By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
TREDYFFRIN – It was, just about, the most difficult first round postseason opponent imaginable. Especially for a top-seeded boys’ soccer outfit like Conestoga, having to tangle with a solid Central League opponent like Haverford in it’s first action of the District 1 4A Playoffs is especially dangerous.
The Pioneers never trailed on Thursday afternoon at Teamer Field, but the Fords’ staged a late rally that wound up pushing ’Stoga to the 80-minute limit. The 3-2 final may have been a little too close for comfort, but Pioneers’ head coach Dave Zimmerman was all smiles afterwards.
“Any win in the playoffs is good. I am thrilled to be moving on,” he said. “Our mantra is ‘win and advance,’ taking a page out of Jim Valvano’s playbook (at North Carolina State).
“It is all that matters.”
Historically, during Zimmeman’s 23-season reign at the helm, Conestoga has had more trouble capturing district titles (four) than state crowns (five). And despite a 16-1 overall record and another Central League title, the Pioneers have had to replace 17 graduated seniors from the 2023 squad that went undefeated and won the program’s sixth PIAA championship.
“The first (postseason) game is always tricky,” Zimmerman pointed out. “We’ve had 10 days off and there is a lot of pressure being the No. 1 seed. The expectation is that you are going to win. So I give (Haverford) credit.”
With a first-round bye, Conestoga advances to round three and will host the No. 9 Council Rock North/No. 9 Phoenixville winner on Saturday. Seeded 17th, Haverford’s season ends with a 10-7-3 record.
“We took them to double overtime earlier this season,” Fords’ head coach Mike Klemens said. “We know about (Conestoga’s) weaknesses and strengths and we tried to apply it to today’s game.
“There is now parity in the Central League. Conestoga used to rule this league, but now school’s like Haverford are going toe-to-toe with them.”
Seemingly cruising with a late 2-0 lead, the Pioneers surrendered two goals in the final 6:53 of regulation. It was especially noteworthy as ’Stoga entered the clash having allowed just seven goals during the entire regular season, including the 1-0 double overtime win on Sept. 5th against the Fords.
“The last 10 minutes we kind of switched off mentally and (Haverford) scored and that game was back on. We can’t be doing that anymore,” said sophomore forward Dan Poltarus.
“Credit (Haverford) for not giving up,” Zimmerman added. “They kept fighting. I don’t know if we can make those kinds of mistakes against even better teams, and I don’t want that to sound like an insult to Haverford.”
The comeback started when a free kick led to a scramble in the goal mouth that wound up in the net courtesy of the Fords’ senior Tristan Hevener to make it 2-1. A little over two minutes later, however, a shot by Conestoga senior forward Ian Navarro found the mark, which wound up being huge because Hevener added his second in similar fashion to the first with 2:00 on the clock.
Neither side threatened the rest of the way.
“It was tough, but it also shows the attitude and mindset of this team,” Klemens said. “Coming from 2-0 down in the final minutes to make it 3-2 shows the resiliency and mentality of our program.
“For our guys who are returning next season, the message is that we are not satisfied with this. We are going to let this fester for a year, learn from it and try to build on it.”
The first half was also quite balanced battle, with the only difference coming in the opening 71 seconds. On ’Stoga’s first corner kick, senior Cole Frederick’s pass was headed in by Poltarus before some of the fans had a chance to get settled.
“I remember the ball being played over me, but it eventually got back to me and I headed it in,” Poltarus recalled. “It helped settle our nerves down.
“We practice corners a lot, and we stress playing on the wings so we can get set pieces like that.”
Poltarus nearly added to the lead early in the second half, but his blast was tipped by Haverford keeper Jacob Kantawala and it bounced off the crossbar. With 21:03 to go, Poltarus did make it 2-0 by rebounding another shot off the crossbar and in to make it 2-0.
“I was just at the right place at the right time. The shot hit off the crossbar and it fell to me for an open goal,” Poltarus said.
“Daniel largely sat the bench last season, but we knew he was going to be really good,” Zimmerman added. “He’s first-team all-league as a sophomore, which is very difficult to do. He is super talented and probably our best possession player.”
The Pioneers had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks, but the shot on goal numbers were eight for each side.
“The first time against (Haverford) was a very tough game and we were very fortunate to get out of there with a win,” Zimmerman said.
“At least half of our goals this season have been off set pieces. We talk about playing it to the wings and try to generate a set piece. And this season we’ve been very good on corner kicks, so to get that early one like that, you have to love it.”
Conestoga 3, Haverford 2
Haverford 0 2 — 2
Conestoga 1 2 — 3
Haverford goals: Hevener 2.
Conestoga goals: Poltarus 2, Navarro.
Goalie saves: Kantawala (H) 5; Garcia (C) 6.
