WESTTOWN – In the midst of a highly stressful time, when just about everybody else on the soccer field was having trouble reigning in the excitement and emotion, Lower Moreland’s Adiv Opinkaro had the wherewithal to stay calm and execute.
Moments after West Chester Rustin had the lone corner kick of overtime, the senior forward got loose on the counterattack and scored the only goal of Monday’s District 1 3A Semifinal clash to give the visiting Lions a 1-0 victory. On Wednesday at Upper Merion (7 p.m.), Lower Moreland will make the first district final appearance in program history.
“Coming out of regulation, we talked and said that there will be scoring chances if they can control their heart rate and put (a shot) on frame,” said Lions’ head coach Bob Barnhart. “Sometimes it’s difficult to do that.
“Adiv was cool and calm – I give him a lot of credit.”
It ended nearly 81 minutes of highly competitive action, as both sides played solid defensive soccer. It was also an outing where the two squads generated a decent amount of legitimate scoring chances, but wound up sending a lot of shots wide of the mark, or the opportunities simply fizzled out.
“I think we generated enough chances to where we could have won it in regulation,” Golden Knights’ head coach Ryan Castle said. “But when you don’t finish opportunities, unfortunately you open the door for what happened.”
Now 14-3-2 overall, the third-seeded Lions have won four straight and will play top-seeded Harriton in the final. The Rams topped Central League foe Radnor 3-1 in the other semifinal.
“One of the things we preached was that the district playoffs are often 1-0 or go to overtime, or even to PKs,” Barnhart pointed out. “We did have an overtime winner in midseason and I made sure to remind them when we were getting ready for overtime that it’s possible. You have to be able to fight for 80 minutes, or in this case even more.”
It was a devastating setback for Rustin, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and saw its season end with a 14-5-1 mark. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Knights.
“It’s a tough loss, but you are probably going to lose at some point,” Castle said. “Hats off to (Lower Moreland). They battled, and they finished it when the opportunity came.”
It was also a clean sheet for the Lions’ defense, and senior goaltender Sean Greenleaf. He turned aside eight shots, including the corner kick that preceded the game winner.
“It was a very close battle. (Rustin) battled and got a lot of attacking chances, but our goalkeeper kept us in it,” Opinkaro said.
“I give our goalie a lot of credit – he kept us in it,” Barnhart agreed. “He’s done it all season. Our center backs are very good too.”
After Greenleaf’s final save, the ball moved to the other end of the field quickly. Opinkaro managed to get behind the last line of the Rustin defenders but still remain onside.
“I remember seeing a flick from Lian (Fellah), and just touching it down,” Opinkaro said. “I looked up and saw I had some space to get to the front of the net. I just tried to put it on target and it went right through (the goaltender’s) legs.”
Barnhart added: “One of the things we talked about is that if we can outlet early, maybe we can catch (Rustin) because they press a lot of their guys into the box on free kicks and corners. We wanted to try to hit them with a counter, and we did.
“Adiv made a great first touch to open himself up.”
It enabled Lower Moreland to have a slight edge in shots on goal (9-8) as the Knights didn’t register their first until the match was 29 minutes in. Rustin had a 6-2 advantage in corners, but were unable to capitalize.
“We left some opportunities on the board in the first half,” Castle said. “Then we generated maybe three or four good chances in the second half. But it’s the district semifinal. It’s probably going to come down to one moment, one mistake.”
When asked if it was the biggest goal of his career, Opinkaro responded: “Yes, by far.”
“This group, from the beginning of the season, has been one of the better groups I’ve coached in nine seasons,” Barnhart explained. “We beat some very good teams this season, and Rustin is one of them. It’s a really strong program and I was impressed.”
The Knights captured the Ches-Mont American crown for the fifth consecutive season this fall.
“The seniors that just played their last game left a heck of a legacy,” Castle said. “Four division titles, and a handful of those seniors were a key part of our runs in districts. They left this program in a better spot than they found it, which is all you can ask of seniors.”
Lower Moreland 1, West Chester Rustin 0 (OT)
Lower Moreland 0 0 1 – 1
W.C. Rustin 0 0 0 – 0
Lower Moreland goal: Opinkaro.
Goalie saves: Greenleaf (LM) 8; Hodgkin (R) 8.
Source: Berkshire mont
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