Neshaminy defeated Emmaus 2-1 in overtime to earn a spot in Saturday’s PIAA 4A state title game in Hershey.
#1-1 NESHAMINY 2, #11-1 EMMAUS 1 (2 OTs)
Ryan Schoeneman received a little extra inspiration from his teammate when he went to the far sideline for a throw-in early in the second overtime of Tuesday’s PIAA 4A semifinal.
It may have helped because Schoeneman’s throw was on target, and the only thing left for Connor Steele to do was head the ball into the net for the game-winner that punched the Redskins’ ticket to Saturday’s state title game at HersheyPark Stadium.
“I started running over to the sidelines to get the ball, and my friend, the captain Cole Jackson, said to me, ‘Make this the one,’” Schoeneman said. “That made me feel like, ‘Come on, let’s have a good throw and just put it in the back of the net.’
“When it happened, I was in shock. I felt so happy for Connor Steele because he puts so much work in. He wins so many balls in the midfield, and it was actually his first goal in the high school. I was just happy for him.”
“I guess it was just meant to be,” Steele said. “I’d been getting a decent head on these all night pretty much. I was like, ‘This could be the one,’ and I got a good connection on it, and it happened to go in.
“It’s a crazy feeling. With that being my first goal for Neshaminy High School – we’ve had a little bet going on – who’s going to score first? Lou Salmi or me.”
Steele won that friendly wager, but heading into the game, the odds would have been stacked against the Redskins scoring the game-winner on a throw-in and would have been even higher that they would twice score on Schoeneman throw-ins, but that’s exactly what happened.
“All season long we’ve worked on them, and not one has ended up in the back of the net, but it happened tonight that both of them ended up in the back of the net,” Schoeneman said. “It was just the adrenaline kicking in. It was a big game.”
An adjustment to his technique also made a difference Tuesday.
“That’s a big part of it,” Schoeneman said. “I started lowering my back, bending my back, and it came naturally. It went a little farther than normal. We worked on it so long, and it never worked until tonight.”
Earlier, the Redskins found themselves in the rare position of playing catch up after Emmaus scored seven minutes into the game.
“We were actually a little flatfooted in the first 10 minutes, and we were letting them turn a lot,” coach Tom Foley said. “They had a couple of nice sequences. They crossed over one of our defender’s heads. We were loosely marked in the box, and the kid collected it and half-volleyed it in. It was a nice goal. Hats off to them.”
The Redskins picked up the pace after the Hornets’ early goal but still trailed 1-0 at the intermission.
“The first 12 minutes we were a little lethargic, and after they scored, we started applying pressure, and as the game wore on, we started getting more and more pressure on them, and we locked them down the rest of the way,” Foley said. “I think that woke them up a little bit. Maybe they were playing a little tentative or it took them a while to get their emotions back from the other night. Whatever it was – the goal seemed to wake them up, and they started playing again.”
“We were obviously not used to going down 1-0,” Schoeneman said. “We’ve only done it once throughout the season, but it was an early goal, so we still had plenty of time left in the game, so we still wanted to keep our heads straight, do what we do and try to find the back of the net, which ended up working. We just had to keep our heads straight.”
The Redskins came out of halftime pressuring the Hornets. Early in the second half, Michael Albarran’s shot in close after some nifty moves was stonewalled by the goalie, who made a brilliant save.
“I can’t remember the last time we were down in a game,” Steele said. “Going into halftime, coach gave us a talk and told us we just needed to settle down, relax and play soccer like we have been all year.
“We finally realized – ‘Okay, this team is good, but we can beat them.’ It was just the confidence, and once we started getting chances, we started getting more and more confidence from the chances we were getting. We knew the goals were going to come.”
Finally, with 15 minutes remaining, the Redskins connected on the equalizer. Again the goal was set up by a Schoeneman throw-in, and this time it was AJ Rivera finishing off the play to knot the score 1-1.
“Ryan Schoeneman is our long throw guy, and he’s getting better,” Foley said. “I think it deflected off of somebody, and AJ Rivera just absolutely hit a bomb into the net. It was a tremendous shot.
“It was nice to get the equalizer. I always thought we were going to get it, but you never know. We’ve had those games before where you outshoot them a lot to a little, and you just can’t get that goal. I was thrilled for the kids.”
Neither team scored again until Steele’s game-winner at the 11:55 mark of the second overtime.
“We watched the live stream when they played La Salle, and it looked like they were a little vulnerable to long throws, so we thought we could maybe pry something loose on a long throw,” Foley said. “Connor (Steele) is our target guy, and he tries to nod it on. Sometimes we tell him, ‘Just head it towards the goal.’
“He had one earlier that the goalie made a really nice save on it. This time he had just enough that got it to the goal. The kid deserved it because he’s been an absolute beast in our midfield. He wins every head ball, he’s been tackling, he’s been putting people in motion. I’m glad he got that kind of accolade, getting the goal in overtime to send us to states. I couldn’t be happier for the kid.”
The Redskins’ coach had nothing but praise for his team’s effort.
“Connor (Steele) and AJ (Rivera) were tremendous again tonight,” Foley said. “Ryan Schoeneman did a fabulous job. Jojo Maxwell really stepped up his defensive game. He was an offensive attacking midfielder, but he was really laying his body on the line. He was winning head balls, he was getting stuck in, so he really upped his game too.
“Gavin Rowan did a great job, and Michael Albarran was really dangerous when we put him up here too. You really hate to shortchange anyone because they all did a tremendous job tonight.”
The Redskins are Hershey bound to play in Saturday’s PIAA Class 4A. Neshaminy (13-1-2, 6-0-2 SOL) will face District 7 champion Seneca Valley, a 1-0 winner over District 3 champion Cumberland Valley in the other state semifinal contest.
Emmaus 1-0-0-0 1
Neshaminy 0-1-0-1 2
Class 3A
#3-1 NORTHERN 4, #1-1 UPPER MORELAND 1
Logan Taylor scored a first-half goal that sent the Golden Bears into halftime deadlocked with Northern 1-1. The second half belonged to the District 3 champs, who scored three unanswered goals.
Upper Moreland closed out its successful season with a District One 2A title and a 10-3 record (6-2 SOL).
Upper Moreland 1-0 1
Northern 1-3 4
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