LAKEVILLE | Marquette Catholic's remarkable boys soccer postseason run came to an end in the championship game of the Class A LaVille Regional on Saturday night.
Sixth-ranked Bethany Christian had too much offensive firepower and eliminated the Blazers 5-2 on a soggy pitch at Newton Park in Lakeville.
“They’re a very good team,” Marquette Catholic coach Matthew Fletcher said. “They definitely deserved to win the game, and they deserved to win this regional.
“We tried our hardest. We came up a little bit short, and some times that’s how it works out.”
Defending champion Bethany denied Marquette its first regional title.
“It’s great that we made it this far,” junior midfielder Jack Disser said. “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t keep going, but I’m proud of all of our guys this year.”
Trailing 2-0 early in the second half, Disser put the Blazers (16-4) on the board off a long free kick that nestled between the back line and the goalkeeper with 31:40 left in the game.
Disser’s goal came just a little more than a minute after Bethany (17-5) went up 2-0 on an unassisted goal by Andrew Snyder. Disser’s blast gave the Blazers a much-needed boost, but the momentum was short lived when Anderson scored again four minutes later for a 3-1 advantage.
“That was a backbreaker,” Fletcher said. “We had the momentum. If we could’ve held onto that for maybe five, seven minutes maybe it’s a different story. All credit goes to them. They kept their composure, slowed down the game and really worked our guys ragged.”
Anderson recorded a hat trick with a penalty kick with 28:40 left in the match before Josh Stoltzfus scored his second goal for a 5-1 lead with 19:57 remaining.
Patrick Cannon scored an unassisted goal, making a great move to beat the keeper for the final count with 15:52 left.
“I’m proud of everyone’s effort,” said Cannon, who finished the season with 42 goals. “No one gave up til the end. No one thought we’d get this far. We were the only ones who believed, and I’m really proud of that.”
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