BETHLEHEM — The third time was the charm for the Pleasant Valley boys soccer squad.

After suffering two convincing losses to Freedom in both the regular season and EPC playoffs, the Bears managed to slay the dragon in the District 11 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday. The same field that was once a scene of defeat became a field of celebration after two penalty kick goals propelled PV to a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory.

Considering how dominant the Patriots looked in both of their wins over the Bears, head coach Jonathan Mickens and his staff knew his team couldn’t return to Freedom with the same game plan. Following a week of preparation and practice, the team looked like a completely different version of itself once action got underway.

“We changed our complete style of play,” Mickens said. “We moved some players around positionally just to get better matchups, but we changed more to a counter attacking style (for) this game in particular when we’ve been more of a possession heavy or pressing heavy team. We had to put players who maybe played outside back or center mid, but now they’re playing winger today because they give us more of a direct threat out wide.”

This drastic change in style gave the Patriots fits throughout most of the match as five-seeded Pleasant Valley denied four-seeded Freedom’s ability to advance the ball through the middle of the field. Despite the Patriots holding advantages in ball possession and shots, the Bears’ scoring chances were the best in quality throughout the event.

PV struck first as a result of its newly established counter attacking style. Following a collision in front of Freedom’s net, Richon Russ fired a low shot past goalie Ben Rodriguez on a penalty kick to break the ice just under 17 minutes in.

The Patriots responded roughly 11 minutes later when Thomas Fairbairn sent a cross pass over to Evan Plasco, who lightly one-touched the ball inside the far post to tie the score.

The deadlocked score carried its way to overtime, as Freedom appeared visibly frustrated trying to break through a newly revamped Bears’ defense. This gave Pleasant Valley a mental advantage, knowing its emotions were still high while its opposition was experiencing a sense of desperation.

It only took 1:13 into overtime for the Bears to capitalize.

Similar to PV’s first goal, a fast break toward the Patriot net created a collision between Rogriguez and Michael Powell, forcing another penalty kick. On the ensuing kick, Christian Pinheiro launched a high shot over Rodriguez and caught nothing but the back of the net, sending the Bears’ bench, coaching staff and fans into a frenzy.

“That’s just great by Michael Powell,” Pinheiro said. “That’s all him right there getting us that penalty (kick), and my job was just to finish it and help our team win.”

Despite only generating four shots, including the two penalty kicks, the decision to switch play styles worked to perfection for Pleasant Valley, as those two PKs were all that was needed to pull off the upset and end Freedom’s season after coming up short twice before.

“We expected (Freedom) to come in this game thinking they’re going to steamroll us because they steamrolled us both times before,” Mickens said. “I have a lot of respect for their head coach over there, coach Farid (Bayramli), and a lot of respect for those boys. They play some of the most beautiful soccer within the league. They’re good on all phases of the game.

“I made sure my boys are as organized and disciplined as possible and made sure that they knew it. Our talk has been all week into this game that this is our last ride. Everyone’s already written us off as a program because we just have not performed well against the top four (4A teams). Well, we came out here, we performed against the top four today.”

KEEP DANCING ... The Bears advance to the 4A semifinals on Tuesday (site TBA) where they will take on EPC champion Parkland. The Trojans defeated Nazareth 6-0 in their quarterfinal matchup. “It’s my first time going to semis in districts,” said Russ. “I’ve only been to EPC semis. Hopefully we make it past the second round.”

“As long as we’re in the dance, we have a chance to win,” said Mickens. “This team is good enough. We’re one of the only teams that won 10 plus games. We have a stout defense, a solid midfield and we have a good committee up top in the attack. If we have the right game plan and the right mentality, every game starts 0-0, and you always have a chance as long as you’re in the dance”

Pleasant Valley 2, Freedom 1

Pleasant Valley 1 0 1 - 2

Freedom 1 0 0 - 1

Goals: Pleasant Valley - Richon Russ 1, Christian Pinheiro 1; Freedom - Evan Plasco 1; Assists - Pleasant Valley - None; Freedom - Thomas Fairbairn 1; Saves - Pleasant Valley - Nick Springer 2, Cole Clark 3; Freedom - Ben Rodriguez 2; Shots - Pleasant Valley 4; Freedom 7; Corners - Pleasant Valley 0; Freedom 2.

Records: Pleasant Valley (12-5-3); Freedom (16-3-3).