Season Ends for the Hopewell HS Boys Soccer Team

DEER LAKES- Unfortunately, the 2024 season has come to an end for the Hopewell HS Boys soccer team.

A ton of irony played out as the Vikings opened the 2024 WPIAL playoffs.

First off, Hopewell found out that they would take on Deer Lakes, the same team they defeated in the 1st round last season.

Second, Hopewell entered as the No. 14 seed and Deer Lakes was No. 3. The same exact seeding as last years playoffs.

The final irony was that last season, the final score was Hopewell 4 Deer Lakes 0. That ended up being the same score last night, unfortunately, Deer Lakes came out on top.

In any sport, the start and end of any half is key and that was a key factor last night.

Deer Lakes opened the scoring just 3 minutes into the match as they capitalized on a Hopewell miscue, picked up a loose ball and put it into an open net.

For the next 37 minutes, the play was pretty much even with Hopewell putting on a push towards end of the first half. However, they couldn’t find a way to get the ball in the net.

With 13:11 left in 1H, the Vikings sprung junior Bryce Ray up the right side for a prime chance. Ray used his speed to get past the defender but his shot just went wide of the far post.

Then with 8:15 left, Hopewell had an odd-man break and as he was trying to get a shot off deep in Deer Lakes zone, he appeared to get tripped but no call was made.

A key moment occurred with just 4.4 seconds left in the half. A turnover right around their own net resulted in a tap-in goal with Deer Lakes.

That made the score 2-0 heading into halftime.

In the second half, Deer Lakes locked things down and Hopewell didn’t generate much if any pressure.

Then with 22:47 left, off a corner kick, Deer Lakes connected on a header goal to increase their lead to 3-0.

Although it didn’t end the way they wanted to, it was a good season for Hopewell with plenty to build on for 2025.

With the core of the team returning, this team will have plenty of expectations and 2025 has a chance to be special!

The preparation for Coach Nathan Richter and the Vikings begins today!

Congrats on a successful 2024 season Hopewell!