Lewisburg blanks Lansdale Catholic in PIAA-2A quarterfinals

MANHEIM >> Lewisburg scored twice with the wind, once going against it, and blew into the state semifinals with a commanding 3-0 victory over Lansdale Catholic on Saturday.

A remarkable run by the Crusaders came to an end on a chilly, blustery day on the turf at Manheim Township High School.

“It’s the furthest we’ve ever gotten so I’m always gonna remember it,” said Lansdale Catholic senior Emily Schall. “I just wish we had gotten further.”

Lewisburg advances to the PIAA-2A Semifinals on Tuesday, to take on either Wyoming Area or Boiling Springs. The Green Dragons, runner-ups out of District Four, took control with a pair of goals in the first half.

The Green Dragons took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes in off a goal by Taryn Beers and then doubled their lead to 2-0 when Chloe Michaels struck midway through the first half.

“When that first ball went in, not that we let up, but we fell a little bit,” Schall said.

With the wind at its back, LC generated more pressure in the second half and Schall got off a pair of quality shots, but Lauren Gross was able to make the saves.

“Our mentality was to keep it scoreless in the first half and then score as much as we could in the second half with the wind, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” Schall said.

Going against the wind was a tough chore. Running with it wasn’t easy either.

“The wind is like knocking you over — it’s insane,” Schall said, the temperature dipping down into the 30’s by the second half. “But (Lewisburg’s) defense was really good and got the ball out. And that’s what they had to do.”

Lewisburg put the game out of reach with 4:57 to play, with a goal by Selena Permyashkin. The Crusaders, Champions of District 12, had arrived at this point by virtue of a 1-0 victory over St. Basil.

“As a coach, you always want your team to go as far as they possibly can,” Crusaders coach Bree Benedict said, “and as I watched the final seconds wind down on the clock, you could see we literally had nothing left.

“It’s been a really long season and they gave it everything that they possibly had.”