BY ERIC KNOPSNYDER
The Tribune-Democrat

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The scenario couldn’t have worked out any better for the Richland boys soccer team: A chance to win its fourth district title in five years by beating the team that ended the Rams’ run last year.

Dan Sichak’s squad did exactly that, beating Penns Valley 2-0 on Thursday afternoon at Tiger Stadium in Hollidaysburg for the District 6 Class A championship.

“We wanted a rematch after last year,” Richland keeper Cullen Frye said. “They’re a great team, and we knew we’d have our hands full coming into (Thursday’s) game. We were just hoping to play our game, get up on them quick and stay on them.”

Richland (18-1) carried out that game plan.

Shawn Sichak scored off a loose ball in the sixth minute, John Kuernstuen added a perfectly placed free kick in the second half, and Frye made it stand up for the victory.

“We played a very good game for us,” Penns Valley coach Scott Case said. “We weren’t able to deal with the control game that Richland had, and it kept us running.”

Penns Valley tested Frye early, as Anthony Glossner’s corner kick was headed down by Evan Gover in the third minute, but Frye was perfectly positioned to make the save.

Three minutes later, Richland took advantage of its corner-kick opportunity.

Mike Hunsinger’s kick from the left corner nearly bent into the goal, but it caromed off the far post to the front of the net, where Shawn Sichak poked it past Penns Valley keeper Nathan Royer.

“When we were doing warm-ups, (Hunsinger) put two or three of them into that corner while he was warming up,” Coach Sichak said, “I was watching, and I thought, ‘Boy, if he could do something like that in the game ..’ And then, the first corner kick, it hit just inside, bounces back down and Shawn Sichak finished it off.”

Penns Valley (14-6) could do little else the rest of the first half, as Frye didn’t face another shot.

Royer, on the other hand, was forced to make five saves to keep it a one-goal deficit heading into the break.

Richland made it 2-0 in the 51st minute thanks to an amazing shot by Kuernstuen.

A foul on Penns Valley gave Richland a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box and the senior forward, whose family moved to the school district from Norway in August, took advantage of it. Kuernstuen bent a ball perfectly around the wall in front of him, tucking it into the upper right corner, where Royer had no chance to save it.

Penns Valley turned up the pressure offensively after that, with Gary Schwier putting three free kicks on goal, but Frye stopped each one.

“We didn’t really have any bad defensive breakdowns,” Case said. “A couple opportunities happened for Richland and they took advantage.”

Richland, which also won the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Championship, will face the District 7 runner-up on Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

“We’re going to states, hoping we can go far – all the way to the final – and win the states,” Kuernstuen said. “That’s the goal.”