Wyoming Seminary’s Owen Stretanski and Matt Swartz hug as the Seminary bench races to join them in celebration of their 3-1 victory over Holy Redeemer for the District 2 Class A boys soccer title.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Wyoming Seminary’s Owen Stretanski kicks the ball away from Holy Redeemer’s Matt Stilp during the first half .
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary’s Matt Swartz signals number one as teammates come to celebrate the third and final goal against Holy Redeemer with 15 seconds left in the game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary’s Lucas Lattore leaps in the air in celebration of the penality kick by Artur Zelenko that tied the score 1-1 in the second half.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary’s Matt Swartz moves the ball in the first half as Holy Redeemer’s Frank Klimovitz trails on the play.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
KINGSTON — Saddled with a one-goal deficit in the game’s first minute Thursday night, Wyoming Seminary had plenty of time to recover.
Holy Redeemer made the task quite difficult at times, but the Blue Knights finally broke through in the latter portion of the second half.
Artur Zelenko converted a penalty kick with about 15 minutes remaining and Owen Stretanski scored the go-ahead goal roughly seven minutes later as Seminary defeated Redeemer 3-1 for the District 2 Class A boys soccer championship.
“We have a resilient team,” Seminary coach Aaron Littzi said. “I’m blessed with great players. They work hard, they play hard. We said if we just keep on working, keep to the game plan, that eventually we’re going to score some goals.”
Seminary (18-2) won its fifth district championship in the last seven years. The Blue Knights advanced to the PIAA Class A state playoffs on Tuesday against District 4 champion Northumberland Christian (15-0-1). Redeemer ended its season at 15-5-1, with three of the losses coming against the Blue Knights.
Redeemer scored 53 seconds into the game as Matt Stilp poked in a throw-in from Joshua Rocha.
The game turned into an occassionally physical stalemate after that. The best scoring opportunity for Seminary came late in the first half when Jonathan Gerold launched a 50-yard direct kick in front of the goal, only to have Redeemer’s Logan Sekol clear the ball.
Gerold’s strong restarts, though, led to the tying and go-ahead goals.
Gerold’s 25-yard direct hit off the hands of Redeemer keeper Tyler Tarnalicki, rode the back of Seminary’s Lucas Lattore briefly and ended up resulting in a foul in the penalty area. Zelenko sent a low liner inside the right post to tie the score 1-1 with 15:06 left in the second half.
“As I’m walking out to the keeper, I already know where I’m going,” Zelenko said. “I hear the crowd, (but) I don’t feel the pressure. It’s just a normal thing for me. I’ve had five penalties this year and scored on all five of them. It’s my job.”
Stretanski, who made several strong runs throughout, knocked in a 35-yard direct kick from Gerold from short range with 8:14 left. Stretanski’s impromptu celebration included hopping on one leg and falling to the turf with a calf cramp.
“The seniors on the team kept everyone going,” Stretanski said. “You just got to believe and we did it. We knew were able and capable and we just pushed through. And that’s what happened.”
Redeemer pushed everyone up in the final five minutes seeking a tying goal. Seminary keeper Cash Hanson-Richart was busy, tipping one long-distance shot over the goal and punching out two more. All three shots were off the foot of Redeemer’s Conner Zera.
Although victory was in hand, Seminary’s Adrian Rojo completed the scoring with an uncontested goal with 15 seconds remaining.
DALLAS WINS TITLE
The third-seeded Mountaineers went on the road and knocked off No. 1 Abington Heights on penalty kicks to claim the District 2 Class 3A championship.
Still tied 1-1 through regulation and overtime, Dallas edged the Comets 5-3 on penalties to claim the crown and advance to the state tournament.
Chris Miller scored in the first half for the Mounts, but Abington Heights equalized before halftime on a Joey Pivirotto goal.
Carter Brunn came up with the decisive penalty kick for Dallas after Cole Kutch came up with a stop.
District 2 Class A Championship
Wyoming Seminary 3, Holy Redeemer 1
Holy Redeemer`1`0 — 1
Wyoming Seminary`0`3 — 3
First Half: 1. HR, Matt Stilp (Joshua Rocha) 0:53; Second Half: 2. WS, Artur Zelenko (penalty kick) 64:54; 3. WS, Owen Stretanski (Jonathan Gerold) 71:46; 4. WS, Adrian Rojo (Matt Swartz) 79:45.
Shots: HR 14, WS 11. Saves: HR 2 (Tyler Tarnalicki 2/Max Mohutsky 0), WS 8 (Cash Hanson-Richart). Corners: HR 8, WS 4.