Prep Soccer: Biglerville’s Ascension

Photo by Attorney Jay

When the Biglerville High soccer team secured its 2-1 win over Lancaster County Day in the semifinals of the District 3 Class A tournament this past Wednesday in Hershey, it slotted the Canners into the district final for the second straight year.

They will face Camp Hill, who’s trying to three-peat, on Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium, the same team they faced last year in a 2-1 overtime loss.

We’ll get to that soon enough, though.

Beginning the season, it was a safe pick to slide Biglerville into the class of District 3, as they had their prolific senior scorer back, one of the best holding and attacking midfielders in the YAIAA back and perhaps one of the most improved central defenders helming that sturdy back line.

Alex Lua (27 goals, 9 assists), Tyler Shaffer (18 goals, 12 assists) and Rodney Weigle were without question the building blocks that head coach Rob Moore relied on at times during the regular season.

But for the Canners to record a 17-5-0 record, it took a lot more than a few standouts. The diminutive Nate Long (6 goals, 3 assists) grew massively in his sophomore campaign, as did defender Brady Griest and Corbin Taylor.

Bryce Showers moved into the midfield for a large portion of the season, Arnol Tapia was always dangerous and Erik Angeles provided a solid defense from the left back position.

It’s unfortunate what happened to Ricky Pena — he was forced to vacate the season Sept. 16 after a mysterious ailment — because had he been healthy, the Canners would be stronger at this point. And that’s scary to think about.

Just check their goal margin. They’re at 88-31 on the year, a perfect 2-0 in overtime and 43-10 in the first half.

If you want to talk about consistency, this team has it. It’s the main reason why this team has reached the district playoffs for the past four seasons.

Moore has guided the Canners to a 59-26-2 line in the past four years, including a 15-4-0 record in 2006 (YAIAA III champions at 10-0-0). Biglerville has gobbled up two outright York-Adams Division III champions in that time and a share of one in 2008.

It wasn’t until last year, though, when the Canners finally got back to the district final for the first time since 2003.

Largely, it was because the Canners were finally at their peak, playing at an elite level that wasn’t as defined in the early part of the season.

One of the reason’s was Lua, who chased a dream before the season even started. His tryout with Atlas FC in Mexico didn’t work out, and Lua had to head home — and back to reality.

Moore said early in 2008 that Lua was still discouraged in the disappointment at the early part of the season, playing a somewhat more self-involved soccer that wasn’t typical of how the Canners played.

By midway through the season, there was evidence. The Canners were lurking in mediocrity, as evidence by their 6-7-1 record.

But it was at that point, it seems, when Biglerville — and Lua — finally kicked into gear. It went undefeated in its next five matches, outscoring opponents 17-3 in that span before a loss to eventual Class AA champs Susquehannock broke the run with a 4-0 win.

Lua finished the season with 12 goals and 3 assists — somewhat down from his 17 goal, 3 assist performance in 2007 — but the last third of the season was pivotal for him.

He was a dangerous player again.

And it wasn’t only him.

Lua, Shaffer and Weigle all emerged into their senior campaigns as leaders, which was something the Canners needed early in 2009.

Weigle’s play hasn’t always been heralded, but after a 6-1 win over Upper Dauphin in the quarterfinals of districts, Moore said he was a key figure in the maturation of Griest and Angeles. For a central back, often times the general on the field, leadership is a requirement. Moore’s words shed light on the exact ability of Weigle.

The same can be said about Shaffer, although his play often is defined easily on the stat sheet.

How he directs the flow of the game, though, is all in the eye of viewer.

His distribution has been a big reason why the Canners have been playing so well lately.

With the win over Lancaster Country Day, the Canners secured a berth into the PIAA Championships for the second straight year.

After the Upper Dauphin match, I asked Shaffer whether the district championship was the most important goal at this point.

He deferred to the state tournament, saying while the district final would be great, the Canners broadened scope — aside from the game-by-game focus — is on the state playoffs, where they hope to make a divet in the Class A bracket.