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Conestoga Valley blanks Annville-Cleona, advances to L-L boys' soccer championship


NEFFSVILLE>> When you take a shot at the Section One champ, you best not miss.

After knocking a header off the crossbar and sending a free kick just high and wide Tuesday night, the Annville-Cleona boys soccer had officially missed. And Conestoga Valley was ready to make the Little Dutchmen pay en route to a Lancaster-League championship berth.

Annville-Cleona fell 4-0 in an L-L tournament semifinal at Manheim Township, as the Buckskins (15-2) reached the league final against Hempfield. Two Conestoga Valley goals within the last five minutes of the opening half turned the tide immensely in a previously back-and-forth 1-0 affair. The Little Dutchmen (16-4) now await the time and date of their District Three Class AA tournament matchup, likely announced Thursday morning.

"Our first half, we really played well," Annville-Cleona captain Matt Light said. "It was three unlucky plays that we had. But in the second half we lost confidence and they just put us away."

The Little Dutchmen reached Tuesday's tilt with an upset of previously unbeaten Elizabethtown in the league tournament quarterfinals, limiting the Bears with a defensive approach and a pair of second-half goals. Against Conestoga Valley, they worked out of the same alignment, but applied offensive pressure much earlier.

In the sixth minute, Light launched a free kick from more than 20 yards away that nearly clipping the crossbar. Not 15 minutes later, after a Buckskins goal, Light put a head to Javier Gonzalez' flick in traffic, only to watch the ball hit the crossbar.

"They disrupted us in the first half," Conestoga Valley coach Dave Hartlaub said. "We really weren't on the front foot very much in the first half, but in the second half we established it and we were fine."

A bicycle-kick score courtesy of Nick Delgado in the 35th minute set the Buckskins on their winning course, a path quickly cemented by Connor Whitacre's goal less than 60 seconds later. Each score was born inside the box and preceded by a Nick Kramer free kick. Annville-Cleona's defense had simply missed two marks and then the game slipped away.

"It's an emotional game, and as soon as that happened, they have to look at that score line," Hartlaub said. "And they're probably thinking that they're doing everything they should be doing and aren't getting anything out of it. And here we are up 3-0."

While little could wash the sour taste of sound defeat from their mouths, the Little Dutchmen appeared ready to take solace in their league playoff experience, which yielded the program's first ever L-L tournament win.

"Without consistently making the playoffs it's hard to get a team to really understand what the playoffs are all about. So this was a huge help for us," Annville-Cleona coach Ray Kreiser said.

"It helps you prepare for that intensity of the playoffs. Both teams are going to get about five or six opportunities and what you do with those opportunities will determine who goes on and who goes home."

And there was no better example than Tuesday. Thankfully for the Little Dutchmen, they'll get one more shot next week.

Conestoga Valley 4, Annville-Cleona 0

A-C00—0CV31—4

First half — 1. CV, Matteo Adiletta, 16:23. 2. CV, Nick Delgado, 36:00. 3. Connor Whitacre (Nick Kramer), 37:00.

Second half — 4. CV, David Gonzalez, 46:41.

Shots on goal — CV 6, A-C 2

Corners — CV 9, A-C 2

Goalies — CV: Trey Orner (2 saves). A-C: Koy Alwine (2).