KC boys soccer wins 3rd straight D9 title
BROCKWAY — Luke Yasika surrendered a goal just over two minutes into Wednesday night’s District 9 Class 1A boys soccer championship game against Elk County Catholic.
Karns City’s junior later said he was confident the Crusaders would not score another.
He was right and his play had much to do with his prediction becoming reality.
Yasika made eight saves, all in the second half as ECC tried desperately to pull even with the Gremlins, who had taken a 2-1 lead.
Each shot was either off the mark or gobbled up by Yasika and KC’s defense and the Gremlins celebrated a third straight district title at Frank Varischetti Field.
The heat was turned up on Yasika, especially in the final 12 minutes, when he made six of his saves.
“It was like rapid fire,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘When is this going to be over?’”
Fittingly, it concluded with one final stop as Yasika corralled Nick Cherry’s shot from 40 yards as time expired.
“For much of the game, Luke wasn’t asked to do much, but he stepped up when we needed him,” said KC coach Justin Ryan.
The goalie made a leaping save on a shot from Anthony Messineo in the 73rd minute.
Five minutes later, the ball got behind Yasika and was headed for the net, but Braden Slater was there to keep it from becoming a goal.
“I’d like to take the credit, but it was a team effort,” Yasika said. “Our defense and offense are incredible.”
ECC’s season ends with a record of 15-6.
“I’m proud of our boys, they stuck with it through the whole game,” said ECC coach Kelli Brannock. “It’s unfortunate we ended up on the wrong end tonight.”
Messineo gave the Crusaders the early lead on a header in the third minute of play.
“That wasn’t quite the start we wanted, should have played things a little tighter there, but we weren’t quick enough to react,” Ryan said. “But we’re not a team that relies on one goal scorer. We have a lot of guys who can find the net and I knew we’d get chances and score on a few of them.”
It was Hobie Bartoe burying KC’s first goal in the 30th minute after ECC goalie Ryan Jovenitti made contact with, but could not control a centering pass from Slater.
The Gremlins (17-3) pulled ahead when Myles McCully booted a corner kick from the left of ECC’s net in the 58th minute. Jovenitti, who made seven saves, dropped to his knees to make a play on the ball after it cleared a number of players for both teams. The shot hit him in the right shoulder and landed in the back of the net.
Karns City has now won eight District 9 titles overall in boys soccer. The Gremlins begin play in the state playoffs next week.
