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Greencastle clinches title by beating rival Waynesboro


Despite having now won three consecutive Mid Penn Colonial Division boys soccer championships, Greencastle-Antrim has not had an easy time facing rival Waynesboro.

So that made Thursday night's 2-0 road victory over the Indians, a win that clinched that third Colonial title, even sweeter for the Blue Devils.

Before Thursday, Greencastle had lost four of its last six games against 'Boro, including its only division loss this season.

And based on the latter part of the first half, when Waynesboro controlled play, it wasn't going to be easy.

"I thought they had more energy than us in the first half," G-A coach Scott Gelsinger said. "We didn't change anything in the second half, but I just told them we had to match their intensity."

To be sure, there was plenty of intensity on the field - six yellow cards were issued.

The loss probably put a dagger into any playoff hopes for Waynesboro (9-5-2, 7-4-1 MPC), while Greencastle (12-4, 10-1 MPC) is currently ranked No. 5 in Class 3A.

One quick sequence changed the Blue Devils' destiny.

Striker Brandon Stuhler got a rare step on a defender and took a shot that got past Indian keeper George Souders. But Waynesboro defender Zane Rook cleared the ball off his line.

However, 11 seconds later when the ball came right back into the box, 'Boro was called for a foul and a penalty kick was awarded. Kaleb Hurley buried the kick to give his team the lead with 22:15 left to play.

"I was thinking about all that it meant for the team," Hurley said, "and then I thought about where I wanted to hit it. When it went in I was extremely happy that I could deliver."

Greencastle (12-4, 10-1 MPC) then sealed the deal with 8:21 left when a shot by Jared Rohrbaugh handcuffed Souders and rolled into the net.

Waynesboro's two best chances to score, both while it was 0-0, came on medium-range shots that were skied over the goal.

Indian coach Brian Stum said, "If we'd hit one of those it would have changed the complexion of the game. But we struggled in the midfield again. They were the better team tonight, so hat's off to them."

Hurley said, "I thought we can play better than that, but we did pick it up in the second half."

And that enabled them to pick up another division championship.