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Biglerville turns tables, defeats Bermudian Springs


The last time Biglerville and Bermudian Springs met in boys' soccer, the Eagles ended two long winning streaks for the Canners.

They snapped Biglerville's 29-game YAIAA Division III winning streak and defeated the Canners for the first time since 2002 in the process.

Thursday night, the Canners exacted revenge by turning the tables with a 2-1 victory at Bermudian's Alumni Field.

"We circled this date when they beat us ten days ago," Biglerville head coach Jebb Nelson said. "I knew our guys would be ready to go tonight."

Biglerville (6-3, 5-1 YAIAA III) trailed 1-0 until an own goal evened the match with 10:35 left to play.

"It was a squirrely ball that actually spun off of two of our defenders," Bermudian head coach James Zerfing said. "To play as well as we did for as long as we did and have one communication breakdown cost us is tough. It gave Biglerville a lot of momentum, and they took advantage of it."

Sophomore Chris Cellucci put the Canners in front with a magnificent goal with 4:34 to go. He gathered in a loose ball on the end line to the right of the Eagles' goal. He then took two touches to create space and reach the center of the field and fired from 10 yards out with a lefty blast to the top left corner of the net.

"The defense was taking a while to clear it," Cellucci said. "I went and got it and tried to make something happen. I let the shot fly and hoped for the best."

Despite the deflating goal, Bermudian (7-1, 5-1) wasn't done.

The Eagles tried to create the tying goal and their best chance came when they earned a corner with 30 seconds to go. However, the Biglerville defense was up to the task and cleared the ball to end it.

"When we went down, I knew that our guys would dig deep," Nelson said. "Ever since we lost to them last week, our team has worked hard in every practice and taken every game seriously. We've had this game in the back of our minds since then, but we've maintained focus on the task in front of us very well."

Both teams had their share of chances in the first half, but the only marker of the opening 40 minutes came on a nifty shot from Jake Halfman off an assist from Sam Johnson with 18:47 left. Johnson played the ball to Halfman in the center, and Halfman went top shelf from 20 yards out with a ball that dipped just below the crossbar and just over the jump of Canner keeper Mitchell Thomas.

Biglerville held the hosts to just one shot on goal in the second half and outshot the Eagles for the game, 6-5.

"We couldn't find the seams in the second half that we were finding in the first half," Zerfing said. "I'm sure our guys are going to replay the close calls in their minds tonight and think about what they could've done differently. Really, though, we played very well and shut them out for 69 minutes tonight. Our guys have nothing to be ashamed of."

Bermudian returns to action at 11:30 a.m. Saturday when it hosts Littlestown. The Canners' next match is 7 p.m. Tuesday against Delone Catholic at home.

Biglerville 2, Bermudian 1

Biglerville02—2Bermudian Springs10—1

First half — 1. BeS, Jake Halfman (Sam Johnson), 18:47.

Second half — 2. Big, BeS own goal, 10:35. 3. Big, Chris Cellucci, 4:34.

Shots on goal — Big 6, BeS 5.

Corners — Big 3, BeS 2.

JV score — Biglerville 2, Bermudian 1.