Once again, Fleetwood and Oley Valley collide in BCIAA boys soccer tournament
By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
It seems like destiny at this point. All roads lead to Fleetwood and Oley Valley colliding in the boys soccer playoffs.
It happened in 2018, twice in 2019 and again last season. A seven-mile drive brings together two of the best programs in the county.
Top-seeded Fleetwood (13-5) will host No. 5 Oley (13-4-1) in the Berks semifinals Tuesday. No. 7 Exeter visits third-seeded Tulpehocken in the other matchup. Both games start at 7 p.m.
“You want to play the good teams,” Fleetwood coach Keith Schlegel said. “They’re a good team, so we’re playing them.”
Schlegel knows Oley Valley better than any team besides his own. The coach’s son, Hunter, is a reserve for the Lynx, so Schlegel attends many of their games.
The most recent memory in this fun, heated and exciting rivalry isn’t a fond one for Fleetwood. The Tigers lost to Oley 5-1 on their home field in last year’s county final.
Fleetwood held off No. 8 Brandywine Heights 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Davin Millisock scored two second-half goals to propel the Tigers.
Millisock has six goals and seven assists and is an All-Berks candidate as a freshman. Oscar Flores has six goals and eight assists and Malachi Herndon has six goals for Fleetwood.
Oley Valley staged its own comeback to advance. Chase Reifsnyder scored twice in the second half to lead the Lynx over Conrad Weiser 3-2 at Robesonia.
Reifsnyder has built an impressive postseason resume. Last year’s Berks Player of the Year has scored six goals in his past three county playoff games.
What often gets overlooked about this Oley run, which includes back-to-back Berks titles and last year’s District 3 Class 2A championship, is the team’s mental toughness. The Lynx find a way when things look grim.
Oley staged a last-minute comeback to beat Fleetwood in the 2019 semifinals. It scored late in the second half to overcome top-seeded Wilson in last year’s semis. It scored with 5:32 left in regulation and in overtime to rally against Greenwood in the 2020 district semifinals.
So much of Oley’s recent history is written because of its ability to persevere.
Anthony Witt and Danny Turchi have each scored 15 goals to lead Oley. They’re tied for fifth in the league. Reifsnyder has 11 goals, including the two biggest to date.
Fleetwood and Oley have won the past three county championships. One of them will get a chance to continue that trend.
Click here for the BCIAA Tournament bracket
Exeter (7-9-3) at Tulpehocken (14-3-2)
One of the interesting subplots to the quarterfinals was how the Berks I teams would fare. The division champion is almost always the top seed. This time Exeter was seeded seventh.
The Eagles still advanced. Harrison Davis scored on a pass from Justin Kinney in the second half to spark a 1-0 win over Berks III champ Wyomissing.
Exeter is taking an unconventional path toward a possible county title. The Eagles will have a .500 record if they win this tournament and they won’t qualify for districts. They’re heating up at the right time with five consecutive wins against Berks opponents.
Tulpehocken blitzed Gov. Mifflin, the other Berks I qualifier, 6-0. It was a stunningly easy victory. Erick Sanchez had a hat trick to give him 10 goals this season.
Mason Lillis leads Tulpehocken with 19 goals, which ranks second in the league behind Reading High’s Kevin Guzman.
