Although Chris Clark figured one finish might be just enough to harvest yet another favorable result and propel his Delaware Valley side another round deeper, the bigger question was if his club could get one.
And, would the stingy Warriors be able to find the back of the net against a quality Cumberland Valley outfit equally intent on wrapping its collective mitts around a meaningful win?
Yes ... and yes.
Clark’s half-volley with 15:59 gone in the second half — off a Jason Clader restart that CV goalkeeper Ben Steele tried to punch out of danger — was the only goal Delaware Valley needed to derail Matt Billman’s frustrated Eagles 1-0 Saturday at Salisbury Twp. High School.
Troy Smith, who finished with six saves, backstopped Aaron Stark’s Warriors (18-1-0) into Tuesday night’s PIAA Class AAA semifinals opposite Upper St. Clair. Steele wound up with three stops for CV (22-4-0), which owned a 13-5 advantage in shots over the District 2-AAA champs.
The Eagles also watched Harry Phillips pop the right post late in the first half with a swerving strike that might have given them a 1-0 lead at the break — and quite possibly could have led to much, much more as a tight, defense-minded game continued to play out. Then again, maybe not.
Phillips had another near-miss some 20 minutes earlier.
It was just one of those days for Billman’s hustling Eagles, who couldn’t find the back of the net against Smith and his backfield mates — Clader, Mario Maroquin, Tome Stojanovski and Tadhg Dowd. In fact, CV never really uncorked a shot that forced Smith to work all that hard.
Still ...
“To go as far as they did, win and accomplish championships, get us back to the [District 3-AAA] finals, get us deep in the state tournament, speaks volumes of their character and their maturity,” a highly disappointed Billman said. “But this is a difficult way to go out.”
Especially since the Eagles controlled play throughout the first half against a Delaware Valley club that made a concerted effort to get nine players behind the ball. CV, however, never could find that one score it needed to pull in front and separate from Stark’s Warriors.
Instead, the other guys did.
Still scoreless well into the second half, the Warriors capitalized when Steele tried to punch Clader’s restart out of the penalty area. Instead, the ball dropped to the turf near Clark’s feet. Given an opportunity to pivot and get just enough to chip it into the vacated net, the diminutive senior did just that.
They wouldn’t need another.
“All we needed was one,” Clark continued. “I have great faith in our defense. Our defense has played great this whole season. We knew if we got one, we’d be able to come up with the win.”
“It’s the biggest, it’s the biggest win of our school’s career,” said a gushing Stark, whose Warriors pitched their 16th shutout. “Obviously, this is the first time we’ve been to this point as a AAA team. “Obviously, this is the first time we’re going to be in the Final Four. I’m very excited.”
And to think it only took one.
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