York to meet Pius X in first round at State Soccer

The York boys’ soccer season can be best described as a tale of two seasons.
After their loss to Lincoln Pius X on April 8 by the final count of 4-1 at the York Cornerstone Sports Complex, the Dukes were staring at a 3-6 record with several good teams still lurking on the horizon.
Making the state tournament in May was probably still a goal in the minds of the players, however finding some wins and getting things back on track had to take priority.
With hard work, belief in each other and a never-say-die attitude, everything fell in place and on Friday at 11 a.m. the Dukes and the Pius X Thunderbolts, the No. 1 team in Class B, will hook up at the Creighton Soccer Complex in a first round matchup at the Class B State Soccer Tournament.
York will take an 11-8 record into the first round game, which includes an 8-2 record over their final 10 games. The Dukes have won five in a row, and during the district tournament played in York, they avenged regular season losses to Hastings, Columbus Scotus and GINW on their road to earning their state tournament ticket. The Thunderbolts are a perfect 14-0 on the year and they are the No. 2 seed.
“This is what we worked for all season. We lost some close games early in the season that we know we could have won had things just gone our way, so that was always in the back of our minds,” commented York senior midfielder Josh Ivey. “I think the defense has always been there, and a few changes have seem to really make a difference. I think we are really confident since we beat Hastings and Scotus last week.”
The Dukes will be trying to defend one of the best offensive players in the state with Pius X’s Nathan Polak. The Thunderbolt senior will be taking his soccer talents to Drake University next season. The first time the two teams met, Polak was the catalyst to the Pius X offense.
Drawing the defensive assignment of the Drake recruit is York senior midfielder Adam Hamling.
“We know we are going to have to play good defense against them, because they can score a lot of goals in a hurry,” Hamling said. “It helps we played them earlier in the year, because we know what their speed is and know more about their footwork. It’s a tough assignment, but I know I have my job to do and the team has their job. They may come in thinking they are going to get an easy win over us, and hopefully we can use that against them.”
Head coach Rich Saxer said the Dukes will have to be more defensive minded, but the crafty old veteran indicated they had a few things up their sleeves for the “Bolts” offensively.
“Against anybody else we would probably just go out and play our game and have a decent shot, but we are going to have to pick our spots on offense when to attack,” Saxer explained. “We are going to be on defense a fair amount of the time, so we just have to play solid defense, try to create some turnovers and win the ball and give ourselves a chance.”
In the first meeting between the two teams the “Bolts” out shot the Dukes 12-6, with York getting one goal and nearly a second when the ball hit the crossbar and went over the goal. The Duke offense will have to be able to finish when the opportunity presents itself in order to have a chance of pulling off the upset.
“I think we have a lot of pressure on us, because we are not going to get that many chances,” stated York senior forward Dax Becker. “I think our defense can stop them, and we are going to have to rely on the defense setting up some scoring chances. I’ve had the dream from the start of the season we’d make it to the state tournament, and even though we had some tough times, we never lost focus of that.”
The Dukes know they have a large hill to climb, and the first big step comes Friday morning. Head coach Saxer knows they will have to get a few breaks and the ball will need to bounce their way a few times, but he feels that his team can compete and pull off a win.
“Before we played them the first time I was in awe of them when I saw them and the way they beat Omaha Skutt bad,” he said. “I would say they nearly looked invincible. They don’t have any weaknesses, but I think with some offensive strategy we can score on them. We have to find a way to stay in the game and hang with them as long as we can. If the score is even we will stay with the game plan, if we are down a goal then we may have to take some chances on offense towards the end of the game. This is not a team you want to take chances with early. Our guys are a confident bunch and they believe they can win.”
A York win would set up a 6:00 p.m. battle Saturday night with the winner of the Lincoln Lutheran and Waverly winner at the Creighton Soccer Complex.