New Hope-Solebury wins first title

HERSHEY, Pa. - The entire soccer match could be easily understood just by watching the first 15 seconds.

New Hope-Solebury forward Tim Vaughan received a pass in stride and dribbled forward with ease and calmness, as if still going through pregame warm-ups. From 15 yards out, Vaughan fired an uncontested shot at the goal, forcing Mercyhurst Prep's 5-foot-6 goalkeeper, Jordan Felice, to make a diving save.

Most of the rest of the PIAA Class A state championship game followed a similar pattern.

New Hope-Solebury overpowered Mercyhurst Prep en route to a 2-1 win and the program's first state title.

"It's surreal. It's such a great feeling," said Vaughan, who eventually put his team up by 2-0 with another open shot from just in front of the net in the 29th minute. "We've been close before, but to finally get it this year and win it all, it feels so amazing."

Robert Stephens' goal in the 12th minute gave the Lions (17-5-3) an early lead.

Stephens sent a bending shot from 35 yards out into the upper left corner of the net.

"That was the best goal of my life," Stephens said. "I heard [coach Evren Asral] yell 'Hit it,' and I hit it."

Playing against a short goalkeeper, Stephens said, the team came in with a strategy to aim high.

"That was the game plan," Stephens said. "We were looking at him and saw that he was short. So I was aiming top left, and I hit top left."

After being overpowered in the first half, Mercyhurst (21-2-1) scored on its first shot on goal of the game, in the 41st minute.

Lions goalkeeper Carter Robinson came out of the goal to challenge Mercyhurst's Max Weber. Robinson managed to get a piece of Weber's shot, slowing its momentum. But the ball got behind him and rolled slowly into the net before Robinson could stop it.

The goal was the first allowed by New Hope-Solebury in seven postseason games.

Before the game, Asral stressed how important it would be for the team to be able to bounce back if allowed a goal.

After Mercyhurst's score, New Hope was quick to take back control of the game, forcing Felice to make several strong saves.

"The attitude was that [the goal] was a little bit of a wake-up call," Asral said. "They were a good team, and they got their goal. But we didn't want to set a negative tone after that.

"So it didn't really trip us up too much. If anything, it kind of sparked us a little bit."

Though Mercyhurst had flashes late in the second half in which it looked threatening, the game was never out of New Hope's hands.

Robinson made only one save in the game, and that came late.

"He was more active on through balls and stopping breakaways," Asral said. "I think Carter did a different sort of job. It wasn't necessarily about shot-stopping, but about organizing and breaking up through balls."

The win came in New Hope-Solebury's second trip to the state finals. The Lions lost, 3-1, to Seton-La Salle in 2006.

"It's unbelievable. That's the only way to describe it," Asral said. "We were here not too long ago and didn't get it done. So it feels good to walk away under a different set of circumstances."

New Hope-Solebury 2 0 – 2

Mercyhurst Prep 0 1 – 1

Goals: NHS–Robert Stephens, Tim Vaughan; MP–Max Weber.

Saves: NHS–Carter Robinson 1; MP–Jordan Felice 7.