A.J. Oakes, Nate Donohoe, and Declan Curran
Staff Writers
All season long the New Hope-Solebury Soccer team was referred to as the “underdogs.” The season was filled with its ups and downs but on Nov. 12, 2019, the Lions made history. The team pushed through all 80 minutes of fast-paced soccer and pulled off their season long goal to make it to the state final!
The boys knocked out the 22-0-1 Lewisburg Green Dragons with a final score of 2-1. Within the opening 20 minutes, Junior Davis Nagg put the Lions on top. As the boys entered the locker room they knew they were not going home without a fight, and that's what they did, they continued to push. Fighting through the bitter temperatures and tense moments, junior Justin Kruse added another tally onto the scoreboard with just under 20 minutes left to play.
With 3 minutes and 28 seconds left to play in the game, Lewisburg had a spur of energy and put one in the back of the net, but it was not enough to put them on top. This had the Lions and their fans’ hearts racing, the energy in that stadium was through the roof.
“This is still our game!” captain Caleb Herring shouted to energize the team and captain Ben Koeppen exhorted the players to “stay in this boys!” after Lewisburg appeared to come on strong.
Lewisburg kept pushing to get another ball in the net. As the final whistle blew, reality set in and the New Hope-Solebury Lions knew they were going to the state finals. The boys will either play Quaker Valley or Mercyhurst Prep. For the first time in seven years the Lions will be participating in a State Championship game. The game will be on Friday at 1 p.m. at Hershey Park Stadium. As Davis Nagg would always exclaim: “Road to States, baby!”
