Red Land pulls away from Mechanicsburg, heads to district final

November 1, 2007

By Jeffrey Kauffman
Last updated: Thursday, November 1, 2007 12:54 AM EDT

Sports Reporter

sportsdoor@cumberlink.com

Red Land hasn’t been in the District 3 soccer championships since 1988 — back before these Red Land players were even born. But this Patriots squad will attempt to win its first district title Saturday night after disposing of the Mechanicsburg Wildcats 3-1 in the semifinal round.

The Patriots (20-1-2 overall) extended their unbeaten streak to 20 games and will face Manheim Township, which has won three consecutive district soccer championships. The Streaks boast a record of 22-2-1 and edged Central Dauphin 1-0 in the opener at HersheyPark Stadium on Wednesday.

“We did not want to have to worry about qualifying for states on Saturday,” said Patriots head coach Eric “Chalkie” White. “Now we can go into Saturday and just play. No one expects us to win so we have nothing to lose.”

“I know a lot of the Manheim players from my club team so I know it is going to be a good game,” said Red Land senior Jordan Torres. “We have a very good team and we are solid at every part and we are unselfish. We just want to keep playing well.”

The two winners have guaranteed themselves a spot in the PIAA state playoffs, but Mechanicsburg and Central Dauphin (16-6-1) will square off in Saturday’s district consolation game — the winner of which qualifies for states, and the loser is done for the year.

Alex Mendoza nearly gave the Patriots the lead just moments into the first half when he took a feed from Jordan Torres, but his shot was knocked away by Wildcat keeper Sam Burkholder.

Midfielder Greg Bretz gave Mechanicsburg life when he turned the corner after a nasty step-over move, but his serve from the baseline was knocked wide of the net.

Torres gave the Patriots a one-goal lead in the eleventh minute when he gathered a dish from Mendoza, settled it and placed it into the back of the net. The Wildcats missed a chance to clear the ball, and Red Land jumped on that opportunity.

Gaetano Panuccio was given precious little room to operate by the Patriots defense, as Andrew Innerst and Taylor Eisenhauer surrounded him at every move.

Mendoza would tally the second goal on a nice give-and-go play from Tyler Fettrow. Fettrow’s return service threaded the keyhole and Mendoza was able to toe-poke it past Burkholder for the two-goal advantage.

Mechanicsburg (16-6-2) had a couple chances, but none proved dangerous for Red Land. Matt Steele took a shot from about 18 yards out that bounced to Patriot keeper Ben Diller.

Diller totalled three saves in the game, but surrendered a goal in the final four minutes of the first half. Bretz served a ball to the chest of Panuccio who appeared to trap it to his feet and turned and fired the ball past Diller to cut the deficit to 2-1.

It was the first goal allowed by the Patriots in their last five games.

“(Mechanicsburg) is dangerous,” said Torres. “To tell you the truth, I knew Panuccio but didn’t know a lot of the other kids and they played pretty well out there. I don’t know where they came from.”

“Panuccio is dangerous and we tried to double him everywhere,” said White. “We let him turn with the ball and get a shot.

“Mechanicsburg is a good team and we talked about not looking past them. The two goals early gave us a chance to relax and we gave up the goal when we relaxed.”

Red Land tallied its third goal with only 12 minutes left in the game as Deon Rehm was tapped a ball past Burkholder for the final margin.

“This was the ultimate,” said Torres. “(The Wildcats) beat us last year so this was our payback this year.”

“Our kids played well,” said Mechanicsburg head coach Tony Lougee. “To dig out of a 2-0 hole is difficult because (the Patriots) are such a good offensive team, you can’t afford to give up goals. We just didn’t get any good chances. The four guys up front are very dangerous and they play well together.

“We moved the ball pretty well. We weren’t dominated tonight, but now we get ready for Central Dauphin on Saturday.”

Central Dauphin and Mechanicsburg will play at Northeastern High School in York on Saturday.

Posted by admin | Filed Under Wildcats News 

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