MECHANICSBURG — Conrad Weiser did not allow Hershey to score in 110 minutes of soccer on Thursday night.
However, the Scouts’ quest for a district title still came up short.
The top-seeded Trojans won their third consecutive District 3 Class 3A boys soccer title, as they earned a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks to secure a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Conrad Weiser in the final at Cumberland Valley’s Eagle View Middle School.
Senior Cole Goodman converted the decisive penalty kick in the fifth round for Hershey, the defending PIAA Class 3A champion.
“We played great,” Scouts coach Derek Long said. “We played our style of soccer.”
In the opening round of penalty kicks, junior Armaan Malik converted his attempt for Conrad Weiser (21-4). Sophomore Niklas Budde made his penalty kick for the Trojans (20-0).
In the second round, Conrad Weiser junior Gavin Rapp had his shot saved by goalkeeper Hannes Budde. Senior Bo Shirk then converted his attempt to put the Trojans up 2-1.
Both goalies came up big in the following round. Budde saved a shot from Scouts freshman Wyatt Auchenbach. Weiser goalkeeper Gavin Wagner then saved a shot by senior Stefan Verbeek to keep it 2-1.
“I was confident going in,” Long said about his team in penalty kicks. “We hit our spots. The keeper made the saves.”
Both teams converted their chances in the fourth and fifth rounds. Sophomore Owen Hunt and senior Isaac McCracken scored for the Scouts. Senior Riley Schmidt scored for Hershey before Goodman clinched it.
“They’re obviously a fantastic team,” Long said. “They’re quality.”
In a back-and-forth affair, Hershey outshot Conrad Weiser 6-1 in the first half. The Scouts outshot the Trojans 4-2 in the second half.
“The effort was there,” Long said. “Everything we did was awesome.”
In two periods of overtime, Hershey outshot Weiser 3-2. The best chance either team had came in the second OT, but a Trojans’ shot bounced off the crossbar and was collected in midair by Wagner.
“I thought we did more than our fair share getting chances,” Long said. “We just didn’t get to that end result that we needed.”
Wagner, a senior, finished with 11 saves. Budde, a senior, made seven saves.
“He’s awesome,” Long said about Budde. “He made the saves.”
The Scouts were making their first appearance in a district title game since 2003, when they lost in the Class 2A final. Conrad Weiser will continue its season in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs on Tuesday against the District 2 champion.
“We’ll let this one sink in a little bit today and then we’ll meet again tomorrow,” Long said. “Mentally we’re strong and we play for each other. We know that as long as there is more soccer to play, we’re going to keep fighting.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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