Blue Mountain's Drew Waschko celebrates his second goal of Thursday's Schuylkill League boys' soccer championship against Pine Grove at Rotary Field. Waschko scored twice in the Eagles' 3-0 win (Photo by Brook Koch-Guers).

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — When the Waschko family gathered at their home Thursday night, it was Drew that had bragging rights.

After his younger sister Lexi scored the game-winning goal in the first game of Thursday’s Schuylkill League soccer championship doubleheader, Drew Waschko was the headliner in the nightcap.

The Blue Mountain senior scored a pair of first-half goals to lift the Eagles to a 3-0 victory over Pine Grove at Rotary Field in the Schuylkill League boys’ soccer final. It’s the sixth straight league crown for Blue Mountain and its 22nd league title overall.

Coupled with the girls’ 2-1 win over Schuylkill Haven, the boys’ title marks the third straight season that Blue Mountain swept both soccer championships.

“Definitely,” Drew Waschko said about his sister’s goal providing him motivation.

“Every time we go home, we always talk about who did better, who did this and that,” he continued. “It’s going to definitely be a good talk when we get home tonight. Hope the parents are proud.”

Blue Mountain (17-3) came out firing, blitzing Pine Grove keeper Peyton Renninger with two laser-like shots in the first 1:50 of the game and keeping constant pressure on the Cardinals for the first 10 minutes.

The Cardinals (15-5) settled things down after that as Tanner Kolb nearly put Pine Grove ahead at the 11:59 mark with a shot that was tipped over the goal by Blue Mountain keeper Caden Wargo.

Through the first 30 minutes, the game was scoreless.

“We did come out strong,” Blue Mountain coach Chris Brauer said. “We were fired up, ready to go, ready to win our sixth in a row.

“Sometimes there’s a little bit of an adrenaline dump. We had to work through that. If things had been a little bit different, we could have been up two, three, four goals in the first five minutes. But we had nothing to show for it.

“We settled in, kept working and the result was to our favor.”

The Eagles got the break they needed at 31:04 when Pine Grove was called for a penalty in the box for pushing. Waschko converted the penalty kick to put the Eagles up 1-0.

A few minutes later, Waschko was at it again. A long throw-in by Sean Gaddy led to a few crosses and a pass to Waschko in the middle. His blast at 35:22 put Blue Mountain up 2-0 at intermission.

“We had a couple of crosses prior to that and I saw that the ball was getting over to the back post,” Waschko said, describing his second goal. “So I kind of backed off a little to get that rebound. I got the kick on the volley and it went in.

“It’s a fantastic feeling. I’m very blessed that I had the chance to take those shots in the first place. I’m really happy the team built those chances up for me and I’m just happy they went in.”

Blue Mountain went up 3-0 three minutes into the second half on a long goal by Aidan Varney, then played keep away from Pine Grove the rest of the contest. The Eagles outshot Pine Grove 11-3, with Wargo earning his 11th shutout of the season.

The key for the Blue Mountain defense was containing Pine Grove’s Kolb, who has scored 34 goals this season and had a goal in both the Cardinals’ quarterfinal win over Shenandoah Valley and their semifinal victory over Minersville.

Brauer said sophomore Luke Grasso drew the assignment and did well.

“He’s a great player,” Brauer said of Kolb. “He’s electric, he’s strong, he’s powerful. He was fired up. He gave everything he had … great effort from him.

“We knew had to work on negating that. Luke Grasso drew that assignment and did a magnificent job.”

After the game, three of the Schuylkill League’s founding fathers presented Blue Mountain with the inaugural Founder’s Cup, a Stanley Cup-like traveling trophy built by ET Trophy Shop in Pottsville that will be awarded to the boys’ champion each year.

In a project spearheaded by Williams Valley’s Seth Shuey, the Founder’s Cup was created by the Schuylkill League boys’ soccer coaches in honor of the five coaches who helped start the league in 1990 — the late Mark Wyllie of Pine Grove, the late Vanco Georgevic of Schuylkill Haven, Blue Mountain’s Rob Burcik, Minersville’s Mark Mahal and Pottsville’s Bruce Billingham.

Wyllie passed away in 2020, with Georgevic passing away in 2021.

Thursday, Burcik, Mahal and Billingham made the presentation, with Burcik’s grandson, junior Evan Burcik, accepting the Founder’s Cup for the Eagles.

“It’s amazing,” Waschko said of the Founder’s Cup. “It’s a historical thing for us to win it for the first time. It’s a fantastic thing to keep this community as close as it is.”

Match Summary

Schuylkill League Boys’ Soccer Championship

At Rotary Field, Schuylkill Haven

Pine Grove (15-5)         0               0               —            0

Blue Mtn. (17-3)            2               1               —            3

BM — Waschko (PK), 31:04

BM — Waschko, 35:22

BM — A. Varney, 43:32

Shots on goal: Pine Grove 3, Blue Mountain 11

Corner kicks: Pine Grove 6, Blue Mountain 1

Saves: Pine Grove (Renninger) 8, Blue Mountain (Wargo) 3

Schuylkill League Boys’ Soccer Finals

2025 — Blue Mountain 3, Pine Grove 0

2024 — Blue Mountain 3, Pine Grove 1

2023 — Blue Mountain 4, Pine Grove 0

2022 — Blue Mountain 1, Nativity 0

2021 — Blue Mountain 2, Pine Grove 0

2020 — Blue Mountain 4, Jim Thorpe 0

2019 — Jim Thorpe 4, Pine Grove 2

2018 — Blue Mountain 1, Pine Grove 0

2017 — Pottsville 2, Jim Thorpe 1

2016 — Blue Mountain 1, Wms. Valley 0, OT

2015 — Lehighton 6, Blue Mountain 0

2014 — Lehighton 2, Blue Mountain 1, OT

2013 — Schuylkill Haven 3, Blue Mountain 2, OT

2012 — Williams Valley 3, Schuylkill Haven 2

2011 — Blue Mountain 2, Schuylkill Haven 1 (3-1 PKs)

2010 — Blue Mountain 4, Halifax 0

2009 — Schuylkill Haven 4, Blue Mountain 1

2008 — Tamaqua 3, Blue Mountain 0

2007 — Tamaqua 4, Pine Grove 1

2006 — Tamaqua 2, Blue Mountain 1

2005 — Blue Mountain 3, Schuylkill Haven 0

2004 — Blue Mountain 3, Shamokin 0

2003 — Blue Mountain 3, Schuylkill Haven 0

2002 — Blue Mountain 2, Schuylkill Haven 0

2001 — Blue Mountain 3, Schuylkill Haven 1

2000 — Blue Mountain 4, Schuylkill Haven 2

1999 — Blue Mountain 3, Schuylkill Haven 1

1998 — Schuylkill Haven 1, Blue Mountain 0

League Champions

1997 — Pottsville

1996 — Pine Grove

1995 — Blue Mountain

1994 — Blue Mountain

1993 — Blue Mountain

1992 — Blue Mountain

1991 — Blue Mountain