Central Bucks East defeated Seneca Valley 2-0 to cap a perfect season and capture the program's first PIAA Class AAA title. Check back for photos of all the action.
Central Bucks East players and coach reflect on historic accomplishment
By Jarrad Saffren
Twenty-six wins. Zero losses.
It’s an incredible accomplishment, whether it’s describing a Madden franchise, an afternoon of Ping-Pong, or a high school soccer season.
In this case, a high school soccer season. The Central Bucks East boys soccer team entered Saturday night’s PIAA Class AAA State Championship game 25-0.
“There is not going to be any shame in being 25-1, but 26-0 would be great,” said CB East coach Mike Gorni the day before the game.
It was more than great, it was historic. The Patriots beat Seneca Valley 2-0 at HersheyPark Stadium, finishing their season 26-0, the first lossless, tieless campaign in program history.
Senior midfielder Brian Gilligan and senior forward Evan Vare connected on both goals, each recording a goal and an assist. Junior goalkeeper Austin Prime stopped 10 shots, two in rapid succession in the final minute.
In the 13th minute, Ian Lutz booted the ball into the box, Vare headed it over to Gilligan, who headed it into the lower corner of the net. Nineteen minutes later, Vare scored his 42nd goal of the season, and the play was vintage Vare. Gilligan blasted the ball over two defenders and Vare ran under it. The ball was in midair when he rocketed it into the lower left corner of the net before the keeper even flinched.
The assist was Gilligan's sixth point of the four-game state tournament, three goals, three assists.
East led 2-0 at halftime and outshot Seneca Valley 9-5 in the first half. But Seneca Valley pushed hard in the second half, ripping ten shots total and outshooting East 7-2 in the first 15 minutes.
"We got ahead of ourselves honestly," said Vare. "Up 2-0 we were pretty confident."
But Prime kept Seneca Valley off the board. Early in the half, he made two diving saves on shots by SV leading scorer Matt Saluga. In the final minute, the long-haired keeper dove to his left and batted the ball back into the box. Saluga fired the rebound but Prime kicked it over the net while lying on the turf.
"Prime made some great saves," Vare said. "Best game of the season for him."
Like most undefeated teams, the Patriots were head, shoulders, chest, waist, and knees above most of their opponents. But, like most undefeated teams, they also had off games and took haymakers from lesser teams who played up to their level.
The Patriots won eight games by four goals or more, but also won eight others by just one goal.
“Everyone’s biggest game of the year was against us because we were the number one in the state,” said Vare. “Everyone wanted to be the team that knocked us off.”
Vare, Gilligan, Prime, and JR Eisold agreed that one rival came the closest to knocking them off.
“North Penn,” said Vare.
“North Penn,” said Gilligan.
“Yeah North Penn,” added Eisold.
“Definitely North Penn,” added Prime.
Vare, Gilligan, Eisold, and Prime were referring to the District One Class AAA quarterfinal against the Knights that was scoreless after 80 minutes and two overtime periods. The Patriots won the shootout 3-1.
“It’s a rivalry,” said Gilligan.
“They knew us so well,” Vare said. “That was our third time playing them.”
Through all of the close games, and even the heart-stopper against North Penn, the Patriots never doubted themselves.
“Losing doesn’t cross my mind,” said Vare. “Never.”
Eisold was a little less emphatic.
“There are always moments in games where you are like, ‘We might not get out of this one,’” he said. “But at the same time I never doubted that we’d put the ball in the back of the net and win.”
On the first day of practice in August, Gorni told his team that they could go 26-0. Throughout the season, he never shied away from talking about the elephant in the room.
“They know they are undefeated,” said Gorni of his players after East beat Quakertown to improve to 16-0. “But they are not putting any pressure on themselves.”
At the same time, the veteran coach consistently shrugged off the magnitude of pursuing an undefeated, untied season. “Our goal is just to win every game,” he said over and over.
Still, stoicism should not be mistaken for a lack of appreciation. Gorni was impressed with his team, his first state champion. He said the most impressive part was not going undefeated, but finishing untied. “It’s a rarity when someone goes undefeated with no ties,” said Gorni.
A rarity. That is the best phrase to describe a team that accomplished two things that no East team ever had before. In 20 previous seasons under Gorni, CB East reached the state tournament 11 times, the semifinals four times, and the title game once.
The Patriots never went all the way until Saturday, and they certainly never left the last two columns empty.
“Unbelievable,” Gorni said. “I’m really proud of them.
“We owned it. We had massive pressure on us – some we put on ourselves. We just didn’t deny that we were going to be really good this year, and we took everybody’s best test. Sometimes it was really beautiful and great, and sometimes it was just hard working and stick-to-it-ness, and we got through it.
"Twenty-six and zero with the schedule we had is crazy. Just think of the last two years – 47-3. It’s crazy, and if you don’t believe that, watch any professional sports, college sports or whatever and then see – in the realm of 50 games – what a team has done and see what kind of winning percentage that is, and they did it because they played so hard for each other.”
EXTRA SHOTS: After 21 seasons at the helm, Gorni confirmed that this was his final season, and as endings go, they don’t get much better than this one. The veteran coach – insisting that Saturday’s win be about the kids - is revered by both his peers and his players. “He cares about each individual player,” Vare said. “He tells us all the time that he hates losing, but he’d rather see us go down mature than win and be immature. He has great character, he’s a great person, and no one else deserves this more than him.”
Central Bucks East 2-0 2
Seneca Valley 0-0 0
- Log in to post comments
