Hornets top Benton 4-1 to reach District IV championship game

By: Ed Weaver  /  November 1, 2017

The Wellsboro Boys Soccer team defeated Benton 4-1 in the District IV Class A semi-finals at Loyalsock High School on Tuesday, October 31.

While the Hornets not punched their ticket to a District final, they also punched their ticket to the PIAA State Tournament.

"I'm so proud of the boys tonight," said head coach John Shaffer. "They came out and took control of the game early on. We created a ton of scoring opportunities and it easily could have been 4 or 5 at the half."

With 26:52 remaining in the first half, senior Noah Fitch found freshman Kaeden Mann to put the Hornets up early. 11 minutes later, Fitch was on the scoring end as he converted a pass from sophomore Conrad Becker.

Wellsboro took a 2-0 lead into the half.

A penalty kick by Benton with 22:05 remaining cut the score to 2-1 before senior Gabe Leach increased it to 3-1. Leach then assisted junior Brett Rudy for the final goal of the night with 16:22 left.

The Hornets attempted 18 shots on the night while limiting Benton to just 8. Benton edged Wellsboro 3-2 in corner kicks.

Junior Nate Redell made 4 saves on the night.

Next up for the top-seeded Hornets (18-1-1) is a rematch with Millville, 3-0 winners over Galeton, for a District championship on Thursday night back at Loyalsock.

"We have a tough rematch with Millville. They have their stud forward back so we know it'll be a difficult match, continued Shaffer. "Hopefully if we play our game we can get the result."