Previewing Pennsylvania’s Saturday High School State Finals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a contrast from Friday where three 2021 champions were looking to repeat, Saturday's state final matches in Mechanicsburg, Pa. are guaranteed to guaranteed to produce at least new state champions. In fact, only three of the eight teams have won a state title before and no one in the group has won since 2020. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seneca Valley is back in the 4A boys state final for a third straight year after getting revenge for last year's final loss to Conestoga in the semifinal. They'll take on the team that beat Conestoga to win District 1 earlier this month in Lower Merion, which is looking to cap a dominant season with the school's first state title since their first in 1987. The Screaming Eagle last won the state title in 2020, which was the program's first. The 4A boys game kicks off at 7 p.m. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pennridge also won its first state title in 2020 and they'll be looking for a second against Central Dauphin in the 4A girls final at 4 p.m. Pennridge got by top seed Neshaminy 2-0 in the semifinal while the second seed Central Dauphin prevented an all District 1 final with a 2-0 win over Owen J. Roberts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The day starts at 10 a.m. with the 2A girls final between two teams - Central Columbia and General McLane - playing in their school's first state finals. NW Lehigh and Lancaster Catholic follow with the boys final at 1 p.m. NW Lehigh lost the 2016 and 2017 3A state finals to Lower Dauphin the school's only two previous appearances and Lancaster Catholic is in the final for the first time. Lancaster Catholic hadn't even won a state tournament game before this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Players to Watch</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Beau Lizewski, Senior, Midfielder, Seneca Valley</strong><br>So much of what Seneca Valley does well can be attributed to the work Lizewski does in the midfield, both with his ability to sit deep and play balls into space and his transition play turning defense into counter attacks. He is especially good at linking up with his forwards and putting defenses on their heels with his balls through the lines. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='49229' first='Sam' last='Nyenka'], Senior, Forward, Lower Merion</strong><br>The Aces have a lot of weapons and are tough to break down defensively but Nyenka is their star who seems to flourish even more when the pressure is on. He can take defenders on one-v-one, get in behind on searching balls from his back line and even surprise defenses at times with where he pops up to contribute. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='25692' first='Anna' last='Croyle'], Junior, Defender/Midfielder, Pennridge</strong><br>Croyle plays a bigger role defensively than she does in the attack for Pennridge but as she showed with her brace in the semifinal she's not the player you want to lose your mark on in a set piece. In a game that promises to be close throughout, Croyle could just be the difference maker for a team that has a talented cast of mostly juniors and sophomores. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='45315' first='Nia' last='Chinapoo'], Senior, Midfielder/Forward, Central Dauphin</strong><br>Chinapoo is one of those players you are immediately drawn to because of how she is able to boss the midfield and burn teams with her technical ability. She's a focal point of the Central Dauphin attack but her work rate and ability to pressure the ball makes her an asset beyond just creating and setting up goals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leo Lambert, Junior, Midfielder, Lancaster Catholic</strong><br>If you like late runs as much as I do you'll want to watch Lambert. He times his runs well, has good passing vision and is one of those players who is where he needs to be to make things happen like he did with a brace in the semifinal to send Lancaster Catholic to their first even state final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jake Van Lierop, Sophomore, Midfielder, NW Lehigh</strong><br>Northwestern Lehigh has two 30-goal scorers this season with junior Matt Johnson and senior Josh Zellner stuffing the stat sheet but when a sophomore steps up to take a penalty in a state semifinal and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://x.com/DesJBoyle/status/1593063002156466176?s=20&amp;t=YUTVmLMLTIUXonToz2to6Q" target="_blank">pulls off a panenka</a> like Van Lierop did he deserves a mention. Who does he think he is, <a href="https://x.com/usmntonly/status/1465422272366366720?s=20&amp;t=YUTVmLMLTIUXonToz2to6Q">Jack McGlynn</a>? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kayla Keefer, Junior, Forward, Central Columbia</strong><br>Keefer likes to score goals in bunches so she'll undoubtedly ask General McClane a few questions in a battle between two schools making their first appearance in a state final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brooklyn Respecki, Senior, Forward, General McClane</strong><br>Respecki did what she does best in the semifinal with a pair of goals to lead her team to their first state final appearance. The all-time leading scorer in program history, Respecki will want to cap off her stellar career with ultimate exclamation point. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->