Green Dragons face Northwestern Lehigh tonight

Lewisburg's boys soccer team and the state semifinals go together like peanut butter and jelly it seems. This is the fourth consecutive season the Green Dragons are in the state semifinals.

It's a common sighting to see Lewisburg in the playoffs this late into the season, about as usual as the sun rising every morning. But the Green Dragons aren't satisfied just reaching the state semifinals, they want what is at the end of the road.

But don't think that means Lewisburg is looking ahead at Saturday. They're focused on the task at hand, which is Northwestern Lehigh today at North Schulykill High School for a 6 p.m. semifinal contest. The Green Dragons always look at just who's next on the schedule, not possible meetings beyond that. It's what's helped kept Lewisburg as successful as it is.

"We are promised Tuesday, nothing more. Our focus is only the next game," Lewisburg coach Ben Kettlewell said. "I have been through this many times and looking ahead can only hurt your chances."

Northwestern Lehigh, the District 11 champions, opened the state tournament with a 4-0 win against Masterman, the District 12 runners-up, before edging District 3 champion Fleetwood in an exciting contest, 1-0, in overtime on Saturday in the quarterfinals to enter today's semifinal.

Northwestern Lehigh (24-1) will provide Lewisburg (20-1-1) an extremely tough test. The Tigers have allowed just 13 goals against this year while its offense has scored an impressive 127. But, Lewisburg's defense is as rock solid as you'd want a defense to be and the Tigers will have a tough time finding chances to work through the defense and score.

"Our back line led by Zak Kreisher, Matt Reish and Henry Harrison in goal provide great leadership," Kettlewell said. "We focus on playing together and being patient."

The Tigers have five players with at least 11 goals or assists in Matt Johnson (34 goals, 17 assists), Josh Zellner (32, 24), Jack Mauro (12, 6), Cayden Fitch (11, 17) and Jake an Lierop (8, 16).

In goal, senior Damian Krapf has proven to be a wall, posting 15 shutouts and allowing just 12 of the 13 goals to slip by him through 25 games.

While both Lewisburg and Northwestern have solid defensive units, their goalies may be tested if the forwards can break through. Krapf will have a workout against the likes of Alfred Romano (25 goals, 17 assists), Viktor Permyashkin (12, 8) and Reese Dieffenderfer (11, 9), a trio which have made it difficult for opposing teams.

Romano has become a huge contributor to Lewisburg's postseason success. He scored the go-ahead goal in Lewisburg's 2-1 win over Conwell-Egan in the quarterfinals and had two goals and an assist in a 5-0 shutout over Dunmore in the opening round. Against Conwell-Egan, Lewisburg played outstanding in not letting momentum shift late in the second half when Conwell-Egan tied the game. The Green Dragons kept playing their game and it resulted with the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute.

"The players did a nice job staying calm and trusting each other," Kettlewell said.

Henry Harrison has recorded 15 shutouts this year and is proving to be another standout goalie in a long line of successful keepers at Lewisburg, following in the footsteps of Tony Burns and Logan Cho before him in recent years. Harrison has a 0.9 save percentage this year and has given up just six goals as he's 18-1-1 when in the cage.

"I believe we are staying focused on the present and not looking ahead," Kettlewell said.

And that mindset has Lewisburg into the state semifinals for the fourth straight year.