FRANKLIN — Cathedral Prep’s boys soccer team did more than advance to the PIAA’s Class 2A final on Tuesday.
The Ramblers, thanks to their 4-3 win against Avonworth, guaranteed Saturday will be a signature day in Erie County’s athletic history. They’ll be one of its three teams that vies for a state championship.
Each also will wear some variation of orange-and-black uniforms.
Fans of the Ramblers will caravan to Mechanicsburg and cheer on not one, but two of the programs. Prep’s girls soccer team blanked Quaker Valley 1-0 in their 2A semifinal that preceded the boys match at Franklin Stadium.
The Ramblers almost had a third team qualify for Saturday’s state title action on Cumberland Valley High School’s campus. However, Corry’s girls volleyball team prevented that trifecta when the Beavers rallied for Tuesday’s five-set victory over Prep in their PIAA 2A semifinal at McDowell.
The Ramblers’ victory vs. Avonworth was unusual not just because seven-goal matches are infrequent so late into state brackets.
Prep (20-2-1) scored 34 seconds after the opening whistle when Ethan Cain tapped a shot past Antelopes goalkeeper Alex Rowe.
The teams were 2-all in the second half when each side scored in unusual fashion.
Avonworth (19-4-2) benefitted from an own goal when a throw-in chance glanced off Prep goalie A.J. Sirianni. However, the second seeds from District 7 barely enjoyed their advantage because Max Johnson converted a penalty kick against Rowe less than two minutes later.
Brandon Lin, off a scrum in the Antelopes’ goalie box, was credited with the Ramblers’ game-winning goal with 16:28 left in regulation.
Prep, who won the state’s 2023 Class 3A tournament, now has the chance to become District 10’s first back-to-back PIAA titlist for boys soccer.
“Everybody thought we’d be down because of last year,” coach Sam Tojaga said. “I’d heard so many people say, ‘Prep’s going to be down because (of graduation). They don’t have anybody.’ But these guys just kept working and working.
“I’ve never had a team so resilient and so coachable. I’m so proud of them.”
Olivia Dixon is among Prep’s students who are scheduled to sign NCAA letters of intent during Wednesday’s ceremony at the Hagerty Family Events Center. That’s when the senior will officially join the Gannon University women’s soccer team for its 2025 season.
Dixon also will do so less than 24 hours after she accounted for the lone goal in Tuesday’s opening semifinal. Her header off a corner kick by C.C. Cacchione eluded Quaker Valley goalie Ava Hajok with 25:43 left in the second half.
“We’ve scored off a lot of corner kicks this year,” Dixon said. “C.C. sent a great ball in and I was able to execute the rest.”
Goalie Jordan Senz preserved Prep’s shutout when she denied a burst of late shots from the Quakers (19-3-2), which included three via corner kicks in roughly 90 seconds.
“We start a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Ramblers coach Peter Wagner said, “so I think there was a lot of nervous energy before (the match). I didn’t really see it, but I knew it was there because I was once in their shoes.
“It took them a while to get going, but we kept preaching if they worked as hard as they could that good things would happen.”
Saturday will mark the first time the Ramblers (20-2-1) are represented in a PIAA girls soccer final since the
Catholic Diocese of Erie closed Villa Maria Academy. The former Victors won the state’s 2015 2A championship match and lost the 2019 final.
Prep will need to embrace being underdogs for their respective finals. Each will have Northwestern Lehigh playes as their opponents.
Not only are each from the same New Tripoli campus, but also undefeated. The Tigers maintained their perfect records with Tuesday’s state semifinal victories in matches held at Emmaus, an Allentown suburb.
Saturday’s state’s 2A boys final is scheduled for 4 p.m., followed by the 2A girls at 7.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
