Both Central Lee and Hillcrest had great looks at the goal early in Friday’s SEISC soccer tournament quarterfinal. 

Each team had missed a penalty kick and every shot had sailed wide, or found the keeper as less than five minutes remained in the opening half. 

Finally, freshman Micah Gerber took advantage of an opportunity on a corner kick from Jorge Canchola. The Ravens took a shot after the ball bounced through the box, and Gerber buried the rebound in the net.  

Another Raven freshman, Diego Ramos, would add a second-half goal on a penalty kick, and the Ravens hung on for a 2-1 win to advance to the tournament semifinals. 

“We possessed the ball better throughout the game than we have earlier on in the year and just our communication has gone up,” said senior goalkeeper Aiden Krabill.  

“Talking and communication plays into a lot of it. We’ve been playing more as a team.”

The game was physical with three penalty kicks awarded and many more free kick opportunities. 

“We knew they would be physical and talked to Diego and others about not holding on to the ball too long or dribbling too much, both of which would make it easier for them to get hit,” Hillcrest coach Marcus Miller said. “I’m not sure they learned, but they did adjust to the physicality. It’s certainly something the freshman have had to adjust to this year. The game did get a bit chippy at the end and again, I thought our guys handled it well for the most part.”

Ramos was the recipient of several fouls and got a penalty kick opportunity after a shove to his back inside the box with just over 25 minutes remaining.  

He gave Hillcrest a 2-0 lead, which lasted for 14 minutes. Krabill was aggressive on a ball bouncing in the box, but the ball bounced off the chest of freshman Drake Webber as Krabill reached for it, and Central Lee senior Logan Crank cut the lead to one with 11 minutes left. 

Krabill needed just five saves for the win, but several were spectacular including a shot blasted towards the crossbar that he managed to push over the goal.  

He also came out of a first-half one-on-one situation without allowing a goal.

“They had a through ball to the 18 and Grant was a little late getting there, but he did a good job pushing him out left to cut down my angle and just came out,” Krabill said.

“I’ve been working a lot on one-v-one’s in practice, and to see it pay off in a game was a really good feeling.”

Central Lee collected the rebound after Krabill’s save, and a handball in the box gave the Hawks a penalty kick —which sailed high over the goal. 

No. 3 Burlington Notre Dame defeated the Ravens 8-0 in the semifinal before winning the championship game 10-0 over Mediapolis. 

Krabill made 15 saves in a 1-0 loss to Washington to wrap up the regular season on Monday. The Demons scored the game’s only goal on a long shot in the second half. The Ravens head into the postseason with a record of 6-8.