Central Bucks East will begin the next leg of its journey on Tuesday when it faces Hershey in an opening round game of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament.
(Photo by Jerry Hankins)
One game at a time.
It sounds cliché, but this year’s Central Bucks East soccer team has ridden that simple philosophy to new heights. The Patriots enter Tuesday’s state tournament opener against Hershey with a perfect 22-0 record, and almost as impressive as their record is the way the Patriots have handled the pressure that goes hand-in-hand with being a marked team.
“It’s certainly been new for us,” senior J.R. Eisold said. “We’ve never gone this far undefeated, and I do think it comes with a challenge.
“Last year we were the hunter, and we’re now the hunted. You kind of have a target on your back because you know you’re going to get every team’s best game regardless.”
“We didn’t let the pressure get to us,” senior Austin Prime said. “People are going to talk about it when you come in the number one seed, but I think our team did a really good job of keeping our heads and just taking it game by game.”
Fourteen of the team’s wins this season have been shutouts, but defense is just a part of the Patriots’ arsenal. They also boast a potent offense that has scored 73 goals.
“This year we’re extremely well balanced,” coach Mike Gorni said. “We have sensational goalkeeping – I think Austin (Prime) has just been terrific.
“We are solid in our defensive posture and shape, we connect through the midfield, and we can score goals, so there’s a lot of balance to that.”
Senior Evan Vare – who has 38 goals – has been the catalyst on offense, but he’s not the only weapon. In Saturday’s 2-1 district title win over previously unbeaten Conestoga, Andrew Zach and Alex Parasky each scored a goal to spot the Patriots’ a 2-0 halftime lead.
The Pioneers made it a 2-1 game 10 minutes into the second half, and with Conestoga turning up the pressure, the Patriots’ defense stood tall.
“We definitely felt pressed for a while there,” Eisold said. “The key is definitely to maintain shape, stay calm, play the game we’ve been playing and just get the ball out.”
When the Patriots’ needed a big stop, Prime delivered. His brilliant diving save on the post to cap a bang-bang sequence with eight minutes remaining was a game saver.
“You feel so safe having him back there,” Eisold said. “As a player and teammate, I can’t ask any more of him.”
Saturday’s district title was the second in as many years for the Patriots, who boast a remarkable 43-3 record in that span.
“It feels great,” Prime said after Saturday’s win. “Conestoga is a great team. Coming into this game, we knew it was going to be a great battle of two undefeated teams.
“As a senior and doing it with all my friends – doing it a second time is just as sweet. It’s just an incredible moment for us, and I’m really happy for our guys.”
East’s program – under Gorni – boasts a tradition of excellence. This is the Patriots’ eighth trip to states in nine years, but perhaps this one – the first time they’ve entered the state tournament undefeated – is the most remarkable.
“I have no idea why it’s worked out,” Gorni said. “We’ve never put pressure on them to be undefeated. It’s wonderful to be that way, but at the end of the day, you have to be good, and you have to be blessed. There’s no way around it.
“We have some games that could have easily gone either way. The toughest thing for us was playing North Penn for the third time this year (in the district quarterfinals). That’s just a difficult thing to do, and for those guys to kind of be held in check and have the fortitude to come up and crack the penalties the way they did under that kind of pressure is crazy.”
On Tuesday, the Patriots will open state tournament play when they face Hershey, the fourth place team from District Three. Their approach won’t change, they will continue to take it one game at a time.
“You really can’t do anything else,” Gorni said. “The reality of it is – it has to be a focus on the next match, and that’s the only one you can focus on.
“You try and take care of business that particular game because there isn’t another game if you don’t do that. We’ll take tomorrow as it comes, and we’re training today. We’ll try to be ready to go, and I can tell you one thing – it’s not going to be from lack of effort.”
East will face Hershey as the second game of a girls/boys doubleheader at War Memorial Field (7 p.m.).
#1-1 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST vs. #3-4 HERSHEY (at War Memorial Field, Tuesday, 7 p.m.)
Central Bucks East
- 22-0-0 overall
- First undefeated, untied regular season in 21 years under coach Mike Gorni
- 14-0-0 Suburban One League Continental Conference champions
- Back-to-back District One AAA champions
- Third consecutive and tenth SOL Continental title in 12 years
- Senior forward Evan Vare leads the Patriots with 38 goals.
- 14 shutouts in 22 games
- Scored 73 goals and allowed just 11.
How they got here:
- Top-seeded Central Bucks East defeated second-seeded Conestoga 2-1 in Saturday’s district title game. The Patriots used goals by Andrew Zach and Alex Parasky (JR Eisold assist) to go on top 2-0 at halftime. Conestoga cut that lead in half 10 minutes into the second half. Goalie Austin Prime came up big with six saves, including a highlight reel diving save to preserve the tie.
- Evan Vare scored all four goals in CB East’s 4-1 district semifinal win over fourth-seeded West Chester Henderson. The Warriors took an early 1-0 lead, but the rest of the game belonged to Vare and the Patriots. Brian Gilligan assisted on three goals and J.R. Eisold had one helper.
- In a district quarterfinal war, the Patriots battled SOL Continental rival North Penn, the tournament’s eighth seed, to a scoreless tie after regulation and two overtimes. The Patriots – sparked by the play of keeper Austin Prime – earned a 3-1 win in penalty kicks with Evan Vare, Andrew Zach and Brian Gilligan connecting on PKs.
- After an opening round bye, the Patriots defeated 16th-seeded PW 4-0, breaking a scoreless halftime tie with four second-half goals. Evan Vare and Alex Parasky each had a pair of goals.
Hershey
- 15-6-1 overall
- 9-4-1 Mid-Penn Keystone third place behind Lower Dauphin and Mechanicsburg
- Led offensively by Tanner Therit and Ryan Sullivan. Luca Nardini leads the team in assists.
- District Three’s 17th-seeded team pulled off three straight upsets to finish fourth in districts.
How they got here:
- Lost to fourth-seeded Central York 2-1 in the District Three semifinals.
- In a district quarterfinal, Hershey defeated ninth-seeded Chambersburg 2-0 to earn a state berth. Luca Nardini scored a goal in the first half, and Tanner Therit (Josh DiPasquale assist) added a goal early in the second half.
- Hershey pulled off the upset of the district tournament with a win in penalty kicks over top-seeded and previously undefeated Central Dauphin (2-2, 5-4 PKs). Mark Mierski (DiPasquale assist) scored the tying goal, and Ryan Sullivan gave Hershey a 2-1 lead that held until the 76th minute when Central Dauphin knotted the score. Hershey went on to win in PKs.
- In a play-in game, 17th-seeded Hershey defeated 16th-seeded Warwick 2-1 in overtime.
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