DOVER — It has been Chambersburg’s defense that has carried the Trojan boys soccer team for much of the season.

But the offense came to the rescue Tuesday night in Chambersburg’s 3-2 victory over Central York in a District 3 Class 4A semifinal game at Dover H.S.

Bramere Pittman

It sends the No. 10 seed Trojans (12-3-4) into the district championship for the first time in the program’s history, which goes back 57 years. They will face No. 1 seed Warwick (17-2-1) in the final at Central Dauphin’s Landis Field on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Chambersburg coach Corey Grove said, “When I started this job 11 years ago, I was asked what my goal was, and I said to win a District 3 title, because I knew we’d never done that. I would really love to find a way to do that Saturday.

“We know Warwick is tough, but we play against the best teams in the district all year, so we know what to expect.”

The Trojan offense started the game on fire, scoring 3 goals in the first 18 minutes of the game. The defense then hung on when the Panthers (15-5-1) made a push late in the second half.

“Honestly, we couldn’t have played much better in the first half,” Grove said. “We possessed well, we exploited their right side, we scored goals, and we contained their No. 7 (Alex Neff). We did everything well.”

The first goal came in the 11th minute when Anton Winter crossed the ball from the left side to the right and Jason Lopez smacked a left-footed shot into the far side of the net.

Noah Mulewich

Noah Mulewich scored just 3 minutes later, taking a pass from Theo Deinboeck, and slotting the ball home.

Then, 18 minutes in, Chambersburg was awarded a free kick just on its side of the field. Adrian Olvera booted a long kick that came down inside the 18. The Panther goalkeeper came out, but Will Smith got there first and headed the ball over his hands and across the line.

Grove said that Central York picked up the pace in the second half, but his team was still playing well until the Trojans were called for a foul in the penalty box. The Panthers converted on a shot by Neff with about 15 minutes left.

“That changed everything,” Grove said.

Shortly after that, Central York earned a corner kick and Dylan Funk scored off that.

Grove said, “That was a great goal. They hit the corner on the ground, one guy dummied it and the next guy hit it in. We settled in from about 10 minutes to go until about 3 and then the last 2-3 minutes were hectic.”

The Panthers managed a shot in the final seconds that went just a little high.

Chambersburg led in shots, 13-9, and Central York led in corners, 5-3. Trojan goalkeeper Tyson Shanholtz made 8 saves.

The Trojans had to make some lineup adjustments because their top midfielder, Edwin Ramirez, was injured in the quarterfinal game and is out for the season.

Grove said, “Bramere Pittman stepped up for us, and we also dropped Noah Mulewich from up front to attacking mid. And we competed with them there.

“Theo had one of his best games, too. He can slow the play down for us and he did that time and time again tonight. He’s very good at orchestrating our play.

“I’ve told them that it doesn’t matter how you win in the playoffs, you have to find a way. We were on our front foot most of this game, and then we were able to see the game out.”