Benton bows out against Moravian
BALLS MILLS — Benton has pulled off a number of surprises this year, but couldn't pull off the biggest one in the opening round of the Class A state tournament Monday night.
Going up against state powerhouse Moravian Academy, Benton gave itself and its fans some hope going into the half only to have those aspirations dashed quickly and kicked into next season with an 8-2 loss.
Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Tigers got the game to slow down on an indirect kick following a tripping call. Rather than let the setpiece take time, Dalton Koch took care of matters himself by catching Moravian's goalie Xavier Zumba by surprise. After the rather uneventful start to the game for the Tigers, their fans finally had something to cheer about — and they were heard for the rest of the half.
The Lions added another goal, but again with the Tigers being awarded the ball following a foul, Max Kocher drilled it from 40 yards out and past a sea of players from both teams to surprise Zumba again. It was Kocher's sixth goal of the playoffs.
With the deficit at two and the game still up for grabs going into the half, Benton hoped to build off the potential momentum swing.
"I was happy. We obviously gave up four goals but it showed that we can score on these guys too and prove that they're human enough that we can score," Benton coach Harry Schlichter said. "A two-goal lead is the worst lead in soccer as far as I'm concerned. If we get one coming out of halftime, we put the pressure on them."
That unfortunately didn't happen for Benton. Instead, the Lions scored two goals a minute apart in the second half's first 10 minutes, via Salmin Diakite and AJ Sasso.
The Lions, showing they were both the quicker and sure-footed team showed off some slick ball movement all game long. With space, they ran past the Tigers, and with pressure, they maneuvered their way with ball movement and passing that Benton struggled to keep up with. Pair the ball movement with great ball placement on hard kicks, and life just got hectic for goalie Tommy Zajac and the Tigers' defense.
Diakite was the biggest menace, seemingly being magnetized to the ball. He scored four goals, including the back-breaking first score of the second half to kill any potential of a comeback for the Tigers. Sasso and Selmin Eris were also seen around the ball all night, scoring a goal and assisting on another for the Lions.
"I was trying to be more physical with them, (in the second half)," Schlichter said. "Obviously, they're fast so we were trying to be more physical and challenge more balls out of the air so they didn't do whatever they wanted to do. ... They were just running guys forward and we were losing marks and with that, they were breaking us. That allowed them to put shots on goal and we paid for it."
The Lions' shots were well placed all evening, putting the ball out of the reach of a diving Zajac by placing it in the corner perfectly or over a leaping Zajac with top-shelf scores like that of Rowan Watson from the right sideline for the last goal of the game.
Despite the result, Benton knows it won't come up surprising anybody next year. It won the Cider Jug with a sweep of Millville and captured its first district championship in over three decades. It loses four seniors — Mid-Penn all-stars Landon Kester and Bryce Getz being the Tigers' biggest — but returns a strong core that includes all-state nominee Kocher and conference all-star Koch.
The Tigers have now sampled what the state's best has to offer running into the Lions — the defending champions.
"We're on top in our area, now are we going to stay there or let someone catch us?," Schlitcher said. "We are getting our top six back, we're losing a lot of defensive players but the offensive aspect shouldn't change. If anything, it should get better. ... We lost in the first round the last two years, and we got past Southern this year and got the 'ship this year."
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