As Deer Lakes trotted out of the locker room at Highmark Stadium, rain cascading down and glistening under the lights, two of the Lancers’ 12 seniors stopped for a moment.

They were goalkeeper Wesley Boyle — already strapped into his thick, padded gloves — and forward Peyton Kushon. Boyle put one arm around Kushon, and with his free hand offered a quick noogie on his teammate’s curly blonde hair. They both grinned, and on they went to assume their position for 40 more minutes of soccer.

These seniors helped to usher in the golden age of Deer Lakes soccer. When they were freshmen in 2022, a handful of them played pivotal roles in a 1-0 overtime win against Beaver in the WPIAL Class 2A title. On Wednesday night, in a title rematch against the No. 9-seeded Bobcats (16-5-0), these Deer Lakes

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