Lady Raiders stun Montrose, Eagles fly to semis

10/29/25

By Corey Gesford
Throw the records out. It’s a new season and everyone is 0-0. It’s tough to beat a team three
times. Survive and advance. All the old adages were alive the first week of the District II soccer playoffs, which offered plenty of thrills, surprises and heartbreak.
Girls’ Soccer playoffs
Natalie Beers picked the perfect time to score her first goal of the year. Beers took a shot and found the back of the net for the game’s only goal as fourth-seeded Blue Ridge upset top-seeded Montrose in the District II Class A girls’ soccer playoffs. Goalkeeper Melody Bloomer preserved the shutout with 19 saves. Blue Ridge travels to Holy Redeemer today for the District II Class A Championship at 3:30pm, which will be held at the Forty Fort Field Complex.
The Lady Raiders who revived the program from an 11-season hiatus earned their trip to the
County Seat with a 3-1 quarterfinal win over Dunmore. Myra Woosman scored two goals in the second half and assisted on another as Blue Ridge rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Hailey Champang had the other goal and Paige Orner had an assist.
Montrose opened with a 2-0 win over Wyoming Seminary to advance to the semifinal. No
statistical information was provided. Dallas Ely’s Lady Meteors finish with a 12-4 record.
Forest City was unable to find the back of the net in 110 minutes of play and lost a heartbreaker
to second-seeded Holy Cross 1-0 on penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Cora Seamans had six saves for the Lady Foresters who finished the season at 5-9-1 for coach Tyler Clift.
Boys’ Soccer playoffs
Blake Norton scored four goals in the second half and top seeded Mountain View avoided the
upset from eighth-seeded Gregory the Great 4-2. Mountain View had defeated the Highlanders twice during the regular season, but neither team scored the first 43 minutes, although the Eagles had several good opportunities. Then came a 109-second flurry of goals. The Highlanders, inspired by their chanting and singing student section, struck first with a goal
at the 43:13 mark. 50 seconds later Norton scored off an assist from Ben Millard.
The relief was short-lived as Gregory the Great took advantage of an Eagle defensive
miscommunication and scored 59 seconds later to take their final lead. Another stalemate ensued for eight minutes, but then after the Highlanders escaped without a goal thanks to the hustle of one of its defenders after the ball eluded the goalkeeper in a scramble. But after the bouncing ball in front of the goal was kicked away, a Highlander defender pushed a Mountain View player in the scramble in the box.
Norton sent the penalty kick sizzling past the diving goalkeeper to knot the game 2-2.
Eleven minutes later, Norton eluded the Highlander defense and found the back of the net once
again with the go-ahead goal. With just under six minutes remaining Mountain View’s Josh Tigue sent the ball ahead past midfield and Norton took the ball nearly to the baseline before delivering a hard shot from just under 180 degrees for an insurance goal.
Eagle goalkeeper Nick Beach recorded four saves for the Eagles who hosted fifth-seeded Old
Forge yesterday in the District II semifinal. Montrose, Elk Lake, and Blue Ridge found their seasons come to an end in their opening round matches.

Wyoming Seminary’s speed and strength was too much for the young Elk Lake squad as the Blue Knights won easily 5-0 in the quarterfinals of the District II Class A tournament. Warrior goalkeeper Gage Shupp recorded 33 saves as Seminary dominated the number of shots. Coach Jamie Orlandini’s Warrior team finishes the season with a 6-10-2 record. Blue Ridge traveled to Schautz Stadium in Dunmore to take on third-seeded Holy Cross in another Class A quarterfinal.
Holy Cross scored the first two goals and neither team could find the back of the net in the
second half as the Crusaders defeated the Raiders 2-1. Nolan Gnade scored the lone Raider goal a minute before halftime. Goalkeeper Matt Carey had 10 saves for Blue Ridge who finished the season at 9-10 for coach Eric Stallings. In the Class 2A first-round game, the ninth-seeded Montrose took Scranton Prep to overtime before bowing 4-3.
Twice the Meteors bounced back from deficits with Adam Sorenson scoring off a Chase Brander
assist in the first half to knot the game at 1-1. After Prep took a 2-1 lead early in the second half,
Jude Adams was assisted by Daniel Kadlecik for the goal at the 52:29 mark.
Sorenson took a feed from Caden Bergman for his second goal with just over seven minutes
remaining in regulation to lead 3-2. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers sent the game to overtime with 2:38 remaining. Meteor goalkeeper Logan Ellsworth had 11 saves as Montrose was outshot 18-8. The Collin Cowles-led Meteors finish the season 6-7-3.