Red Land finds way into states

November 1, 2007

Patriots meet Manheim Twp. in district final Saturday

Thursday, November 01, 2007BY MICHAEL BULLOCK

For The Patriot-News

While 1988 has been popping into Red Land soccer chatter the past few weeks, every time Patriots coach Eric White brings up the subject all he gets are puzzled looks.

Not to mention a fairly standard response.

Well, since White’s club collared Red Land’s first state playoff berth since 1988 by decking Mechanicsburg 3-1 Wednesday night at Hersheypark Stadium, that milestone year is going to keep coming up in plenty of conversations. In hallways. In pizza shops. Wherever.

Since the Patriots also rode into the District 3-AAA title game — the 1988 club was the last Red Land team to accomplish that — that special connection to the team thrilling plenty of northern York Countians continues to grow tighter.

Jordan Torres, Alex Mendoza and Deon Rehm collected goals for the Patriots (20-1-2), who extended their unbeaten string to 20 games. They’ll go for No. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium, where White’s club will square off against three-time defending champ Manheim Twp.

Manheim Twp. (22-2-1) downed Central Dauphin 1-0 in the other 3-AAA semi.

CD (16-6-1) and Mechanicsburg (16-6-2) will have another chance to reach states Saturday (7:30), when they meet in the third-place game at Northeastern. Only the winner moves on.

Meanwhile, a Red Land club that captured its first Mid-Penn divisional title (Commonwealth) since 1988 and landed its first Mid-Penn player of the year (Torres) since 1988 is in.

For the first time … since 1988.

“These kids are like, ‘Coach, we weren’t even born yet,’” White said. “For the last two decades, we’ve been talking about 1988. These guys are what someone’s going to be talking about in 20 years — 2007. Back then it was [Mid-Penn Conference player of the year] Brian Marshall.

“Now it’s going to be Jordan Torres, Mendoza and Deon.”

Mendoza set up the first Patriots score, creating space in the right side of the penalty area with some dandy dance steps before finding Torres alone at the edge of the six. Given an opportunity to settle the ball, Torres took a breath before polishing off a left-footed strike with 11:33 gone.

Nearly 11 minutes later, Tyler Fettrow squeezed a ball through traffic that Mechanicsburg’s Steve Fowler could not clear. When the loose ball wound up on Mendoza’s right foot, he wasted little time slotting a shot past Wildcats keeper Sam Burkholder (3 saves).

“It’s just hard to fall down 2-0 with that much time left,” Wildcats coach Tony Lougee said.

Mechanicsburg managed to halve its deficit with 3:49 left in the opening half, as Gaetano Panuccio chest-trapped a well-placed Greg Bretz ball down to his feet before popping it past the Patriots’ Ben Diller (2 saves). It was the first goal surrendered by Red Land in four-plus games.

“I think that goal gave us new life,” said White, whose club dropped a 4-0 decision to the Wildcats in last year’s round of 16. “Hey, this game’s not over. We’ve got to play.”

Though both sides exchanged scoring chances in the second half, Red Land finally tacked on an insurance score with 12:21 left when Torres slotted a ball through traffic that Rehm gathered on the second try. An instant later, the ball was sitting in the back of the net.

The Patriots were moving on.

“Our main priority was getting into that next level,” White said. “We kind of took the pressure off ourselves, because now we’re into states. We didn’t want to have to deal with that on Saturday.”

Obviously, Manheim Twp. felt the same way.

The Blue Streaks scored just 3:48 in, as Kevin Wolfe’s finish from about eight yards out was all Dave Ammon’s club needed. Peter Bulat’s pass from the CD end line set up Wolfe’s score.

CD eventually settled in, but the Rams never could pull even. Kenny Fultz launched a laser from about 30 yards out early in the second half, but the Blue Streaks’ Chris Zielinski (4 saves) parried the ball just over the crossbar. Zielinski also denied Justin Garner and Braden Gross later in the half.

Gross’ denied side-volley from a step outside the six came in the final minute.

While the Rams never could get level, sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Lutz (8 saves) was sensational at the other end.

“Jon’s a good goalkeeper, man,” said CD coach Gregg Davis, whose Rams lost 2-1 to Manheim Twp. on opening night. “When we started to push guys forward, they got some chances in the box. But Jonathan stood tall. He’s a good goalkeeper.”

Regardless, Lutz’s efforts weren’t enough.

“We can play with these teams,” Davis added. “We played this way this year. The reason we played the other 20 games is to convince guys we can play at this level. That’s why we’re here. We’re winners.”

MICHAEL BULLOCK: 255-8124 or mbullock@patriot-news.com

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