lauren (Gross) to back us up, which was great.”

Gross did exactly that, coming up with a handful of big saves and stops to prevent the Bubblers from scoring a game-tying goal in the second half.

With 3:50 remaining, Boiling Springs senior Maddie Hughes sent a corner inside the six to Julia Fulton. Before Fulton could volley the ball, Gross fell on it and prevented any attempt.

Eight minutes into the second half, Hughes fired a great shot from inside the 18 which she tried to slip under the crossbar. Gross caught it on her fingertips and kept herself balanced despite falling back in the goal to preserve Lewisburg’s 1-0 lead.

“She kept us in the game, she really did. And she’s really stepped up this season,” Michaels said about Gross. “It’s hard to come in here and be a sophmore and play in goal with not as much experience as we’d want her to have, but she played absolutely amazing back there. I’m so proud of her.”

The Bubblers had three excellent shots in the second half. Two were sent just a foot over the crossbar and Grace Sibert was inches from a game-tying goal when her shot ricochetted off the crossbar.

Lewisburg came extremely close to making it a 2-0 game with 15:30 to play thanks to a great shot by Reed and, perhaps, an even greater save by Becker.

Reed drilled a shot from outside the 18, sending it to the left upper 90. Becker read it perfectly and dove, getting her fingertips on the ball to deflect it off the crossbar before a Bubblers player cleared it.

Lewisburg’s defense has been solid all season and its backline and Gross have 13 shutouts. That backline did what it usually does and limited Boiling Springs from getting chances inside the 18.

The Bubblers had just two shots come from inside of the 18, one of which was a header in the first half which went wide right. The other was by Hughes in the second half which Gross easily stopped.

Lewisburg 1,

Boiling Springs 0

(PIAA Class AA semifinals)

L–Ella Reish (Allie Reed), 34:46.

Shots: BS 4, L 4. Corners: BS 7, L 0. Saves: BS (Bekah Becker) 3, L (Lauren Gross 3).

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