DISTRICT 4 BOYS SOCCER: ATHENS HOLDS OFF SHIK, 1-0; ADVANCES TO CLASS 3A FINALS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2019 (18 PHOTOS) (2024-10-26)

Valley Sports Report
LOYALSOCK — Longtime Athens coach Jake Lezak laid out a simple objective to his team: get one goal and hold on, and the Wildcats did that in a 1-0 win over Shikellamy here Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the District 4, Class 3A boys soccer playoffs.

"Our biggest issue all season is no secret, we scored 25 goals the entire regular season, but we don't give up many," said Lezak.

The objective for us was to get one (goal), and hold them. And, we did that," added Lezak, who is in his 21st and final season. Athens will make its first trip to the District finals since 2019.

The Wildcats scored about 10 minutes into the game when John Driesbaugh shot caromed off the crossbar, and Chase Ingram drove the rebound past the keeper from the top of the box.

Driesbaugh was injured a little later in the half, and that put a hit on the Athens attack.

"It made it a little tougher for us to get pressure because that's what (Driesbaugh) does, he puts pressure on people, and he's an excellent defender," said Lezak. "For us to slide him forward and then to have him put that kind of pressure on defenders to be able to handle the ball makes it a lot nicer for us because we're able to put more pressure on and counter-attack quickly.

"We had them, it could have easily been 3- or 4-0 today at half, but the crossbar wasn't our friend today," added Lezak.

The second half was all about the Wildcat defense.

"I'm extremely proud of the players in the second half because we were a bit sloppy in the first half," said Lezak. "There were mis-kicks all over the place, and playing the ball across the middle — things we don't normally do.

"We talked about it at half ... the whole group knew they had one job in the second half — if we couldn't get the second goal to give ourselves a little more cushion, then we had to defend.

"And, when Matt (Driesbaugh) went down, we knew we had to defend more," noted Lezak.

"The guys did a really good job. It was a tall order for them to have to answer, but they did it," he added.

Shamokin had a 4-3 edge in shots-on-goal, and a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Sophomore Zach Fisher recorded four saves in net for the Wildcats.

With the PA blaring Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" in the background, Lezak added one thing, "We're not done yet."

Athens, now 9-7-3, will play the winner of the Selinsgrove / Jersey Shore semi-final match-up at a day, time, and site to be announced.

———————

PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.


Print Friendly Version