Sports

To say that the Southmoreland boys soccer team was ready to compete right from the opening whistle of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game against Keystone Oaks would be a drastic understatement.

The Scotties needed just 19 seconds to get the opening goal. Four minutes later, they had an insurance goal on their way to a 2-0 victory over the Golden Eagles at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Andrew Sikora and Ryan Byers scored the first-half goals.

"It was great, just phenomenal," Southmoreland coach Marvin Stoner said.

With the victory, the Scotties moved on to the quarterfinals Saturday against top-seeded Mars. A time and location for the game have yet to be determined.

The win over Keystone Oaks was Southmoreland's third victory in a row and extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1).

Southmoreland has compiled an overall record of 14-3-1, with one of those losses being a 4-0 defeat in the season opener against Mars.

But despite losing early in the season to their upcoming playoff opponent, Stoner and the Scotties are confident heading into Saturday's game.

"We're a changed team from when we played them before," Stoner said. "I think we have a great chance."

Stoner was brimming with confidence, especially after seeing his team bolt to an early lead and then completely shut down the Keystone Oaks' attack.

"We wanted to be good right from the start," Stoner said. "We wanted to come out hard and play strong."

Moments after the game began, Keystone Oaks (13-3-2) turned the ball over at midfield and the play moved toward the Keystone Oaks goal. Golden Eagles keeper Patrick Diven quickly came out to try to play the ball. However, Sikora was able to beat Diven to the ball and lifted a shot over the fallen goalkeeper. The ball rolled 20 yards into the vacant net for a Southmoreland goal.

Then four minutes later, Byers raced down the right side and beat several defenders before tucking a shot past Diven just inside the goal post to give the Scotties a two-goal edge.

"Those goals gave us confidence, and confidence is what we needed," Stoner said.

With a two-goal lead, the Scotties could afford to concentrate on defense.

Keystone Oaks carried the majority of the play the rest of the game, but the Golden Eagles couldn't generate many quality scoring chances. Southmoreland neutralized senior midfielder Anthony Virgara, Keystone Oaks' top scoring threat.

"He is an outstanding player," Stoner said. "In the second half, we just made sure we had the defenders to watch him."

Keystone Oaks managed five shots on goal, but Southmoreland keeper Jeremy Hixson was in perfect position on every one of them. His toughest save came late in the first half when he was able to get his fingers on a high shot and deflect it over the goal. Then in the second half, he thwarted a direct kick by Virgara as Keystone Oaks tried desperately to get back in the game.

It was Hixson's third consecutive shutout and the fifth for Southmoreland this season.

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