GREENCASTLE — It was a very tough way to end a glorious season for the Greencastle-Antrim boys soccer team.

The Blue Devils were upset 4-1 in the first round of the District 3 Class 3A playoffs on Monday night at Kaley Field by an opportunistic Susquehannock team that seemed to take advantage of every chance it got.

Cooper Noblit

Greencastle had allowed only seven goals all season before Monday and came in with a 15-0-2 record. But the No. 5 seed was knocked out by the No. 12 team. Susquehannock (11-7-1) will now play Thursday in the quarterfinals at No. 4 seed Kennard-Dale, a 3-2 winner in overtime over Cocalico.

The Blue Devils had the better of possession and created plenty of chances. But Warrior goalkeeper Cooper Sistrunk made some key saves and G-A could only find the net one time.

“We were down 2-0, but when we made it 2-1, I thought we still had a good chance,” Greencastle coach Aric Bruner said. “Then (Nolan) Sullivan had a great chance — all he had to do was tap it in — and then (Bryce) Davidson had a good chance and missed. If we put even one of those away, that changes the complexion of the game.”

Still chasing the tying goal, the Blue Devils had to push their defense a little higher, and later moved Andrew Bowers from defense to forward and played with a three-man defense.

That eventually caught up to G-A, when Cameran Bangura pushed through two defenders, faked a shot to get keeper Ethan Ford on the ground, then placed a shot into the goal for a 3-1 lead with 19 minutes left.

The Warriors scored the clincher at 6:29 when Carlos Dilts found the net.

Bruner said, “Since we didn’t finish our chances, we really had to push for that tying goal. And when you push up like that, it’s do or die. You know you have to risk it. And they have lots of speed on the wings that makes it harder to push up.”

Bangura scored the only goal of the first half when he took a nice diagonal pass from Ryan Beckett and shot into the far side of the netting.

Greencastle was really hurt when the Warriors scored just 56 seconds into the second half. After a G-A foul, Grant Johns sent in a free kick that was headed in by Nathan Fairbend.

It was only the second time all season that G-A had allowed more than one goal in a game.

But just four minutes later, G-A was back in the game. Noah Parks passed to Cooper Noblit, who got a shot off that was deflected by Sistrunk back toward Noblit. This time his shot got past the goalkeeper and into the goal.

“It’s been four years of building with a lot of these kids (8 starters were seniors),” Bruner said. “This is a hard one to take.”

Susquehannock 4, Greencastle-Antrim 1
Susquehannock               1     3     —     4
Greencastle                      0     1     —     1
First Half
S — Cameran Bangura, asst. Ryan Beckett, 3:35
Second Half
S — Nathan Fairbend, asst. Grant Johns, 39:03
GA — Cooper Noblit, asst. Noah Parks, 35:20
S — C.Bangura, asst. Ablov Bangura, 19:00
S — Carlos Dilts, unassisted, 6:29
Shots — Susq 7; GA 11. Shots on goal — Susq 6; GA 5. Corner kicks — Susq 6; GA 6. Saves — Susq 6 Cooper Sistrunk); GA 2 (Ethan Ford). Fouls — Susq 13; GA 11. Offsides — Susq 5; GA 2. Yellow cards — Susq 4.