Delaware County Christian celebrates winning the Class 1A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg High School in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Delaware County Christian’s Jonas Ma follows Wyoming Seminary’s Louis-David Jolin during the Class 1A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg High School in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Delaware County Christian’s Jude Sacks celebrates after scoring a goal during the Class 1A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg High School in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Delaware County Christian’s Matteo DeBellis moves the ball during the Class 1A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg High School in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wyoming Seminary’s Owen Stratanski, right, battles with Delco Christian’s Matteo DeBellis during a PIAA Class A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg Area High School Tuesday. (REBECCA PARTICKA/MediaNews Group)
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Delaware County Christian celebrates winning the Class 1A boys soccer semifinal at Hamburg High School in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
HAMBURG — Earlier in the postseason, Wyoming Seminary responded to an early Holy Cross goal with four straight scores to secure a victory in the District 2 Class 1A semifinals.
On Tuesday night, Delaware County Christian scored in the first half, and the Blue Knights lost one of their stars, Artur Zelenko, to injury for most of the second half and couldn’t recover in a 1-0 loss in the PIAA Class 1A boys soccer semifinals at Hamburg Area High School.
“I thought we played well,” Wyoming Seminary coach Aaron Littzi said. “They’re a good team. They played really fast, they high pressed, they pressured all over the field. My hat’s off to them, they played a good game, they’re a great team.”
Delco Christian (21-3), the District 1 champion, advances to Saturday’s final where it will face District 7 champion Bentworth, a 2-1 winner over District 7 runner-up Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, at 4 p.m. at Northeastern High School in Manchester.
The Knights put the pressure on early, forcing corners and free kicks that Wyoming Seminary goalkeeper Cash Hanson-Richart and the defense turned away. Ivan Pantepajevs headed a ball away on a Delco Christian corner, Hanson-Richart made a diving save on a Jude Sacks header off a well-executed corner and the junior keeper stopped a Justin Ma header to the short side off a corner to keep the game scoreless.
Wyoming Seminary’s Louis-David Jolin kept the pressure on the other side of the field, getting a few runs up the right side and blasting a shot on goal that Carter Dill turned away.
Toward the end of the half, Jay Gricco pressured into the corner where he was blanketed by two Wyoming Seminary defenders. Gricco found some space, and passed to Brecon Williams, who sent a cross to Cole Matthews in the box. Matthews cut to the middle and got a foul call to set up a penalty kick.
Sacks buried the kick in the right lower corner past a diving Hanson-Richart to give Delco Christian a 1-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first half.
“It was a great combo that built up to the penalty kick,” Delco Christian coach Rob Atkins said. “Cole drew the foul and Jude has been our go-to guy to bury the PKs, and he did what a senior captain should do and he buried it. So, we were really excited about it.”
In the second half, Wyoming Seminary pushed for the equalizer, as Jolin and Owen Stretanski had runs at the goal, with Stretanski forcing a corner. The Blue Knights also stood tall on defense, as Lucas Latorre Rubio stole the ball to stop a Delco Christian run.
With 30:23 left in the second half, Zelenko suffered an injury to his right ankle, which was wrapped up before Zelenko was carted off the field. The senior led the team in goals (30) this season and had nine assists.
“I want to just say I feel so bad for No. 7 (Artur Zelenko),” Atkins said. “He is a good player. We had watched a lot of film and knew that he was going to be really dangerous and it is so unfortunate for his season to end that way.”
Wyoming Seminary kept putting pressure on the Delco Christian defense, but couldn’t break through. Roland George had a nice cross late in the second half, and Jolin put a ball in front of the net, but the Blue Knights couldn’t connect for the finish as Delco Christian secured its sixth straight shutout.
“There were moments that we really put the ball together well in the second half. In spite of the wind, we were pinging it around there, but my goodness, the last five minutes we couldn’t clear a ball,” Atkins said with a laugh. “It was driving me nuts.”
The District 2 champion Blue Knights (17-6) finished the season with 13 clean sheets and outscored their opponents, 20-3, in six postseason games and, 93-18, this season.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Littzi said. “Last year, we lost in the quarters, this year, in the semis. We’ll be back next year.”