By Todd Stanford
HUGHESVILLE -- Once the second overtime of Tuesday's game was complete, Lewisburg and Loyalsock had played soccer against each other for 370 minutes this season.
And they still weren't done.
Tuesday's PIAA Class AA semifinal at Raymond H. Perritt Stadium was tied at 1 after 110 minutes of soccer, necessitating penalty kicks. The Lancers won the shootout 3-2, advancing to the state championship game for the first time in program history.
"It's a lottery," Green Dragons coach Jose Vega said of shootouts. "If you pick the right numbers you win. We didn't pick the right numbers."
The state semifinal was the fourth meeting between the two schools this year, and they were 1-1-1 against each other coming in. Lewisburg won 3-1 in the district semifinals two weeks ago on the same field.
Loyalsock's victory marked the second straight year that the District 4 champion lost in the state semis to the D-4 third-place team. Last year, Montoursville topped Loyalsock on the way to a state title.
Now the Lancers (20-4-1) -- who lost their first three games of the year -- will meet District 7 champ Springdale on Saturday at HersheyPark Stadium for the crown; kickoff is set for noon.
"Loyalsock is a terrific program," Vega said. "We're going to root for them and wish them luck. We'd rather be in Hershey, but at least someone from District 4 is going."
Marlee Hibbs, Meredith Waters and Cassaundra Soars -- who scored the game's first goal in the 14th minute -- made the first Loyalsock penalty kicks. Jade Kerstetter and Jenny Byerly were the first two Lewisburg (21-3-1) players in the shootout, and they too made their shots.
But Lancers freshman keeper Amanda Daneker stopped Brittany Reber's shot, and Soars then scored to put the Lancers up 3-2. The Green Dragons' Emily Cole hit the crossbar on her shot, but Loyalsock's Paige Klingerman sent her shot over the crossbar when she had a chance to clinch it.
The drama ended on the next kick, as Daneker guessed correctly and dived to stop Lauren Ketchem's shot.
"(Daneker) is a gamer," said Lancers coach Kyle Bidelspacher, whose team beat Montoursville in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks. "She's so composed; she's a battler."
Loyalsock was up 1-0 before Kalyn Fisher equalized in the 46th minute off a Kerstetter corner kick. Byerly got the ball in the box and shot it; Daneker deflected it right to Fisher, who knocked it straight up and under the crossbar to level the match.
The Green Dragons kept the pressure on throughout, ultimately outshooting the Lancers 19-4 and gaining twice as many corner kicks (6-3). Lewisburg nearly tied it in the 45th minute when Emily Cole's shot hit the right post.
Later in the second half, Cole had the ball in the box, but Klingerman made a perfect tackle before Cole could get a shot off.
"We just couldn't punch it in," Vega said. "It wasn't to be."
Klingerman's play was representative of a good night for Loyalsock's back line. Gina DiFrancesco headed an Emily Cole pass away that was meant for Byerly in the sixth minute. Just three minutes later, Kim Donovan cleared a deflected shot before Kalyn Fisher could get to the rebound.
Lewisburg had a chance at another deflection in the 20th minute before Erin Good cleared it.
"We have all seniors back there," Bidelspacher said of his back line. "We stuck together and we didn't break."
