Late goal moves Deer Lakes boys soccer into state semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 10, 2018 | 11:18 PM

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Deer Lakes is developing a flair for the dramatic in the state soccer playoffs.

A.J. Dorman scored the go-ahead goal with 3 minutes, 4 seconds remaining, and Deer Lakes kept its postseason run going with a 2-1 victory over Quaker Valley in a PIAA Class AA boys quarterfinal Saturday evening at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium.

The Lancers (20-1-1) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time in school history, where they will meet a familiar opponent — Section 2-AA rival Shady Side Academy — on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

“This is huge,” Dorman said. “This is the biggest thing any of our soccer teams have accomplished. The last time any of our Deer Lakes teams went to (state semifinals) was for softball in 2015. It’s huge for us: first soccer states team, and probably one of the best teams to go down in our school’s history.”

The Lancers overcame an inspired effort from defending PIAA champion Quaker Valley (19-5), which lost sophomore forward Weston Grant to a severe leg injury midway through the first half. The game was delayed for a half-hour as trainers tended to Grant and placed an air cast on his leg before an ambulance transported him from the stadium to the hospital.

“I thought we were an awesome group today,” Quaker Valley coach Andrew Marshall said. “I’m still proud of them. You can’t control the way the ball bounces.”

Dorman scored the winning goal for the second time in five days after notching a double-overtime goal in Deer Lakes’ first-round win over Fairview.

Saturday’s score was a testament of the value of putting the ball on net: His shot hit Quaker Valley keeper Dom Lagnese in the hands, but the ball squirted free and rolled over the goal line. The Lancers held off the Quakers (19-5) from there to earn the victory.

“It was like my last one,” Dorman said. “I saw the shot, and I honestly thought the goalie saved it. It was very lucky that it fell out of his hands. But I just saw the shot, I took it and hoped for the best.”

Michael Sullivan gave Deer Lakes the lead not even five minutes into the first half when his shot from 20 yards away eluded several players in a crowded box and found the back of the net.

“It was great to get some early momentum going,” Sullivan said. “Once we calmed down, because there’s always nerves coming into games … it was nice to settle in.”

Grant’s injury occurred midway through the first half on a collision along the sidelines in front of the Deer Lakes bench, and the delay became something like an extra-long halftime. When play resumed, Quaker Valley began to gain a possession advantage.

The Quakers’ tying goal came in the 14th minute of the second half, when David Lipton located the loose ball off a Franky Fernandez corner kick and put it into the net.

“We talked about adversity, and that was kind of the theme today,” Marshall said. “Of course we weren’t expecting anything like that, but (we said), ‘How would Westy want us to respond,’ and I thought the boys should be extremely proud of themselves for their response. I thought the game was ours, for sure.”

Deer Lakes and keeper Jesse Greyshock made sure that wasn’t the case, with the senior making a few crucial saves in the final 10 minutes of regulation before Dorman fired off the winner.

The Lancers have a chance for revenge against Shady Side Academy: The Indians defeated the Lancers, 1-0, in the WPIAL semifinals after Deer Lakes went 1-0-1 against them during the regular season.

“Not a big surprise there,” Deer Lakes coach Jordan Wiegand said of the matchup. “I was kind of expecting to play them again. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have them four times in one season.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Quaker Valley