Gettsburg boys' soccer suffers first loss of season in District 3 title game
HERSHEY >> It was not the result Gettysburg was seeking.
For the second straight year in the District 3 Class AA boys' soccer championship match, the Warriors watched their undefeated run end in a 2-1 defeat to Lancaster Mennonite on Thursday night at Hershey Park Stadium.
Gettysburg (22-1) also fell to Fleetwood, by the same count, in last year's final.
"This one feels way worse than last year," Gettysburg co-head coach Ian Hancock said. "I felt like we deserved a better result than we got tonight. Last year it was a back-and-forth game, but tonight felt like we got the better of the play for most of the match."
The Warriors still have the PIAA tournament to look forward to and that's what they're doing.
"We're down right now, but we're looking forward to the state tournament," Gettysburg head coach Scott Hancock said. "We'll take off tomorrow and get back to practice on Saturday to prepare for states on Tuesday."
Senior midfielder Adam Yingling said, "We see these guys (Lancaster Mennonite) as one of the best teams in the state. We need to get ready for states and hopefully get to see them again in the state tournament."
Before the season, the team broke its season into four separate seasons — the regular season, the YAIAA tournament, the district tournament and the state tournament. They were successful in winning the YAIAA Division II crown and the YAIAA tournament.
The Warriors will begin state tournament play with a rematch from last year when they face District I Class AA champion Lansdale Catholic on Tuesday at a time and site to be announced. Gettysburg won the matchup last year, 2-0.
Thursday's match was the first time that Gettysburg has trailed this season after Mennonite got a pair of goals from Chase Ross in the first 12 minutes of the match.
The Warriors spent the rest of the first half trying to cut the deficit, but couldn't. They did slice it in half with 36:34 left when Yingling scored.
"The feeling right now is frustration. I think we panicked some. We hadn't been behind all year and it took us awhile to adjust to playing from behind." Yingling said. "We doubled their shots (5-2) and hit the post a couple times. We played a bad first 10 minutes tonight and it cost us.
Lancaster Mennonite 2, Gettysburg 1
Lancaster Mennonite20—2
Gettysburg01—1
First Half — 1. Chase Ross, 31:01. 2 Chase Ross, 28:36.
Second Half — 3. Adam Yingling, 35:25
Shots on goal — Lan, 7, Get, 13
Corners — Lan, 0, Get, 1
Goalies — Get, Yanni Tassou (3), Lan, Nate Flanders (5)