Kutztown falls to Camp Hill in boys’ District 3 Class A final
HERSHEY>> Kutztown simply could not find a way through.
Camp Hill held the Cougars to just one shot on goal for 80 minutes — and a soft one at that — while potting a pair at the other end to beat Kutztown 2-0 Wednesday evening in the District 3 Class A championship match at Hersheypark Stadium.
The Lions (20-2) claimed gold they were denied here a year ago in a similar spot by Tulpehocken. Kutztown (15-5-1), silver in hand, gets set for the PIAA tournament.
Kutztown’s attack was shuttered by a stout Camp Hill midfield and backline. Space was hard to come by and most of the probes ended in frustration. The top-seeded Lions rolled through the Class A tournament scoring 18 goals while conceding none.
“We knew going in that they had only given up nine goals all season, so we had our work cut out for us,” Kutztown head coach Ian Moreland said. “They’re a very strong team. We had 80 minutes and we gave it our all.”
Camp Hill carried possession and scoring chances from the start. The Lions finally broke through at 23:13, when Noah Resuta switched control with his feet off a feed from Chris Poole and fired a rocket from 15 yards out that beat Kutztown goalie Brady Tucker clean to the lower far post for a 1-0 lead.
The Lions doubled the advantage nine minutes after the break. Chris Poole served a high, slicing ball from nearly 40 yards out on target. Tucker went up for the save and got his mitts on it but couldn’t corral it. Andrew Sponic was there to head the loose ball past Tucker and into the back of the net at 49:02.
A second goal in hand, the Lions redoubled their efforts on the defense front and saw it through.
“Our guys worked hard, especially the midfielders, to get behind the ball and help our defenders out,” Camp Hill head coach Justin Sheaffer said. “They’ve been doing that all year and I’m glad they were able to do it one more time on this big stage.”
Kutztown was able to stay with Camp Hill for long stretches Wednesday night — remember, this is a Lions squad that savaged Millersburg 11-0 in Saturday’s semifinal — but a lack of possession and quality scoring chances weighted the result in favor of the Mid-Penn Conference’s top small school.
“You have to tip your hat to Kutztown,” Shaeffer said. “They locked us down defensively. We were fortunate to net that one with Resuta getting in behind them, and the second one, it was nice to get that; had it stayed 1-0 I think they were going to be more dangerous. We did what we had to do.”
Camp Hill outshot Kutztown 6-1, with corners going the Cougars’ way at 4-3.
District 3 Class A championship
at Hersheypark Stadium
Camp Hill 2, Kutztown 0
CH – Noah Resuta (Chris Poole), 23:13
CH – Andrew Sponic (Colin Daly), 49:02
Shots
CH 6, K 1
Corners
CH 3, K 4
Saves
CH (Noah Smeriglio) 1, K (Brady Tucker) 4
D
