On Tuesday night in Bellefonte’s first ever state matchup at Rogers Stadium, the team fought hard, but Franklin struck first and never relinquished control. Within the first minute, the Panthers had already cracked the scoreboard, posting three more goals by the time the first-half buzzer sounded.

They’d go on to handle business from there, logging two more goals and defeating the Red Raiders, 6-0, to move on to the second round of states. While the loss was tough to swallow, Bellefonte’s home crowd never stopped cheering them on and its coaches and players gathered on sidelines with a positive attitude following the game, celebrating this season’s successes.

“Coming into the game, we knew what we were going to face and I let the guys know, ‘This is going to be something you’ve never experienced before,” said Bellefonte head coach Scott Martz on the game. “That’s where we want to get this program. If we don’t play games against these teams like this, we’re never gonna get any better.”

“I’m happy with their effort tonight. I told them before the game started that only 16 teams are in this right now. Out of 139 in AAA, we’re one of the 16. So be proud of that,” he added when discussing the bigger picture.

Franklin Regional celebrates an early goal during the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Championships on Tuesday at Rogers Stadium. Franklin defeated Bellefonte 6-0.

Franklin Regional kicked off the scoring about as early as it possibly could, with Danny Christafano putting a corner kick right where it needed to go and Cruise Lamanna finishing off the play with a header to the left side of the net, giving the team a 1-0 lead just 32 seconds into the game.

But even as the Panthers bolstered their lead to 3-0 prior to the first half’s midway point, the Red Raiders kept battling, making some tremendous plays in the process.

Taylor Gutierrez pulled off a miraculous defender save, getting a foot on a shot heading towards the team’s top corner of the net to keep the deficit at 1-0. Junior goalkeeper Elijah Davis logged eight first half saves to mitigate Franklin’s offensive barrage. And after going down 3-0, his defenders blocked three separate shots, as the unit as a whole held the Panthers scoreless for 21 minutes of game time.

“We had a shaky start, allowing a goal 30 seconds in but after that, I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of my entire defense. It meant a ton to us,” said Davis on his unit. “I think that fighting ability that we all kept up, that’s what kept us having fun. If we all gave up and just started letting them through, we wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much fun as we did.”

“Those guys have a lot of firepower, but I thought our defense and Eli played great tonight,” emphasized Martz. “They (Franklin) are very fast. We don’t play teams like that in our league that are that fast. We held in there against a very good team.”

Offensively, senior Andy Gerasenko and junior Stabinger Conelle each logged a shot on goal, with Conelle being a key part of multiple promising attacks for the team late in the second alongside senior Jacob Ondrasik.

Franklin was able to hinder Bellefonte’s attack through much of the game, holding it to three shots on the night. But the Red Raiders never stopped trying to put that coveted, first state score in program history on the board. Martz was proud of his team for coming out of the break aggressively and maintaining the fight they’d displayed all season.

“We battled back. In the second half, I thought we played really well. We gave up two fluke goals in the second half. But other than that, we made a couple nice runs and got two shots there at the end,” said Martz.

“I’m proud of the guys. I told them, ‘Don’t hang your heads. Heck of a season, you won your second ever district title and you made it to states.'”

With the loss, Bellefonte closes out its historic run with a 15-4-3 record, hoping to build on one of its most successful seasons ever with a plethora of contributors set to return. Though next year’s postseason is a long way away, there’s plenty of confidence when it comes to the prospect of making it back-to-back PIAA appearances for the first time in program history next season.

Bellefonte senior Andy Gerasenko (10) winds up to send the ball down field during the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Championships on Tuesday at Rogers Stadium. The Red Raiders fell 6-0.

“This isn’t gonna be our last time coming here. We have a really bright future, so I’m really excited for us and everything we’re doing,” said Andy Gerasenko. “It’s good for these kids (to experience this). They’re able to play, develop and see what the competition is. Next year, I’m excited to watch, see how the underclassmen take up my role, the seniors’ roles and just grow as a team.”

“I think if we keep this up, there’s no reason to say that we won’t be back next year,” said Davis. We’re going to have the talent, we’re going to have all the skill to come right back next year and give them another crack at it.”

Franklin Regional 6, Bellefonte 0

(PIAA CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIRST ROUND)

F – Cruise Lamanna (Danny Christafano), 39:28. F – Jovan Sankoorikal (Christafano), 27:28. F – Christafano (Sam Komar), 22:21. F – Christafano (Sankoorikal), :43. F – Andrew Acosta, 15:50. F – Own goal, 3:38.

Bellefonte freshman Austin Larson (18) looks to send the ball downfield during the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Championships on Tuesday at Rogers Stadium. The Red Raiders fell 6-0.

Shots: F 29, B 3. Shots on goal: F 13, B 2. Corners: F 12, B 1. Saves: F 2 (Noah Walker); B 9 (Elijah Davis).

Bellefonte freshman Austin Larson (18) looks to send the ball downfield during the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Championships on Tuesday at Rogers Stadium. The Red Raiders fell 6-0.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bellefonte goalkeeper Elijah Davis (29) makes a save during the team's first round states matchup against Franklin Regional. Bellefonte fell 6-0.