Faith Christian downs Devon Prep in PIAA-1A opener

PENNSBURG >> A thick fog rolled in late in the second half Tuesday night, enveloping the entire turf field at Upper Perkiomen High School.

But by then, Faith Christian could see straight through to the state quarterfinals, and a rematch with two-time defending Class A Champion Camp Hill.

“We can’t wait. It’s all we can think about,” said the Lions’ Korey Schuster. “Since the beginning of the season, it’s all we’ve been thinking: Camp Hill. And we can’t wait.”

Schuster and the Lions took care of business in their states opener, advancing past Devon Prep with a 5-1 victory. Faith fell to Camp Hill each of the past two seasons in states, but is looking for a different outcome on Saturday.

“Third time’s a charm we’re hoping,” said coach Ryan Clymer, who saw his team dominate the second half Tuesday night and pull away to a 5-0 lead. “They’re a good team again this year but I think we’re right where we were last year.

“The guys definitely aren’t nervous anymore and are ready for a good match. It’ll probably be a one-goal match.”

Faith (19-2) got on the board early in the opening round, with Schuster knocking one in with less than 10 minutes gone.

“It came out of nowhere,” Clymer said of the goal. “That was really the one shot we had on target.”

The second half would be different, as Faith put a ton of pressure on Devon keeper Luke Grycewicz.

Schuster set up William Bolla to make it 2-0, and then midway through the second half, Schuster scored unassisted to stretch the lead to 3-0.

“That got us going, got our heads up, saying we can win this thing,” Schuster said. “We were trying to find feet, playing to feet, because the through balls were just skipping right through.”

Another goal by Bolla and one by Evan Wright provided further cushion for Faith.

Devon Prep broke the shutout with 7:29 to play, when Connor Kelly passed to Nicholas Bello and Bello finished it off.

A remarkable run by Devon came to an end against Faith.

“We were really a ‘together’ group,” Kelly said. “For four years, a lot of us played together. This offseason really brought us together too. We played in a summer league, worked out twice a week all summer.

“It was a four-year experience for all of us.”