Deer Lakes settles in after ‘nervous’ first half, shuts out Hopewell in boys soccer playoffs

By: Ted Sarneso
Monday, October 21, 2024 | 9:33 PM

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For three consecutive years, Deer Lakes and Hopewell have faced each other in the first round of the WPIAL boys soccer playoffs, with each team taking a victory.

In the third rendition Monday night at Lancer Stadium in West Deer, the No. 3 Lancers (16-2-1) shut out No. 14 Hopewell (9-8), 4-0, in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs.

Deer Lakes got two goals from junior Peyton Kushon and a goal each from junior Collin Rodger and sophomore Artemey Parshyn to win 4-0. Junior Welsey Boyle kept a clean sheet for the Lancers.

“Hopewell came in here last year and beat us by the same score,” Deer Lakes coach Aaron Smith said. “They were bigger and physical, and we knew coming in we had better bring it. I was worried because I know what they can bring, but we came in hot.”

Said Vikings coach Nathan Richter: “We knew coming in that they had a lot of quality players. We tried to get our style of play going, but kudos to Deer Lakes. They did everything right and made it difficult for us to play.”

Deer Lakes came out and scored an early goal two and a half minutes into the game when Colton Bish dished to Kushon up the middle. Kushon made a move around his defender, which froze goalkeeper Tallon Coleman, who thought his defender would clear the ball.

Kushon then made a move passed Coleman and just laid a soft grounder toward the yawning cage to provide the Lancers with a 1-0 lead.

That was all the offense either team would see for the rest of the first half.

The Lancers did a solid job defensively, knocking the ball away from Hopewell players and even taking it away with ease as the Vikings were dribbling the ball.

“We love possession and as soon as we lose it, we like to get right back on it immediately to win the ball back,” Smith said. “We try to exhaust other teams and try to own the ball. If the other team doesn’t have the ball they can’t score.”

Deer Lakes had the majority of the chances with nine in the first half but could not capitalize. The Lancers’ passing was not as crisp as they would have liked, which caused them to miss on those chances and fail to create others.

“They’re high school boys, high school athletes and they’re playing on adrenaline,” Smith added. “No matter how many times you preach it or talk about it in the locker room, they get out here and it’s the playoffs and they’re aware that if they lose, they’re going home. That nervous emotion, you just have to find a way to calm down and play the game you’ve been playing.”

The best opportunity out of the bunch was some nifty dribbling form Collin Rodgers that put him 15 feet from the net. The shot was saved by Coleman. The Lancers had three more attempts at putting it in off rebounds, but Hopewell stood strong.

Another super chance came as Crim sped down the right side, spun and found Kushon, who sent the ball to the back past where Rodgers looked to bury the pass, but Coleman got a piece of the ball, sending it wide.

For the Vikings, the lone spectacular chance came when Bryce Ray got a through ball and had a clear path to the Lancer net. He got to within 5 yards of the box and fired a ball to the left of goalkeeper Wesley Boyle, sailing it wide of the net.

“That’s a good team,” said Richter. “They’re big, strong and athletic. It started with them winning 95% of the 50-50 balls, and the ball kept coming right back down our throats and we couldn’t really get into a rhythm.”

Finally, with just a second left in the first half, Parshyn was able to get a clean shot off out of a scrum, rolling the ball just under Coleman for the goal to give the Lancers a 2-0 lead.

“We were talking in the sidelines with three minutes left, and I said we need one here,” Smith said. “We’re working hard and applying pressure. If we get another goal before halftime, we’ll be able to relax a bit.”

The Lancers came out more relaxed playing with a lead in the second half. They continued to press Hopewell’s defense with more scoring chances and finally were able to tack on a third goal 23 minutes into the second frame.

Parshyn sent a corner kick in to the middle of the box, and Collin Rodgers was able to rise up and add on to the Lancer lead with a header.

Just minutes later, Kushon, who had been trying the entire second half to bury another goal, finally got his chance.

He was right in front of the net as a feed from Rodgers trickled to him from the right side of the box, and he blasted it just under Coleman for a 4-0 Lancer lead.

“We played with a little bit more poise in the second half and were able to move the ball around on them,” Smith said. “But the teams we’re going to face later in as we go in the playoffs, we’re going to need to find a way to calm down earlier and play a full 80 minutes.”

The loss was a deflating one for Hopewell, but Richter has some talented pieces heading into next season, where he hopes the team can build upon what it has done.

“I’m happy for the boys to make the playoffs, it’s a really tough section for us,” he said. “The goal is to build of these three straight playoff appearances and improve for next season.”

The Lancers will need to shake off their nerves as quickly as possible as they face No. 6 seed North Catholic at home in the quarterfinals Thursday night.

It will be the third time this season the teams have played, with Deer Lakes coming away with wins both times, 1-0 and 2-0.

“We played well against them both times we played them. It’s, obviously, tough to beat a team like that three times, especially going in to the playoffs,” Smith said. “They’re coached very well, extremely disciplined, and I have respect for Scott (Schlegel) and his team and what they’ve done over there. They’ll be ready for us, so we’re going to need to be at our very best.”

Tags: Deer Lakes, Hopewell