HERSHEY, Pa. — While Quaker Valley players came in knowing they would be going nose-to-nose with the defending champs, not once did the WPIAL champs take a step back.
Unfortunately for Andrew Marshall’s remarkably competitive group, they couldn’t find a way to finish even just one time as Lewisburg captured a 1-0 verdict against the Quakers in the PIAA Class 2A boys soccer final Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium.
Joey Bhangdia’s strike with 2:58 to play — following a zig-zag run that enabled him to slip past several defenders — snapped the scoreless duel late and propelled the Green Dragons (24-1-0) to their second consecutive title and third overall.
Dom Lagnese totaled five saves in goal for the Quakers (20-5-1).
Out quickly against the defending champions, Quaker Valley was able to manufacture a number of scoring opportunities against the Green Dragons. Jon Wicker, in fact, had a headball that sailed just high some five minutes in.
That effort was just one of several that skipped just wide or darted just over the crossbar. Nothing wound up falling for Marshall’s gritty group.
Conversely, the Quakers were able to limit Lewisburg’s potent attack at the start. However, the Green Dragons were able to gain some traction.
“We just wanted to make sure we closed the space in the midfield and limit their chances up top,” Marshall said. “I thought that those parts went really well.”
That’s when Lagnese stepped into the spotlight, making a number of quality stops that kept the District 4 champions off the board. One came midway through the first half when the sophomore tipped a Zach Kratzer header over the crossbar.
Lagnese denied Kratzer again later in the half, swallowing a shot at the right post that kept the zeros on the Hersheypark Stadium scoreboard.
Eventually, as time continued to wind down, the breeze whipping through the concrete stadium picked up and the lights were turned on as the skies darkened, the ball cycled to Bhangdia just outside the penalty area.
Several jukes and one spinning shot later, the ball skipped in.
“We got the ball wide, kept it on the ground and Zach played a ball back to me in the middle,” said Bhangdia, a Penn recruit.
First Published: November 20, 2016, 4:09 a.m.
