LEHMAN TWP. — A match that looked like it might get a little lopsided early got very, very tight in the closing minutes of the PIAA Class 2A boys soccer playoffs.
Lake-Lehman found its form in the second half and played themselves right back into the mix against Lewisburg — but the Black Knights couldn’t find the equalizer.
Lewisburg took a 3-0 lead in the first half and weathered a comeback attempt to end Lake-Lehman’s season, defeating the Black Knights 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Andrew Mathes’ goal with 34:31 left to play, cutting the Lewisburg lead to 3-2, seemed to signal a shift in the flow of the match.
Lake-Lehman started to push the action, bottling up Lewisburg’s attack and putting the District 4 champions on their heels.
“I can’t be more proud of the team that they are and the character they exude,” Lake-Lehman coach Ricky Bartolini said. “To put yourself 3-0 in the hole against a very good team … to not give up, to claw back and make it 3-2 with opportunities to tie, I couldn’t be prouder of this group of players.”
The Green Dragons, District 4 champs and undefeated to this point in the season, were all over the field in the early part of the match, looking like they might be able to cruise to the finish at Lake-Lehman’s expense.
Viktor Permyashkin scored two goals, the second off a perfect cross from Jack Kohl, and then Keegan Crosby buried another cross into the box to make it 3-0 Lewisburg.
The Black Knights needed to see one fall, and right at the halftime whistle, they did: Justin Morris found the back of the net right as the clock hit all zeroes, giving Lake-Lehman a bit of momentum heading into the break.
In the second half, Lake-Lehman played the aggressor much more than they were able to in the first, and Mathes was able to shrink the Lewisburg lead to just one goal.
Moving to this right, in the direction of a very loud Lake-Lehman student section, Mathes unleashed a scorcher of a shot that Lewisburg’s goalie couldn’t get a hand to.
Suddenly, the Black Knights’ hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals were very much alive.
But Lewisburg’s own defense withstood the mounting pressure over the final 30 minutes. Lake-Lehman put together a few looks on goal, but nothing came comfortable and the Black Knights couldn’t even things up in time to save their season.
“We had a gameplan, in the first half we didn’t execute according to the gameplan that we put together,” Bartolini said. “In the second half, we did … this wasn’t our best game, but that second half speaks to everything we need to know about our team this year.”
Lewisburg will play District 12 champs Devon Prep in the quarterfinal round on Saturday.
PIAA Class 2A First Round
Lewisburg 3, Lake-Lehman 2
Lewisburg`3`0 — 3
Lake-Lehman`1`1 — 2
First Half — 1. LEW Viktor Permyashkin 32:36; 2. LEW Permyashkin (Jack Kohl) 17:09; 3. LEW Keegan Crosby (Isaac Ayres) 7:15; 4. LL Justin Morris 0:00. Second Half — 1. LL Andrew Mathes 34:31.
Shots — LEW 10, LL 6. Saves — LEW 4 (Gabe Pawling), LL 7 (Andrew Chapple). Corners — LEW 4, LL 1.
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