Gettysburg Boys’ soccer has weathered many storms en route to an 11-1-3 record coming into senior night against Greencastle-Atrium. Multiple overtime and double overtime games have proven that this team can persevere through many obstacles. Tonight was not one of those nights.
The Warriors jumped out to a quick 2-nil lead with a pair of Ryan Cunningham goals within the first 10 minutes of the 1st half. The Warriors kept the pressure on with a suffocating defense on the back end and aggressive yet methodical passing to continuously move the ball through the Blue Devil defense. An early save from senior goalkeeper Jake Bernier catapulted a quick run down the field that resulted in Cunningham’s first score. His second was a result of a good run, as he got a tip past the goalie’s hands and tapped in an easy score.
Goal three came only 300 seconds after the last, with senior Wyatt Michaels connecting beautifully off a throw-in into the top right corner off the keeper’s hand. Michaels had to wait till just before halftime to get his second score. After a miss right over the crossbar by Cunningham around the 5-minute mark, the Warriors moved the ball back down the field, and Michaels showcased his open-field skills as he cut past Blue Devil defenders as smoothly as a downhill slalom skier. The senior then fired a shot that blew past the keeper and made the score 4-nil with just two minutes left in the half. With just under a minute left in the half, Cunningham misfired just over the crossbar, showcasing that aggressive play of the Warrior squad through the first half.
The second half didn’t showcase nearly as much action, but it did prove that the Warriors can stifle a team’s offense and ball movement. A lot of possession changes were the story of the second half; however, the last ten minutes gave the home crowd a few more fireworks. With just under ten minutes left senior Giovanni Hernandez received a corner kick from the far end of the pitch, he one-touched and fired a shot into the top right-hand corner of the goal to push the home team up 5-nil. Cunningham misfired again just over the crossbar right before the final whistle to miss out on a hat trick. Greencastle-Atrium finally got on the board with around five minutes left to erase the zero off the scoreboard: final score 5-1.
Gettysburg handled business and is firing on all cylinders, as they will be hosting a first-round district game on Monday, 10/20 at 7 PM, with the opponent to be determined. The latest PIAA District 3 results can be found on PIAA.com.
