Ashley joins the South Valley Council of Governments

H.S. volleyball: Holy Redeemer rolls into state quarterfinals with win over Wellsboro

<p>LEHMAN TWP. &#8212; It took 22 years for Crestwood to return to the state tournament. It took just 40 minutes for the Comets to be ousted from the PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships.</p><p>Although starting strong, the Comets couldn&#8217;t muster any offense against the No. 1-ranked team in the state and fell to Lewisburg 3-0 on Tuesday night at Lake-Lehman in the first round of states.</p><p>Still, the team had a banner season winning its first District 2 title since 1993 and had won 14 straight matches before Tuesday&#8217;s loss.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not really much to say. I&#8217;m very proud of them. What they did for this program and for this community is going to be around for years,&#8221; Comets coach Michael Stephensson said. &#8220;I have no words for them. They&#8217;re awesome.&#8221;</p><p>With the win, Lewisburg advances to Saturday quarterfinals where it will face District 3 champion Lancaster Mennonite.</p><p>After whiffing on their first four shots of the game, the Green Dragons connected on their fifth of the match. Crestwood keeper Lance Lysiak was drawn outside of the goal to the right of the net. Before he could cover it up, Lewisburg got the ball back in good field position. With Lysiak still far away from the goal, Joey Bhangdia slotted it past a diving Comets defender with 17:43 left in the first half for a 1-0 lead.</p><p>With time running out in the first half, the Green Dragons had a big chance with two players inside the box to none for the Comets and got the ball past Lysiak, but one of the players bumped the Crestwood keeper and the goal was waived off.</p><p>The Comets couldn&#8217;t capitalize on the mistake later in the half.</p><p>The best opportunity the Comets drew up in the first half came in the first seven minutes when Connor Keenan took a corner kick and sailed it on goal, but Lewisburg keeper Logan Cho was right there to make the save. It was the only shot on goal of the half for Crestwood.</p><p>In fact, that was the team&#8217;s only chance and shot the entire night against a squad which is allowing an average of just 2.5 shots on goal per game. It didn&#8217;t help Crestwood&#8217;s chances much that it faced Cho, who picked up his 15th shutout this season and 58th in his career, which is now just one shy of the PIAA record for career shutouts.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re a very good team,&#8221; Stephensson said about Lewisburg. &#8220;They played well, kept the pressure on us. They controlled the ball a little bit better than us and kudos to them.&#8221;</p><p>Lewisburg, which is undefeated with a mark of 22-0, extended its lead to 2-0 nearing the midway point of the second half when Michael Permyashkin scored with 21:59 remaining getting a cross pass in front of the net from Tommy Bhangdia. The Green Dragons put the match away with 14:03 left when Joey Bhangdia knocked in his second of the match to make the score 3-0.</p><p>&#8220;We made a couple of little mistakes that you can&#8217;t make on the level,&#8221; Stephensson said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to say anything about it because I thought we were still in the game. Up until two-nil we were still in the game. We were still in it with shots. We just kept pushing and move more and more forward. Of course you take a big risk, but I&#8217;d rather lose three-nil and go for it than lose one-nil and not go for it.&#8221;</p><p>Most of the 80 minutes was played in a driving rain, but that wasn&#8217;t a problem at all, Stephensson said.</p><p>&#8220;The conditions are what they are. It&#8217;s rainy, it&#8217;s slick. It&#8217;s a little more risky but it&#8217;s the same for both teams,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It goes either way. One of our players can slip, one of their players can slip, 22 players it&#8217;s the same for both.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA Class 2A Championships First Round </strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lewisburg 3, Crestwood 0</strong></p><p><strong>Lewisburg`1`2`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>Crestwood`0`0`&#8212;`0</strong></p><p><strong>First half &#8212;</strong> 1. LEW, Joey Bhangdia 17:43. <strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 1. LEW, Michael Permyashkin (Tommy Bhangdia) 21:59; 2. LEW, Joey Bhangdia (Adam Cole) 14:03. <strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> LEW 14; CRE 1. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> LEW 1 (Logan Cho); CRE 4 (Lance Lysiak). <strong>Corner kicks &#8212;</strong> LEW 5; CRE 1.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood defender RJ Kresge, left, passes the ball before Lewisburg&#8217;s Nathaniel Liscum gets there to stop him during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood defender RJ Kresge, left, passes the ball before Lewisburg&#8217;s Nathaniel Liscum gets there to stop him during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Dylan Perrone (24) tries to block an attempted pass from Lewisburg midfielder Reese Moore (10) during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood&#8217;s Dylan Perrone (24) tries to block an attempted pass from Lewisburg midfielder Reese Moore (10) during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood midfielder Zach Metzger (6) focuses on stealing the ball from Lewisburg&#8217;s Joseph Bhangdia (20) during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Crestwood midfielder Zach Metzger (6) focuses on stealing the ball from Lewisburg&#8217;s Joseph Bhangdia (20) during the first round of PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championships at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood midfielder Hubert Herrara kicks the ball down the edge of the field against Lewisburg at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115CrestwoodSoccer4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Crestwood midfielder Hubert Herrara kicks the ball down the edge of the field against Lewisburg at Lake-Lehman on Tuesday night. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>drosengrant@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Crestwood boys soccer concludes historic season