The quest for a district title began on Monday night at Jim Thorpe, and it was the Olympians who came out on top over Bangor as they defeated the Slaters for the second time this season with a 4-1 victory in the 3A quarterfinal.

The game started out like the opening round of a boxing match, with both teams beginning to get settled in against each other.

Defense held strong for both teams, as neither were able to generate any scoring opportunities until about 19 minutes in when Jim Thorpe finally registered the first shot of the game for either team.

Whether this was a spark for the Olympians or the Slaters beginning to struggle defensively, Jim Thorpe began to generate all of the offense during the rest of the first half as it outshot Bangor 7-0 in the half.

Olympians’ Coach Mike Dudak was impressed with his team’s defense, and how well they’ve improved over the season.

“Our struggle has been getting out of the back defensively,” Dudak said. “That’s the only real issue we’ve been having, and we’re getting much, much better at it.

“We’re coming out of the back much better moving the ball around in the back, and that’s a big part of what you saw tonight.”

Jim Thorpe would finally be rewarded with just over nine minutes remaining in the half as senior Henry Snyder scored on a shot in tight after beating a Slater’s defender.

“I just saw that there was an open spot, so I just took a touch around that kid, and shot it on net,” he said about his goal.

The Olympians would pick up where they left off as the second half got underway with freshman Blaze Flyzik setting up senior Ehren Hassler for their second goal of the game just over six minutes into the half.

However, with Bangor’s goalkeeper, junior Christian Fekete keeping his team in the game, the Slaters began to generate offense and got rewarded with a header goal from junior Aiden Lilly only 1:52 after Hassler’s tally.

The Olympians then squashed any hope of a Slate comeback as senior Noah Geiser restored the two-goal lead seven minutes later.

Geiser eventually iced the game with under 11 minutes left with his second goal of the game on an impressive individual effort.

With this victory, Jim Thorpe is now set to face a familiar opponent from previous years in Blue Mountain on Wednesday evening in the 3A semifinals.

“(We’re) extremely familiar with them,” Dudak said. “They play almost the same style of soccer that we play, so it’s usually a pretty strong head-to-head matchup no matter where each of us are in record.”

Having played the Eagles as members of the Schuylkill League in previous seasons, the Olympians are looking to avenge themselves from when they last faced them.

“They kicked us out of leagues last year,” Geiser said about Blue Mountain. “It’s going to be a good game.

“We’d love to have that one back. We’re just going to give it our all, and it’s going to be a dogfight out there.”

REMATCH ... Bangor and Thorpe faced each other on Sept. 14, with the Olympians winning that contest 3-1.

HISTORY ... Jim Thorpe faced Blue Mountain last year in the Schuylkill League quarterfinals, in which Blue Mountain won 9-1. The last time the Olympians defeated the Eagles was Oct. 13, 2020 with a 3-1 final.