Trending
South Williamsport coach Chris Vanaskie knew that the Mounties had a really good chance of converting their penalty kick in overtime. As Hayden Swinehart walked over to take it, Vanaskie knew that he would be able to put it on frame.
And it happened just like Vanaskie expected.
Swinehart fired a shot to the right post, sneaking it inside, to give South Williamsport an exciting 2-1 win in the rain on Saturday afternoon at Balls Mills.
The win advances South Williamsport to the District 4 Class AA semifinals at a time and site to be determined.
“It means a lot. I think we didn’t have the strongest schedule this year, so to get a win against a quality opponent like this means a lot,” Vanaskie said. “It shows how much hard work that these guys have put in and for it to pay off with a district victory against a quality talented team.”
Warrior Run played well throughout the second half, and kept putting pressure on South Williamsport.
Logan Harris scored the game’s first goal when he sent in a shot from inside the 18 off an assist by Swinehart with 2:50 to play until halftime.
Warrior Run countered early in the second half to put in an equalizer, however, when Luke Mattox fed a pass to Tanner Polcyn with 33:21 to play in the game to tie it, 1-1.
“It was a heck of a game, South Williamsport’s a very good team. We obviously won the possession battle and had way more shots on goals, just didn’t finish unfortunately, but that’s the game of soccer and sometimes it goes that way,” Warrior Run coach Troy Emmert said.
Warrior Run nearly went ahead early with 18:05 to play when Alex Brown found himself in a perfect position on the far end of the goal to send in a shot. But Brown’s attempt went too high, preventing Warrior Run from taking an early one-goal lead.
Brown also had a beautiful header in the second half off a corner kick from inside the 18. Brown sent it to his right, but it hit off the upright, coming just inches shy of a go-ahead goal.
“We had at least three easy goals we left on the table in first half and that pretty much cost us,” Emmert said.
Warrior Run held an 11-9 shots on goal advantage in the game, but both defensive units did an outstanding job preventing easy looks and clearing balls when needed.
Brock Weaver ended with nine saves for South and Jake Yoder had six for Warrior Run.
Warrior Run’s back line did a solid job preventing Hayden Swinehart from getting through balls and breakaway chances to put in a goal.
“You can’t mark him man-to-man in soccer effectively, so our defense knew of him. They know him well and I think they did a great job of shutting him down,” Emmert said. “Their game was a lot of through balls and we shut that down.”
Vanaskie admitted that Warrior Run was one of the toughest tests the Mounties had this entire season. The Defenders have a lot of playmakers up top, notably Brown, and the Mounties’ back line did a great job inside the 18.
“Our defensive line has been outstanding all year. We haven’t been tested very often, and certainly we haven’t been tested like we were today, and I think our strength really showed,” Vanaskie said. “It wasn’t pretty, especially with the conditions, but they did what they needed to do to limit their chances.”
Ben Potter had a header attempt just before the end of regulation for Warrior Run from 10 yards out, but it went just wide past the left post.
In the second half, Swinehart had two great chances to put in a goal on a quick two-shot sequence from just outside the 6-yard box, but Yoder came up with two stops to prevent either from going in.
After both teams having just three shots on goal each in the first half, Warrior Run held a 6-5 advantage in the second half as both teams got more offensive pressure.
South Williamsport 2, Warrior Run 1
SW-Logan Harris (Hayden Swinehart), 2:50. WR-Tanner Polcyn (Luke Mattox), 33:21. SW-Swinehart (penalty kick), 9:44.
Shots: WR 11, SW 9. Corners: WR 4, SW 6. Saves: WR 6 (Jake Yoder), SW 9 (Brock Weaver).
Records: Warrior Run (10-7), South Williamsport (14-2).