The field is set. Eight of the top boys soccer teams in the YAIAA have locked in their spots for the annual league tournament, beginning Tuesday, Oct. 14, at four sites across York County.
Central York, Susquehannock and York Catholic each claimed the Division I, II and III titles with undefeated league records. The Panthers escaped the year with a flawless 12-0 record in Division I, but dropped four nonleague games. The Warriors and Fighting Irish never lost a nonconference match, but each tied at least once in a league setting.
Below is the complete schedule for the YAIAA boys soccer tournament beginning with the quarterfinals on Oct. 14. Scores and ensuing matchups will be updated as the tournament progresses, so check back for updates throughout the week.
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Oct. 14
New Oxford 1, Central York 0: The Colonials pulled out a shutout victory over the Panthers to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
York Catholic 1, York Suburban 0: York Catholic coach Joe Nattans isn’t used to reorienting a gameplan less than a minute into a match. But when the time called, he and the Fighting Irish adjsuted.
On their first possession of their quarterfinal match against the Trojans, the Irish struck hard, fast and without warning. Vince Buscemi, off a deflection, snuck a shot into the goal as the Irish flooded the zone and put them ahead just 39 seconds after kickoff. On that same play, the Irish’s leading scorer Michael Glezer exited the match due to injury.
For the rest of the night, Nattans had his players hold back. He wanted them to remain aggressive, but focus on defense in the meantime.
“We had to play differently as soon as our leading scorer got hurt right on that play,” Nattans said. “We played most of the first half same formation trying to get that second goal. But going into the last 10 minutes of the first half and then all of the second half, we put one striker up front instead of two and then we put one extra guy in the defensive central just to try to slow them down. We knew they were going to try to come through the middle.”
In Buscemi’s mind, the goal wasn’t out of the ordinary compared to York Catholic’s typical attack plan. They’ve always liked to pressure opposing defenses. It just so happened that their luck went through on the first possession of the night.
“It’s most important to pressure right off the go,” Buscemi said. “We like to get the ball in the second half, so that way we can put on the pressure early and score early, that’s what we do.”
Northeastern 3, Biglerville 2: Gavin Thomas scored two goals and Parker Shelly added another goal to lift the Bobcats past the Canners on Tuesday night. Manuel Morales-Garcia and Christian Garcia each scored goals for the Canners in the loss.
Susquehannock 1, Dallastown 0: The Warriors edged the Wildcats in the quarterfinals and booked a match with Northeastern in the semifinals.
Semifinals
Thursday, Oct. 16
New Oxford vs. York Catholic, 7:30 p.m. at Red Lion
Northeastern vs. Susquehannock, 7:30 p.m. at York Catholic
Finals
Saturday, Oct. 18
TBD at Northeastern, 2:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Pa. high school sports: YAIAA boys soccer tournament schedule, results
