Skip to main content

Unbeaten Lower Dauphin halts Chambersburg streak, 1-0


Two boys soccer teams on a collision course met Tuesday night at Trojan Stadium.

Lower Dauphin entered with a gaudy 13-0 record and a No. 2 ranking in the state for all classes. Chambersburg had not lost in its last 10 games and was ranked No. 15.

It was the Falcons who emerged with a 1-0 non-league victory, thanks to a goal in the 67th minute by Steven Schankweiler off a corner kick by Nik Provazzo.

"If anything, we should gain some confidence from this," Trojan coach Corey Grove said. "They are a top-five team and we held our own."

LD coach Gerry Lynch said, "It was a great game - back and forth and both teams played well. This is a tough place to come away with a win, but we showed good composure."

The goal came at the end of an extended stretch of dominance by the Falcons. Schankweiler, a center back, cracked a shot that hit off the crossbar, bounced down and then spun into the net.

"I usually go up on corners, and I run the back post," Schankweiler said. "The ball just happened to come to me."

Chambersburg (8-3-2) is still missing four starters, played with a short bench (just two subs) and was coming off a tough 3-2 win over Gettysburg the night before. All that plus facing a strong opponent caused Grove to alter his strategy.

"We were playing one of the best teams in the state, so we had to change our strategy," Grove said. "We had to be patient, soak up their pressure and then release on the counter. I thought we did that well in the first half, but in the second, about 10-15 minutes in, you could see us start to fade a little."

The Trojans played their best weapon, Nathan Maynard, on defense until LD went ahead. That left Rafael Bonilla as the lone target up front, and was able to create a couple of good shots, but the Falcons held strong.

Schankweiler said, "The other center back and I play together on club, so we work well together. We caught them offsides a few times and I think that slowed them down some."

"We made some tweaks at halftime that help keep them pinned back a little more in the second half," Lynch said. "We made them chase us."

NOTES: Chambersburg held LD without a shot until a blast by Jackson Becher hit off the left post with four minutes left in the first half ... With about a minute left, left back Victor Canel cleared a Falcon shot off the line ... LD finished with a 9-3 shot advantage.