Pleasant Valley boys soccer fall to Parkland in D11 quarterfinals

OREFIELD — The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s Mountain Division best met the Skyline Division best in a District 11 4A quarterfinal round matchup Tuesday at Parkland High School.

The battle of champions wasn’t close as Skyline champ Parkland flexed its muscles against Mountain champion Pleasant Valley.

The Trojans scored three first half goals to take a commanding lead, and kept possession throughout much of the contest, defeating the Bears 4-0.

“I thought we played well this season, for having a very difficult schedule,” said Pleasant Valley coach Chris Pachuta. “We played a bunch of good teams, and you always hope that it will benefit come playoff time, but sometimes it just wears on you.

“We played hard all year, and had a lot of bright spots. Winning the [Mountain] division was huge for us and our confidence.”

It didn’t take long for Parkland (21-1) to get onto the scoreboard.

After narrowly missing a couple of opportunities on net, it broke through in the 10th minute by an unexpected contributor.

After a Pleasant Valley foul, Parkland midfielder Justin Douglas whipped in a free-kick from about 40 yards out, and it met the waiting head of Trojans defender Garrett Ordway for the game’s opening goal.

Just under four minutes later, another floated ball into the 18-yard box found the head of a Parkland player.

Douglas, again, sent in a cross from the end line, and Dawson Berger beat a defender to the ball and found the back of the net for an early 2-0 lead.

“They’re big, strong and fast,” Pachuta said. “They have a lot of bodies that they can throw at you, and do a lot of good things on the field on both sides of the ball. They knock the ball around and they know what they’re doing. They find opportunities, and they score.”

It seemed like the motto ‘when it rains it pours’ came into play for the Bears later in the half.

Goalkeeper Chris Price jumped up to catch a cross, but dropped the ball, and it fell to the feet of Parkland midfielder Andrew Luchansky, who drilled a shot into the back of the net for the 3-0 lead just before halftime.

Trojans midfielder Josh Kiser added a fourth just under five minutes into the second half when he one-timed an effort on a low pass into the six-yard box by Berger.

Price, the sophomore goalie, made four saves on the night, before being subbed out of the game with 10 minutes to go.

CHANCES A PLENTY ... Parkland outshot Pleasant Valley 13-2 over the course of the game.

STILL PERFECT ... The Trojans are unbeaten against District 11 opponents on the season, with their only loss coming to South Kent High School in Connecticut.

STRONGER AS THEY GO ... Pleasant Valley (12-7-3) and Parkland met earlier this season, with the Trojans winning 3-1. This time around, more than a month later, it was a four-goal game, as Parkland extended its win streak to15 straight.