Owen Schlegel earns a special hat for a special Fleetwood hat trick

By Jason Guarante — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

The vintage Fleetwood hat worn by Owen Schlegel was on loan from his dad. It was a way to commemorate a magical night.

Three goals. A hat trick. A District 3 playoff first for a family with plenty of soccer history.

“I don’t know what to say,” Schlegel said as the clock ticked toward 10 p.m. and a steady rain continued to fall. “I’m speechless after tonight.”

Schlegel lifted fourth-seeded Fleetwood over No. 13 Garden Spot 5-2 in a Class 3A first round matchup at Tiger Stadium Monday. The Berks champions will host either No. 5 Lower Dauphin or No. 12 Cocalico in the quarterfinals Thursday. (Lower Dauphin and Cocalico were suspended due to rain.)

Growing up in Fleetwood as a Schlegel isn’t easy. It brings expectations. Owen’s uncle, Keith, is the head coach and a former All-American. His dad, Kyle, is an assistant coach and a former standout midfielder.

“It’s kind of a lot of pressure,” Owen said. “But, whatever, I’ve got to live up to the name.”

Keith and Kyle have steered the program together for the past 16 years. They’ve won three county championships, three district titles and the PIAA trophy in 2018.

Owen and his siblings, Kayla and Connor, have been around the team since they were little. That made wearing the red and white uniform a little more special.

“All my kids came to practices,” Kyle said. “They came after school. They had nicknames for some of the players that they liked. They’d talk to them during water breaks. They were always here touching the ball. It was every day of the week.”

Although it may seem like destiny that Owen was going to make an impact at Fleetwood, it took some time to materialize.

The junior center-mid was injured at the start of last season and didn’t play varsity until near the end. He cracked the lineup for the opener seven weeks ago and never left.

“I didn’t know what we were going to get out of him,” Kyle Schlegel said. “He never really showed that he wanted to play much. He went to practice, played in the games and that was it. The last two or three years, all of a sudden he started going out on his own. That’s when this turnaround happened.”

Schlegel opened the scoring 12:21 into the first half. It was his first playoff goal and it gave his dad what he called, “that fuzzy feeling inside.”

The night was about to get much better.

Fleetwood (16-5) was leading 2-1 with 33:16 left in the second half when lightning and heavy rain delayed play for more than an hour. Garden Spot scored shortly before the stoppage and had the field tilted in its direction.

Sixty-six seconds after play resumed, Schlegel scored on a rebound. He pumped both fists after he slammed his shot into the net. It was his first multi-goal game.

“I was missing confidence,” Schlegel said. “I didn’t shoot the ball in the offseason. When I started scoring here, I knew I could score some more. I just got more confident.”

Less than eight minutes after he extended Fleetwood’s lead to 3-1, Schlegel came through again. He flipped a shot off the crossbar and into the corner of the net. Then he sprinted across the field toward the few hardy fans who stuck around.

Schlegel raised his season total to seven goals. He’s tied with Davin Millisock and Josh Candelario for the team lead. Both of them also scored Monday. 

“He has earned himself a spot,” Kyle Schlegel said. “He has blossomed. Not just on the field. He has blossomed in every way.”

Something has clicked for Owen, who didn’t score his first goal until the seventh game of the season. He has become an instrumental part of Fleetwood’s success.

This was a performance beyond his wildest dreams. Neither his dad nor his uncle ever had a hat trick in districts.

“It’s amazing,” Schlegel said. “I didn’t know if I was going to score today and I got three.”