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Lewisburg scores nine goals to beat Williamson in District 4 Class AA semifinals

By Jon Gerardi 6 min read

On the bus ride down Route 15, Williamson's boys soccer players and team knew that they would be in for their toughest test of the year and a battle against a talented Lewisburg boys soccer team.

For a few minutes, the Warriors weathered some tough shots by Lewisburg. But the Green Dragons kept dialing up pressure and three minutes, 20 seconds into the game, they struck.

Then struck again.

Then a few more times after that.

Lewisburg's offense dominated Tuesday's District 4 Class AA semifinal against Williamson at Balls Mills, cruising to a 9-0 rout to advance to another District 4 championship game. It's Lewisburg's third straight final and 13th appearance since 2010.

"Oh yeah, obviously (we knew it would be tough). We looked at some footage of theirs; we had a plan. Things didn't go to plan. It is what it is," Williamson coach Kyle Adriance said. "We prepared the best we could, but kudos to them, they're a great team and they deserve it."

The Green Dragons face Central Columbia for the title on Thursday. It will be the first playoff meeting between the Blue Jays and Dragons since their 2023 semifinal thriller in which Central Columbia won in penalty kicks, 16-15.

Lewisburg peppered Williamson's keeper the entire night as the Green Dragons ended with 23 shots on goal and never let Williamson get looks at the goal or put pressure on the back line.

"We've just been working on trying to just play quicker. It's been a work in progress this year, so we're just really happy with the results," Lewisburg coach Ben Kettlewell said. "It came from a bunch of different players; it wasn't just like keying in on one guy."

Lewisburg's Everett Good, Marco Iudica (two), Eli Abunassar (two), Lincoln Ayres, Daedrian Campbell, Taylor Gulden-Luthi and Owen Kettlewell all scored as the Green Dragons did an excellent job spreading the ball around and getting productivity from a number of players.

"That's our team this year. There really isn't a guy we go 'hey, let’s give the ball to him and he'll do it,'" Kettlewell said. "It has to be all of us together. It's what was on display tonight."

Good put Lewisburg on the board with 37:40 left in the first half when he got inside of the 6-yard box and shot towards the right post for a quick 1-0 lead.

Williamson held on for the next 13 minutes and weathered things as keeper Braydin Baker came up with some big stops. But the pressure eventually resulted in more goals falling in.

Within the span of 71 seconds, Lewisburg's Iudica struck twice to break the game open and shift away any momentum Williamson may have had thanks to Baker's goalie play.

The Green Dragons were able to get Baker to make a play on the ball, but Iudica made a quick shot to the right for a 2-0 lead. And 71 seconds later, he fired another and made it a quick three-goal lead.

"I think the first one relaxed us, the second two kind of were like 'hey we can do this,'" Kettlewell said. "It kind of gave confidence to us and we started to find our space in where we could make some combinations. Some of them were ugly and some of them were really nice. They all count the same."

The Green Dragons made it a 4-0 lead with 90 seconds to play until halftime when Eli Abunassar fired a hard shot that was initially blocked, but had enough momentum on it to carry into the goal.

IN the second half, it was more of the same as the Green Dragons never let up pressure and put in five second-half goals, including three in the first nine minutes.

Abunassar put in his second goal less than two minutes into the half to go ahead 5-0. Lincoln Ayres made it a 6-0 Lewisburg lead with 36:36 left and five minutes later with 31:40 to play, Lewisburg's Daedrian Campbell drilled a shot for a 7-0 lead as the mercy rule was in effect.

The final two goals came in a seven-minute span.

With 24:51 remaining, Taylor Gulden-Luthi found the back of the net and Owen Kettlewell put in the ninth and final goal with 17:27 to play.

Williamson ended the game without recording a single shot on goal as Lewisburg kept possession and never let the Warriors get a counterattack going.

"That comes to Gabe (Pawling) and just being able to settle us down and keep the ball and wear them out a little bit," Kettlewell said. "I saw them near end of first half they were gassed a little bit. When they're tired, they're not going to make offensive runs if we can keep working the ball. I think that starts all the way back with him."

The shutout victory marks the 14th shutout of the year for Pawling and the 57th for his career. He is seven behind the program and state's all-time shutout leader: Logan Cho.

Williamson keeper Baker did a great job in the first half keeping it to just four goals before Lewisburg ran away with it in the second half. And that performance by Baker didn’t go unnoticed by Adriance.

“He played a great game and he had an opportunity to play a great game. Lewisburg’s a great team,” Adriance said. “I’m just glad that he hung in there and he fought until the end. He had some great saves. It’s a good way to end his career.”

The Green Dragons know that they will have a tough test for the district crown on Thursday against top-seeded Central Columbia, who advanced to the final thanks to a 4-1 win vs. Wellsboro in the semifinals.

"It'll be a battle. It'll be a close game. The last time I saw them we're different, they're different, so it could be a lot of different things," Kettlewell said. "Gonna have to do a little scouting. I don't have much time to do so, so I guess that's what I'm gonna do tonight. It's going to be a battle."

The Green Dragons lost to the Blue Jays in this year's season opener, 2-1.

Lewisburg 9, Williamson 0

(DISTRICT 4 CLASS AAAA SEMIFINALS)

L--Everett Good, 37:40. L--Marco Iudica, 20:11. L--Iudica, 19:00. L--Eli Abunassar, 1:30. L--Abunassar, 38:22. L--Lincoln Ayres, 36:36. L--Daedrian Campbell, 31:40. L--Taylor Gulden-Luthi, 24:51. L--Owen Kettlewell, 17:27.

Shots: W 0, L 23. Corners: W 0, L 4. Saves: W 13 (Braydin Baker), L 0 (Gabe Pawling).

Records: Williamson (13-3-2), Lewisburg (16-2-1)

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