RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Quinn Winslow (6) moves the ball during a District 4 Class AA semifinal game against Lewisburg on Tuesday at Balls Mills Soccer Club. Lewisburg won 3-1.

Lewisburg and Midd-West are longtime rivals. Whenever they play in the regular season, more times than not, it’s an instant classic.

And when they meet in the postseason? It’s more of the same.

Since 2014, Lewisburg and Midd-West have become more than familiar with one another as the two have meet up in the District 4 Class AA championship nine of the last 11 postseasons.

It’s a testament to how good both programs perennially are.

And on Saturday, it’ll be meeting 10 in the last 12 years, the second consecutive year playing for a district title and latest chapter in arguably District 4’s greatest rivalry.

That match is a 4 p.m. kick at Milton this afternoon.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought battle that will be decided by small margins,” Lewisburg coach Ben Kettlewell said. “I expect us to come out and be relentless.”

With the exception of two three-goal victories by Lewisburg in both 2021 (3-0) and 2020 (7-0), Lewisburg and Midd-West have played close contests in the finals. Last year was a 2-1 Lewisburg victory.

And while these two rivals battle each other tough, Lewisburg has come away with a 8-1 record in those last nine meetings for district titles.

“Both teams get excited to play each other,” Kettlewell said of the rivalry. “We both have respect for each other’s programs. It is no accident that we keep playing against each other. Our cultures are strong.”

The Green Dragons are led by a senior duo up top in Isaac Ayres (24 goals, eight assists) and Viktor Permyashkin (23 goals, 17 assists). Add in junior Keegan Crosby (seven goals, 15 assists) and senior Logan Kitchens (seven goals) and the Green Dragons have a tough offense to slow down.

“Viktor and Isaac work very well together and can score in different ways,” Kettlewell said. “They look for each other and always look to make their connection stronger with open communication.”

The Green Dragons and Midd-West battled to a scoreless double overtime draw in mid-September.

While Lewisburg enters with an unbeaten record (19-0-1), the Mustangs have had a strong season as well and are sitting at 17-2-1 entering Saturday.

And, like Lewisburg, Midd-West has a strong defensive unit. The Mustangs have allowed just 12 goals all season and have shutout both playoff opponents in Hughesville (3-0) and Central Columbia (1-0).

Midd-West and Lewisburg mirror each other in a few ways. Both have solid scoring offenses, a talented back line and great keepers.

Midd-West’s Derek Wert, a sophomore, has recorded nine shutouts this year for the Mustangs while junior Derek Keister has four. Lewisburg’s Gabe Pawling has 16 shutouts this year and has an outstanding 0.900 save percentage. He also has 39 shutouts for his career, fourth most all-time in Lewisburg history.

While he doesn’t have enough games left in his career to move up to second (Christian Gallager, 51 from 2008-11) or first (Logan Cho, 60 from 2012-15), he’s still solidified himself as a Lewisburg great in goal., he could catch former standout Tony Burns who recorded 44 from 2018-21.

Pawling will look to keep Midd-West senior Connor Stoltzfus (14 goals, five assists), junior Gabriel Romig (10 goals, five assists), freshman Abram Sellers (eight goals, one assist), junior Evan Devine (seven goals, eight assists) or junior Nathan Horst (six goals, nine assists) from putting in a goal.

Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, fans can expect another great game between these two programs. After all, this rivalry lives up to the hype every time.