Local Sports

Lewisburg boys claim third straight District 4 title by beating Central

MILTON -- When he saw teammate Everett Good take the ball to the far corner of the field, Lewisburg's Keegan Croby saw his opportunity.

Crosby raced towards Central Columbia's goal and when he got the ball from Everett, he buried it.

Behind Crosby's goal, Lewisburg pulled off the upset by taking a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Central Columbia in Thursday's District 4 Class 2A final at Milton High's Alumni Field.

Back-to-back-to-back sure has a nice ring to it.

The No. 2-seeded Green Dragons (16-2-1) claimed their third District 4 final in a row, and their 14th crown since 2010.

Oh, yeah, Lewisburg also avenged a 2-1 loss to Central (18-1-1) in its first game of the year.

"It's great (going back-to-back-to-back). I think these boys worked hard (for it). We kind of knew we needed to keep trying to play and it wasn't like a finished product at any point through our season, and it still isn't. We still have some things that we can do better in and get there," said Lewisburg coach Ben Kettlewell.

"Gabe (Pawling) was the goalie during his freshman year when we lost in PKs to Central (16-15 in 2023), so he kind of used this as his get-back (game). He's always remembered that, because we haven't seen Central in districts since that year," Kettlewell added.

For Crosby in particular, Thursday's win was a little redemption after the Dragons' loss to the Blue Jays to open the season.

"I think the difference today was that we wanted it more; we wanted it more than them," said Crosby. "I think they came out a little too cocky, and we just took it from them."

Proof of that was how Lewisburg played in the first half.

Central got an indirect kick early after Pawling was called for a penalty when he handled the ball outside the penalty area, but the ensuing indirect kick by Central's Jameson Lapos was saved.

The Dragons followed with a pair of free kicks from Good, the first of which resulted in a shot by Dylan Vogel with 26:55 left, but it hit the crossbar and caromed away.

Less than 4 minutes later Good was at it again.

Good took the ball into Central's end up the left flank, and when he did so it drew Blue Jay keeper Gabe Huss to the far post. Good then passed back to Crosby in the middle of the field, and with Crosby and the middle of the net open, the shot was an easy one to make for the senior forward.

"I heard (Everett) call for the ball behind me. I saw some space and I hit it, and boom, he's in the corner," said Crosby. "I made a run and no one followed, so I was wide open. It was a free goal on my part.

"Honestly, (Everett) made it happen," Crosby added.

Said Kettlewell, "I always tell Keegan that his superpower is just his runs off the ball – not necessarily when he has the ball – and that's what it was. Everett made a great run and had a great ball, and Keegan just keeps his run going through and it's hard to track him sometimes, and that's what he does."

The Green Dragons were understandably jubilant after that goal, but they still had 63 minutes left to play.

Lewisburg's back line stood strong throughout that quarter and a half and turned away all of Central's scoring threats.

Riley Gulden-Luthi headed the ball away on a direct kick by Jameson Lapos with 22:50 left in regulation, then Pawling came out of the goal to clear away a chance by the Jays' Aaron Dolak, and Jack Kohl later kicked away a corner opportunity with 2:32 remaining in the second half.

"That goes to Gabe and Riley, who just organizes (the back line). Those two kind of put the (rest of the back line) in position, and they then put the other guys in front of them into position to make their job easier," said Kettlewell.

"I give all the credit to them, even though Gabe may have faced a couple of hard shots, but nothing (serious). He makes sure that we're all in position so he doesn't have to face (those hard shots)."

And when the final seconds ticked off the clock to seal Lewisburg's win, there were plenty of sighs of relief along with a lot of celebrating for the Dragons.

"It was definitely close and nerve-wracking, for sure, but I think we held on well," said Crosby. "Central was down a guy (after Jayden Crabb got a red card and was ejected with 23:27 left), so I was pretty confident we were going to take it."

District 4 Class 2A Championship

at Milton's Alumni Field

No. 2 Lewisburg, No. 1 Central Columbia

First half

Lew-Keegan Crosby, assist Everett Good, 23:00.

Shots: Lewisburg, 4-3. Corner kicks: Lewisburg, 2-1. Saves: Lewisburg 1 (Gabe Pawling). Central 2 (Gabe Huss).