MANCHESTER — Chambersburg has had a boys soccer program for 54 years, starting in 1968.

Saturday night, the Trojans achieved something no other team in school history had done — they qualified to play in the PIAA State Tournament.

Goetz Dickman

Chambersburg defeated Northeastern 3-0 in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal game to advance to the semifinals, and by getting into the top four teams, it guaranteed a PIAA berth.

“Tonight was a night we as a team and coaching staff will never forget,” Trojan coach Corey Grove said. “It’s an incredible feat. I’m so proud of the boys, especially the seniors, for demonstrating heart and leadership tonight.”

Chambersburg (13-6) will face Mid Penn Commonwealth rival Central Dauphin (17-3) in the semifinals on Tuesday at CD’s Landis Field at 7 p.m. The Rams have defeated the Trojans twice this season, 2-1 and 1-0. CD, the No. 1 seed, took out Mechanicsburg 4-1 Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans took a 2-0 lead into halftime, then tacked on an insurance goal in the second half, and the defense produced a shutout.

Grove said, “I thought we had a commanding performance. We knew Northeastern because they beat us in the playoffs last year. But our conference (Mid Penn Commonwealth) is the best in the district, so we’ve played the top teams and were confident.”

Chambersburg broke on top in the 16th minute when midfielder Goetz Dickman retrieved a ball lost by a Bobcat defender and slid a shot inside the left post.

Drew Cover

Just six minutes later, it was 2-0. Cristian Lopez beat his man on the left side, then found Mario Wiesman making a diagonal run. Lopez’s pass got to him and Wiesman buried his shot from about 10 yards away.

The score remained 2-0 with Northeastern (16-4) chasing a goal. But the Trojans sealed it with about 5 minutes left on another goal by Wiesman. He beat his defender and appeared to be fouled in the box. No call was made and when Wiesman retrieved the ball, he made a nice move before hitting a shot into the side netting on the far side.

“I thought our defense played exceptionally well and executed what we’ve been going over in training,” Grove said. “And (goalkeeper) Drew Cover had his best performance of the season and dominated in the box.”

Chambersburg out-shot the Bobcats 12-4 and had more corner kicks (4-2). Cover was called upon to make three saves.