Harbor Creek executes game plan, knocks out WPIAL champion Deer Lakes

By: Jerin Steele
Tuesday, November 8, 2022 | 9:41 PM

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Harbor Creek came into a matchup with Deer Lakes with a plan to sit back and counter.

The Huskies were content to let the Lancers have the ball and grind it out defensively, even if it went all the way to penalties.

The plan worked, and when it got to penalties, the Huskies finished the job to score the upset over the WPIAL champs.

After a 1-1 tie through double overtime, Harbor Creek won 4-2 in penalties to earn a PIAA Class 2A first-round win Tuesday night at Deer Lakes.

“Two years ago, this team won three games and scored seven goals all season, so it’s been quite a turnaround,” Harbor Creek coach John Parente said. “It’s a good group of kids. They play for each other and want to win for each other. It’s been fun. I’m really happy for them.”

The Huskies (15-5-1) advanced to play Lancaster Catholic in the quarterfinals Saturday. The Lancers finished 20-3.

Harbor Creek, which was the District 10 runner-up, hit all four of its penalty shots, and keeper Ryan Humphreys made a stop on Ruger Beer to seal the win.

It was a disappointing end for a Deer Lakes team that won its second WPIAL title in three years last Thursday and controlled the possession for the majority of Tuesday’s match.

“I thought that as a team tonight, we did everything we could,” Lancers coach Aaron Smith said. “The possession percentage for us was off the scale. Their goal was to come in and defend. You have to give them credit for their gameplan tonight. They were fine with it going to penalties, and we did not want it to go to PKs.”

Harbor Creek sat deep with 10 players in front of the ball for the majority of the match, content to defend and occasionally counter to their speedy forward Brandon Konieczki.

That recipe eventually led to the opening goal halfway through the first half.

Konieczki took a long pass and used his speed to separate himself from the defense before firing a shot into the net.

“We were sort of content to give them 40-yard shots,” Parente said. “They have a kid or two that can hit them, so that made us nervous, but the goal was to keep them in front of us. Don’t lunge. Don’t stick your foot in. Just keep them in front of you. We also were able to create chances in space. I think we did a good job with that.”

The Lancers continued to press forward, and Michael Butler finally broke through with 16:55 remaining in the second half for the tying goal.

Butler found a bouncing ball in the box and put a shot home with his left foot while sliding down between two defenders.

Before the tying goal, Nick Braun made a pair of saves from just outside the 6-yard box to keep the Lancers within one. Braun made six saves, including several from close range.

Humphreys was outstanding in net for Harbor Creek, making 17 saves.

“I was taking a couple shots on him in warmups, and I hit one upper 90 that looked like it was going in, and I usually apologize when I score, but he dove and grabbed that one,” Parente said. “From that moment on, I knew he was going to be on tonight. He was really good.”

Deer Lakes graduates seven seniors. They were a part of the Lancers’ first WPIAL boys soccer championship team and leave as two-time champs.

“We’re losing a terrific group of seniors that showed the younger guys how it’s supposed to be done and how it’s supposed to look to keep the tradition going,” Smith said. “We’re losing some heavy hitters that we’re going to miss, and we didn’t want it to end tonight, but there’s going to be a nice future here at Deer Lakes.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Deer Lakes