Hardly needing the reminder that arrived a minute or two earlier — just before East Pennsboro bounced confidently out of its final huddle — Brendan Schneiderman fully understood the circumstances when the ball shot toward him in a tie game drifting deeper into overtime.
A single rip would win it.
So, with that thought thumping loudly in every part of his mind and merely hoping to give the Panthers an opportunity to bounce home with yet another victory stowed away, the sophomore defender charged forward, firmly planted his left foot and unleashed his right leg.
One pure yet powerful strike later — Schneiderman unloaded from about 40 yards out — the ball seared into the top left corner of the net and the Panthers were celebrating the timely, game-winning blow that propelled Randy Rich’s scrappy outfit to yet another satisfying result.
East Penn 2, Northern 1.
Freshman Noah Campomizzi also buried a second-half rip as Rich’s youthful Panthers (6-3, 6-0) rallied for a Saturday morning victory at breezy East Pennsboro Middle School that kept them perched atop the Mid-Penn Capital Division standings after the first of two tours through the seven-team circuit.
Ben Hammen’s finish with 23:35 remaining in the second half — set up by a Seth Weaver through ball — had staked Mike Russ’ Polar Bears (3-5, 2-3) to a 1-0 advantage they couldn’t maintain.
Not with the likes of Campomizzi and Schneiderman uncorking accurately placed — and superbly paced — projectiles from impressive distances that whistled into the back of the net.
“I saw a ball coming out and I knew the game was on the line, so I took a shot and hoped for the best,” said Schneiderman, who scored just 34 seconds into the later OT segment. “And it went in.”
With emphasis.
“At first I thought it was going over,” Schneiderman added. “And then I saw it go close to the goal. The keeper [Brendan Heasley] jumped and I thought he was going to save it.
“But it just reached the back of the net.”
And just like that, a tight, competitive game with lots of possession changes and a number of legitimate scoring opportunities, the game was over.
“What was that? A 40-yard shot,” Russ wondered. “From a defender. What are you gonna do? ... It was upper 90, it was brutal. Well, it was beautiful from their perspective.”
Sure was.
“I’m thinking it was a shot because it looked like a shot,” a grinning Rich said. “He has very good technique and he came through. He saw an opening and he just hit it.”
While both sides had opportunities throughout — Northern’s Cam Hoffman was in on East Penn keeper Kyle Miller (2 saves) late in the first half, but fired wide of the right post — nothing materialized until the Panthers’ Erik Etter played a ball back toward his defensive backfield.
Unfortunately for Etter and East Penn, the ball skipped right to Weaver and promptly initiated a Northern counter that Hammen capped with a composed finish. Hammen had another opportunity several minutes later, but Miller punched away that effort to keep the Panthers upright and kicking.
In fact, the Panthers nearly equalized moments later when a corner from the right flag sailed tantalizingly toward the left edge of the six. Stopper Freddie Lewis cleanly struck a headball that seemed destined to elude Heasley (5 saves), but Kyle Doll kept Northern in front with a slick clearance.
“Great save,” Russ said. “Restarts are our nemesis. That’s because we’re just not going after it with a vengeance, but I think that’ll come, too. I think we’re growing in who we are every game.”
Yet, when East Penn lined up for another corner from the right flag and the house-sized Lewis went airborne to go get it, another headball effort was cleared. Right to Campomizzi.
Game tied.
Just 9:02 to go.
“When Fred Lewis steps up his game, he’s one of the hardest guys to cover in our division,” Rich said. “He’s strong. He’s big. He’s fast. He can control the ball. He’s great in the air, tremendous.
“He’s probably one of the best headers I’ve coached in my career. He’s really got great timing and you need to have that and great technique. Put those two together and he just does a great job.”
Plus, Lewis won a bunch of tackles.
Regardless, once Campomizzi authored the equalizer, neither side was able to find a game-winner — until the ball skipped out to Schneiderman and the youngster unloaded.
Contest over.
First place still belonged to the Panthers.
“Coach told us it was going to be a big game coming into it,” Schneiderman said.
“We had a good practice [Friday] and when we warmed up, we got our mental toughness going and we pushed through and came out with the victory.”
“I’ll take it,” Rich added. “It was a well-played game on both ends, but we’ll take it.”
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