HS Girls’ Soccer: Hurricanes, Eagles reach league final with semifinal shutouts
Schuylkill Haven players celebrate their 3-0 victory over Pottsville in Monday's Schuylkill League girls' soccer semifinals at Rotary Field (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Hailey Scheuer wasn’t sure of her personal career-high for goals scored in a soccer game.
The Blue Mountain junior might have set it Monday night.
Scheuer scored four straight goals to lead Blue Mountain to a 5-0 victory over Pine Grove in a Schuylkill League girls’ soccer semifinal at Rotary Field.
The victory advances the two-time defending champion Eagles (16-3) to Thursday’s championship game against Division II champion Schuylkill Haven (14-4-1), which blanked Pottsville 3-0 in the other semifinal. First touch is 5 p.m.
“I think it felt really good for me, finally finishing my opportunities,” Scheuer said. “I finally finished the ones right in front of the goal. I made the correct runs. I had some great balls played to me.
“I thought our team did great today. I couldn’t have done it without the beautiful assists I was played.”
Scheuer scored 5:40 into the game after collecting a loose ball in front and shooting it left to right past Pine Grove keeper Alyssa Moyer. She scored again at 11:18, taking a feed from Phoebe Glenn and playing the ball up the middle before beating Moyer with a high shot to the right.
The two quick goals were almost like a knockout punch for Blue Mountain, which had blanked Pine Grove 1-0 and 3-0 during the Schuylkill League regular season.
The Eagles controlled the game for nearly the entire 80 minutes, outshooting the Cardinals 17-1 … with that one Pine Grove shot coming with 1:37 remaining.
“The first two goals definitely set us up,” said Scheuer, who also is a two-time Schuylkill League champion, District 11 Class AA champion and PIAA qualifier in diving. “The one I was in the right place at the right time. The other one was a pretty good run that I had.
“Pine Grove is always a good game for us, always very physical. But I think if we get up on them soon, every team kind of shuts down after (being down) 2-0.”
Scheuer added two more goals with four minutes of each other in the second half. The first came at 47:23 off a free kick from Kendall Koch, the other at 51:38 after she corralled a cross from the right side by Kelly Canfield and blasted into the net.
Emma Smith’s goal at 57:26 after a scramble in front accounted for the final margin.
For the Blue Mountain defense, a group made up of Kendall Koch, Addyson Fishburn, Sophia Spolski and keeper Karley Koch, it was the Eagles’ 13th shutout of the season. On the season, Blue Mountain has outscored its opponents 88-10.
“They’re strong,” Blue Mountain coach Matt Kenitzer said of his defense. “These past three years, it’s been pretty much the same defense that have just been strong all the way through.
“We’ve been playing a specific formation and they’ve gotten into a groove on how to play it, how to support each other, how to communicate. They’re just strong defenders all around. They’re incredible.”
Schuylkill Haven 3, Pottsville 0
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Taylor Haag continued her torrid week with another goal, Ava Terefencko converted a turnover into another goal and the Hurricanes advanced to the Schuylkill League final for the first time since 2014 with a shutout of Pottsville.
The Division II champion, Schuylkill Haven (14-4-1) will look to win the first girls’ soccer title in school history when the Hurricanes face two-time defending champion Blue Mountain (16-3) at 5 p.m. Thursday at Rotary Field.
The Hurricanes played for the league title in 2013 and 2014, losing to Blue Mountain and Pine Grove, respectively. The last Division II team to win a girls’ league title was Millersburg in 2009.
“Since Blue Mountain and Pottsville moved from spring to fall, a Division II team hasn’t won a Schuylkill League championship,” Schuylkill Haven coach Scott Burcik said. “That’s what these girls want to show, that it doesn’t matter big school, small school … we can compete.”
A big key to Haven’s success has been the scoring of Haag. The junior forward scored 12 goals in four games last week to finish as the Schuylkill League’s regular-season scoring champion with 37 goals and 86 points.
She added her 38th goal with 31.9 seconds left in the first half, pounding home a corner kick from Audrey Hutchinson to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead.
“That goal, my captain Audrey Hutchinson, played an excellent corner kick and I was there to hit it in,” Haag said. “For the last week, just incredible passes from my teammates have given me the opportunity to hit these shots.”
Schuylkill Haven opened the scoring at the 32:39 mark when Terefencko stole a ball at midfield and took it in on a breakaway, beating Pottsville keeper Julie Stock to the left side.
The Hurricanes’ final goal came with 3:31 remaining on a penalty kick by Hutchinson.
“I knew we had to get up in the game, we had to get ahead,” Terefencko said of her goal. “I really pushed myself for that ball, dribbled it in … and it went in.”
Haven controlled things for most of the game, finishing with a 16-3 advantage in shots on goal. Haag finished with nine shots on goal, while Haven keeper Allyson Becker was aggressive.
The win gives the Hurricanes a chance to make school history on their home field.
“It’s so exciting to be here,” Terefencko said. “We have the honor to play on our home field so we want to make it count.
Added Haag: “We haven’t been able to do this since 2014 … might as well win it.”
Match Summaries
Schuylkill League Girls’ Soccer Semifinals
At Rotary Field, Schuylkill Haven
Pottsville (10-8-3) 0 0 — 0
Sch. Haven (14-4-1) 2 1 — 3
SH — Terefencko, 32:39
SH — Haag (Hutchinson), 39:29
SH — Hutchinson (PK), 76:29
Shots on goal: Pottsville 3, Schuylkill Haven 16
Corner kicks: Pottsville 0, Schuylkill Haven 6
Saves: Pottsville (Moyer) 13, Schuylkill Haven (Becker) 3
