The D11 2A Mens Soccer Champion Notre Dame Crusaders! @D11Sports pic.twitter.com/xE3pbLUGwz
— Jonathan Macsay (@MacsayJonathan) November 5, 2020
The Notre Dame Green Pond Crusaders hosted the Pine Grove Cardinals in the District 11 2A Boys Soccer Championship Game at Lehighton High School Stadium on Wednesday night. Both teams came into the matchup having previously won two district games. The top seeded Crusaders had victories of 3-1 over Salisbury and 2-1 over Allentown Central Catholic.
The sixth seeded Cardinals had wins over Tamaqua by a score of 3-2 in penalty kicks and Jim Thorpe 2-1. The scoring began early for the Cardinals when Derrick Boyer headed it in just two minutes and 15 seconds into the contest. The Crusaders would control play for much of the remaining time of the first half, but were unable to get on the board. At halftime, Pine Grove led 1-0 and felt good about their chances of becoming district champs.
However, in the second half, Notre Dame began to cash in the opportunities that they missed in the first. Five minutes into the second half, Francesco D’Avella tied it all up at one goal a piece. Not even ten minutes later, Landon Schaeffer put the Crusaders up for good at 2-1. Matthew Benolken added an insurance goal to make the final score of the contest, a 3-1 Notre Dame victory. Pine Grove had a tremendous season and finished in second place. The Crusaders are District 11 2A Champions and will look to defend their title next season.
