Deer Lakes boys soccer team excited for postseason

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 16, 2017 | 11:17 PM

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In Jordan Wiegand's first stint as coach of the Deer Lakes boys soccer team, he helped the 2013 Lancers snap an 11-year playoff-appearance drought.

As he returned to coach the program in August after three years at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, he quickly assessed a team that earned a spot in last year's WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals but lost numerous starters to graduation.

With only three senior starters and a several younger players getting the call for the first time, Wiegand said he was cautiously optimistic that this year's group could match or exceed last year's production despite all of the changes.

A month and a half later, and his optimism has grown. Deer Lakes, with one nonsection game against Carrick remaining Tuesday evening, is 11-3-2 overall and stands on the cusp of what it hopes is a deep playoff run.

“Coming off the year they had last year, I felt it was still possible to make a run with the talent back and the new players who would be contributing,” Wiegand said. “Making the playoffs was the first goal, and the coaches, along the way, hoped to get (the players) to the level they needed to be to be successful in the playoffs.”

The WPIAL brackets for boys and girls soccer, which include the dates, times and locations for the first-round contests, are scheduled to be released Wednesday.

Then the preparation will begin. First-round games tentatively are set to begin Saturday.

Wiegand made no predictions on seeding, but, he said, a second-place finish in Section 2 (9-2-1) should help the team surpass last year's No. 9 seed acquired after taking third in the section standings.

The Lancers scored a 2-1 win over No. 8 Charleroi in the 2016 first round before a heartbreaking 2-1 shootout loss to No. 1 South Park in the quarterfinals.

“We're ready to get at it and see how far we can go,” freshman Michael Sullivan said. “From the start of the season, we wanted to show this wasn't a rebuilding year. We've come together and worked as a team. No matter where we're seeded or who we play, it's going to happen on the field, and I know we can compete with anybody.”

The Lancers' push for the playoffs included a recent streak of seven games in which the opposition failed to score.

Wednesday's pairings release and the start of the postseason has the entire team, from the four seniors down to the three freshmen starters, pumped and ready to go, freshman Devin Murray said.

“We've been training hard in and out of practice, and we got some good wins recently that has helped with our confidence,” he said.

One of the big wins Murray speaks of was last Thursday's 1-0 home triumph over rival Freeport.

“When we beat Freeport, we were pretty excited, but we quickly put it aside and focused on the upcoming games and the goals for the playoffs,” Murray said.

The victory completed a sweep of the Yellowjackets for the first time since 2013.

“It probably was our biggest game to date, and we've had several big games all season,” Wiegand said.

Each of Deer Lakes' three losses this season came by one goal. The Lancers' setbacks to undefeated section champion Mt. Pleasant were scores of 3-2 and 1-0.

Deer Lakes scored a dramatic 3-2 win over Freeport in the first meeting between the teams as Murray scored the winner with 3 seconds on the clock.

The Lancers defeated fourth-place Shady Side Academy, 1-0, and the teams played to a scoreless tie in the rematch.

“With those top teams, every game has been a fight,” Wiegand said. “The four playoff teams (from the section) are very evenly matched. Throughout the section as a whole, no team just laid down and didn't fight. Nothing's been easy.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.