Tulpehocken clips Camp Hill 1-0 to win District 3 Class A title
HERSHEY>> Four seasons ago, when Tulpehocken last won a District 3 boys’ soccer title, freshman Kevin Berry wasn’t doing a whole lot to contribute to the cause.
“He joked to me the other night at practice,” Tulpy head coach Tim Frantz said, “that he was carrying the water bottles.”
Safe to say, that is not the case now.
Berry’s sublime 30-yard strike with 10:53 to play in the first half was all Tulpehocken would need Saturday to defeat Camp Hill 1-0 and win the D-3 Class A crown, at Hersheypark Stadium.
The Trojan’s 2012 district title was captured in AA.
Berry took a lofted pass from teammate Justin Ulrich, ran it down while staying onsides, then fired a missile to lower left corner that beat Camp Hill goalie Ilija Trgo-Pezer.
“Justin played a beautiful ball over the top and I just tried to put it on frame to give us the lead,” Berry said. “I was working (Camp Hill’s line) and get on the end of something and Justin saw it.”
Tulpy’s back line limited Camp Hill to one shot on target during the match, and that came in the dying seconds of the first half off the head of Matthew Little. It was a soft floater from about six yards out that Tulpy keeper Trent Johnson easily corralled.
Lions’ striker Kyle Bentz, scorer of 18 goals, was bottled up for most of the afternoon.
“Their big boy up top (Bentz), he’s the guy we were worried about,” Frantz said. “Then later they moved (Adam Jones) up higher, where he was floating, and we had to figure out how to mark him up. So we changed to a 4-5-1 and took an extra guy away up top.”
Top-seed Tulpy’s second district title, and third finals appearance in four years, provides a nice bookend to the careers of Berry and the three other seniors on the roster.
“It’s nice for these guys to get something,” Frantz said. “Getting back here, working to get back here and then getting the ‘W’.”
Tulpehocken outshot Camp Hill 5-1 and led in corners 4-3.
District 3 Class A championship
Camp Hill — 0 0 — 0
Tulpehocken – 1 0 — 1
First Half
T- Kevin Berry (Justin Ulrich), 10:53
Shots on goal
T 5, CH 1
Corners
T 4, CH 3
Saves
T (Trent Johnson) 1, CH (Ilija Trgo-Pezer) 4
