Current Conditions
29°F - SNOW
(516) (349) (288) (119) (3) (2)
The Canners (17-5), who lost to two-time Class A champion Camp Hill 2-1 in overtime in the 2008 title game, will get a chance to avenge that loss in Saturday's championship game. Camp Hill blanked York Catholic 2-0 in Wednesday's other semifinal.
The title game is set for 11 a.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.
Country Day (18-3) will meet York Catholic Saturday at 3 p.m. at Northeastern High School. At stake is a berth in the PIAA Tournament, which opens Tuesday.
"We've never been to states," said Cougars' coach Dale Mylin, whose 2004 side also lost in the district semis. "A win Saturday puts us there."
A win Wednesday would have guaranteed it and, for a little while, that seemed a possibility.
In a first half that played more like a shuttle relay, Country Day carried the attack to the Canners.
Falling behind 1-0 in the sixth minute when Corbin Taylor squeezed Arnol Tapia's feed between Cougar keeper Cole Turula and the left post, from about 25 yards out, Country Day drew even eight minutes later.
On a counter attack, Ben Murdoch carried into the box, drew goalie Bryce Showers off his line and one-timed it past Showers and into the net.
"We tried to fly the ball over the top of their good sweeper (Rodney Weigle)," said Mylin. "We had our chances and put one away."
Trouble was, Biglerville was getting chances too.
In an eight-minute span, Biglerville severely tested the Cougars defense as midfielder Tyler Shaffer had four dangerous scoring chances and Alex Lua ripped a shot that deflected off a defender.
Unaccustomed to playing on a pitch as wide as Hershey's brand-spanking-new turf, Biglerville's outside-inside diagonal attack often bogged down on re-entry.
"We like to go in and out," explained Canners coach Rob Moore. "We tried to get to the flags, but this field is the widest I've ever been on and we just couldn't manage it."
"We needed to slow it down," said Mylin, "and at times we did a great job of doing that. Other times we didn't."
After leading the Canners in shots in the first half, Shaffer morphed into what Moore called a facilitator in the second.
The change paid dividends 10 minutes into the half when he dribbled into the penalty area, did a stutter-step shot fake and slid the ball over to Nate Long.
Turula, shading to defend Shaffer, could not recover and Long stroked the game-winner home.
"Before the game I told them it isn't going to be Tyler or Lua who score, it's going to be somebody else," recalled Moore.
Two somebody elses, as it turned out.
With the lead, Biglerville turned up the offensive pressure and Country Day never got a shot on goal in the half.
The Cougars finished with just three shots on goal and one corner kick to Biglerville's 11 and six.
"The better team did win tonight," Mylin said. "I'm not disappointed at all with my boys. In fact, I'm proud of the season they've had.
"We've only been this far twice," he said, "unfortunately it's the same result as the last time."
