Penn Stoners win National Championship

Uniondale, L.I. - His father grew up in Queens and he’s got some cousins who call Long Island home, but Tommy Ehrlich isn’t exactly a New Yorker.
Ehrlich, like almost all of his teammates on the Pennsylvania Stoners, calls the Lehigh Valley home. But judging by a spectacular performance in the National Premier Soccer League national championship game Sunday afternoon, you’d think Ehrlich has played at Mitchel Athletic Complex all his life.
Ehrlich netted a hat trick to lift the Stoners to a 3-0 victory against the St. Paul Twin Stars to lead the Stoners to the 2008 NPSL national championship. Not too bad for an expansion team.
“We were just hoping to go out, maybe get some results and work hard,” Pennsylvania captain Ryan Hess said. “We could never have expected this, but it’s unbelievable.”
The championship is especially sweet for Ehrlich, whose grandfather, Willie, founded the original Stoners of the American Soccer League 30 years and whose father, Bobby, was a Stoners player who helped revive the current incarnation of the Stoners.
“It’s great to be associated with the Pennsylvania Stoners name because it’s based around my family,” Ehrlich said. “When everyone sees that, they affiliate Ehrlich with the Stoners and that’s cool. I think just overall for the Lehigh Valley its good to win the highest amateur championship. That’s even bigger.”
Ehrlich’s hat trick came less than 48 hours after he scored a late insurance goal in a 3-1 victory against previously undefeated Sonoma County in the semifinals Friday night at Mitchel. Not too shabby for a forward who saw limited minutes in the opening three games of the year and finished as the league’s leading scorer with 11 goals.
“He’s been playing incredibly well,” Pennsylvania coach Todd Ervin said of the junior at Division II Lock Haven University. “He’s fast and he just has a knack for finishing. We’re very, very happy to have him.”
The Stoners (11-1-1) did what the host Long Island Academy couldn’t do Friday night - they struck for a second goal after taking a 1-0 lead into halftime. After receiving a great through ball by Stefan Szygiel to beat St. Paul goalkeeper Zane Vang low inside the far post just past the half hour mark, Ehrlich got his brace on 56 minutes.
Ehrlich cut inside and then outside of a Twin Stars defender at the corner of the 18-yard box and put the ball past Vang from 14 yards out to give the Stoners a commanding 2-0 lead.
“He thrives here apparently,” Hess said. “Tommy kind of found his niche up there and he’s just unbelievable, finished the ball when he had to.”
Missing star forward Adam Diaware, who was sent off in a penalty kick shootout victory against the Academy Friday night, and central defender O’Neal Batcha to a hamstring injury just before halftime, St. Paul (5-3-1) was a shadow of itself Sunday.
“It was a good game,” St. Paul coach Youssef Darbaki said. “Pennsylvania came up, played well. We didn’t capitalize on our chances. We showed up to play (Friday), but not today.”
The Twin Stars did push forward and got into good scoring positions in the final third, but numerous times they were caught offside, rarely pressing Stoners goalkeeper Sam Bishop into action.
“We weren’t focusing in the attacking third,” Darbaki said. “We weren’t really patient with the ball.”
Ehrlich certainly had no problem finishing. And when he tapped in his third of the game following a wonderful effort along the endline by Matt Baker in second-half stoppage time, the NPSL crown was a reality for Ervin.
“That third one just did it for us,” Ervin said. “And I was thrilled.”
A national championship was the furthest thing from Ervin’s mind when the team prepared to play its first NPSL game in April. His goals then were much more modest.
“When I was hired on as coach I told the board members, ‘Look, as a new team in this league, I’ll be happy if we win three or four games,’” Ervin said. “Really, my expectations were no higher than that coming in. The fact that we’ve done as well as we have, it’s just a real testament to the kids and the way they’ve played. It’s kind of odd that we’re in this position in our first year, but it’s great.”
While the NPSL was an unknown, it was evident that there was talent on the roster. A large group of them have played together for the past three years, winning the MSSL championship last year with AC Perugia Grifos.
And then back-to-back wins to open the season, including a 1-0 victory in Buffalo, N.Y., against Queen City FC, which lost in the 2007 NPSL national championship game, brought about heightened expectations.
“We played well and beat them 1-0,” Hess said. “We started thinking we have a legitimate shot to really do something with the league. We came out and worked hard, didn’t play our best soccer every game, but good teams find a way to win.”
While he achieved tremendous success on Long Island, Ehrlich said he’ll quite enjoy the bus ride back to the Lehigh Valley.
“Definitely,” Ehrlich said. “I’m ready for that.”