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Chestnut Ridge year ends in heartbreaking fashion

JOHNSTOWN — In Tuesday night’s District 6 Class 2A playoff game, the Chestnut Ridge boys soccer team dominated play most of the night.

The Lions outshot Ligonier Valley, 26-5, and had the ball on the Rams’ side of the field most of the time. However, they were not able to put the ball in the net. After 110 minutes of scoreless play, the game went to penalty kicks. Unfortunately for the Lions, Ligonier Valley’s goalkeeper made one key save on Kyle Parrish’s kick, and the Rams made all five of their own penalty kicks to end Chestnut Ridge’s season with a 1-0 loss.

“This was our fifth overtime game this year, and our third double overtime game,” said Chestnut Ridge coach Dave VanMeter, whose team lost on penalty kicks, 5-3. “Personally I think we outplayed them. We dominated the field, but there’s a thing called a net back there, and you have to get the ball in it. That’s been our struggle all year. Had we been able to do that, we would possibly in the number one position right now and going forward in the district playoff. It’s definitely depressing, and the kids took it hard.”

Ligonier Valley got penalty kick goals from Kevin Huber and Alex Stouffer, sandwiched around a penalty kick by Ian Anderson to grab a 2-1 lead. Parrish tried to tie things, but his kick to the low right corner of the net was stopped by Andrew Kuzemchak.

The two teams traded penalty kick goals by Bastian Christensen and Nick Gongaware (Ligonier Valley) and Corey Amick and Adam Frankenberry to make the score 4-3. Ligonier Valley’s final kicker, Nathan Hugo, shot to the top let corner of the net. Goaltender Nick Knoster got his hands on the ball, but it still got in under the crossbar to give the Rams a victory.

“That’s been our story all year,” Ligonier Valley coach Kip Crumrine. “The games we lost that we should have won were not because of the defense. We just couldn’t score. We couldn’t finish. Ball possession at midfield has been our weak link all season, but those guys in the back have been solid. For Andrew to come up with a save on a PK like that is awesome.”

Early on, no one would have believed that the game would have gone to penalty kicks. Ligonier Valley was the higher seed, but Chestnut Ridge controlled play almost the entire opening half. The Lions outshot the Rams, 12-3 in the half, but were not able to take advantage of their strong play to get on the scoreboard.

Kuzemchak came up big in the first two minutes of the game, making a diving save to turn away a shot from Amick. Less than three minute later Khyler Holderbaum sent a low shot at the LV goal from inside the box, but Kuzemchak again made a sliding save. The Lions had two other opportunities in the first 10 minutes, but they too were turned away by the Rams goaltender.

While the Lions were peppering shots at the Ligonier Valley net,  Knoster saw very little action. However, when he did have to make a play, he was aggressive in keeping the Rams off the scoreboard, too.

“You take one goal as the difference in six games that we lost, that separated us from winning and losing,” VanMeter said. “Each game, one goal. That tells you a lot, that we competed with everybody. This team has the ability to play well, it’s just that you do have to get that ball in that net. I can honestly say, I have coached for a long time, and what makes this group of kids different is they just keep after it. Even after some of those losses in a row, they kept the spirit up.”

SCORE BY HALVES

Chestnut Ridge     0 0 0 0 0 — 0

Ligonier Valley     0 0 0 0 0 —   1

(LV won on penalty kicks, 5-3)

Penalty kicks

LV – Huber

CR — Anderson

LV — Stouffer

LV — Christensen

CR — Amick

LV — Gongaware

CR — Frankenberry

LV — Hugo

Records: Chestnut Ridge (8-10)

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