Boys Soccer: Zane Domsohn helps Bishop Shanahan get revenge in district final

NETHER PROVIDENCE – Zane Domsohn knew what the frustration could do. It was only three weeks ago that he and his Bishop Shanahan teammates had failed to cash in their chances against Radnor, tasting the sting of a 3-0 setback in a pre-districts barometer game.

So if ever, the senior forward reasoned, he could manage an early goal in Thursday night’s District 1 semifinal, surely that would change things. Maybe even change the final result.

Domsohn obliged, heading home 100 seconds in on the way to a hat trick as third seed Bishop Shanahan flipped the script on No. 1 Radnor with a 3-0 victory at Strath Haven’s George L. King Field.

The win sends Shanahan (17-4) onto the PIAA Class 3A tournament as District 1’s lone representative. The run ends for Radnor (15-5-1), which was looking to replicate its state final berth of two years ago.

Domsohn saw his moment before most anyone had settled into the game, and he pounced. A prototypical striker’s goal, Paul Ziegler fired a cross from the left wing, and Domsohn drifted off the shoulder of the center back marking him and planted a header that rippled the net.

“When I saw it go into the back of the net, I was really happy,” he said. “I knew it was going to be a good night for us.”

Make it 2 for Shanahan!
Zane Domsohn a header in the 2nd minute then this beauty in the 27th
2-0 Eagles pic.twitter.com/JONchg7WfY

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) November 4, 2021

Domsohn made sure of it. In the 27th minute, he and two other Eagles stood over a free kick 28 yards out in the right channel. He took the honors and looped an effort low and wide of the wall, curling it back into the open half of the net and past a sprawling Joaquin Cohen.

The third goal was sheer audaciousness, after he forced a turnover 35 yards from goal on the sideline in front of the Radnor bench. With Cohen momentarily off his line, Domsohn had a go toward the far post, a shot that just kept floating, kept floating, kept floating … nestling into the back corner of the net past a flailing Cohen.

“I knew he was going to clear it, and it came right to me and I thought, ‘why not?’,” Domsohn, who then mugged with arms wide in front of the Radnor student sections. “I hit it and it went right in the net.”

As much as it was Domsohn’s day, a goal just wasn’t in the cards for the Raptors. They generated dozens of dangerous service into the box, from free kicks to corners to the long throw of Danny Rosenblum. But they couldn’t seem to make a connection. Some of it was bad luck, some was four saves by Bryce Domsohn, some of it a well-drilled Shanahan defense that had a glimpsed the price of not responding to Radnor’s aerial attack.

But it just didn’t come off for the Raptors.

“The frustration is always there when you can’t finish on those,” senior center back Sebastian Kaper-Barcelata said. “But we’re always looking to scrap on throw-ins, on corners, just to get a head on it, get a toe on it. And usually it works.”

“We spent a lot of this week practicing corner kicks and set pieces, and it paid off,” Zane Domsohn said. “They didn’t have any chances.”

Nick Lucchesi had a pair of chances off long throws, but Bryce Domsohn was equal each time. Lucchesi also had the ball in the back of the net early in the second half, but it was ruled off on a handball as he settled a bouncing ball, which Radnor didn’t argue.

With 16 minutes left and Radnor still down two, Kaper-Barcelata found the ball flicked on to him at the back post. But Domsohn paddled away his initial header, and his second attempt on the volley in close quarters right on the touch line hit the side netting.

“Obviously we weren’t expecting going down that early, but we had belief, we had faith,” Kaper-Barcelata said. “I had faith in my teammates. We wanted to get the goal back. We were close on a few, just didn’t execute and we let it get away from us.”

Huge save by Bryce Dohmson on Sebastian Kaper-Barcelata.
Still 2-0 Shanahan. 16 left to play pic.twitter.com/LxXrMyJXBl

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) November 5, 2021

Cohen played well, making five saves, all in a busy first half. He made an amazing denial with three minutes left to the break when Jaden Jones picked out the late run of holding mid Colin Deal with a cross. Deal volleyed it first time, but Cohen flexed it away, then snuffed Deal’s headed bid on the ensuing corner.

The thrill of a trophy and a states berth stood on its own, so the Eagles didn’t need any extra juice from the revenge factor. But the steadfastness of belief that they could upset a team that had beaten them so soundly and so recently was a big part of the preparation.

Seeing that come to fruition was certainly satisfying for Zane Domsohn and company.

“I think it helped us knowing that they did beat us, but we knew that we were in the game the whole time,” he said. “We knew that if we played our best, we could beat them.”