STATE COLLEGE - The fourth-seeded Altoona Lady Lions entered the District 6 Class AAA girls soccer playoffs with just two seniors on the roster.
The youth of the team didn't have enough to compete with its top-seeded northern rival.
The State College Lady Little Lions mustered an offensive outburst as they shut out Altoona, 5-0, Tuesday night at Memorial Field.
Lady Lions coach James John felt defensively his team just fell apart, as he was missing two starters.
"Defensively we let down," he said. "We played the offside trap, but it didn't work tonight."
The Lady Lions did appear to have momentum in their direction early.
One minute into the first half of play Megan Fry netted a rebound off the hands of Altoona keeper Molly Malone. The goal was called off as a result of an offside call.
Just 10 minutes later, the Lady Lions drew first blood as Victoria Crawford buried a Robin Derr assist to give the Lady Little Lions a 1-0 lead.
Eight minutes later, the Lady Lions struck again when Haley Crawford scored the Lady Little Lions second goal for a two-goal cushion.
In the second half, the Lady Little Lions never let up.
Less than one minute into the half, Lauren Anderson on a break took another Derr pass and beat the Lady Lion keeper Malone to give State High its third goal.
The star of the evening came in the way of Derr. In addition to her two assists, she scored the goal that put the Lady Lions away on a rebound for the game's final score.
"My teammates," Derr said about the root of her success. "They set me up for everything."
The Lady Little Lions managed 14 shots on goal for the evening to Altoona's one. They will play Hollidaysburg in the District 6 Class AAA championship Thursday at Bald Eagle Area.
Despite the loss, John still feels progress is being made toward success in the future.
"We're improving and as the season got on we fixed something that needed to be fixed," he said.
"I'm proud of the girls, they played well, they played hard and that's all that we can ask."
State College coach Kevin Marooney was not available for comment after the game.
SCORE BY HALVES
Altoona0 0 0
State College 2 3 5
First half: SC V. Crawford (Derr), 10:22; SC H. Crawford (McNutt), 18:52.
Second Half: SC Anderson (Derr), 40:36; SC - Beaury (unassisted), 63:27; SC Derr (McCarthy), 67:15.
Records: Altoona (6-13); State College (13-5-1)
