Hollidaysburg takes two titles: Girls claim fourth straight
Trending
LORETTO -- The beat keeps going on for the Hollidaysburg Area High School girls soccer program in District 6 Class 3A championship games.
With junior Rita Kendziora scoring two goals, junior Alyssa Bell getting one goal and two assists, and junior Catrina Sciarrino and sophomore Lizzie Johnson both collecting a goal and an assist, Hollidaysburg won its fourth straight district title by using a quick start as a springboard to a 5-3 victory over Bellefonte in Monday night's championship game at Saint Francis University's DeGol Field.
For senior goalkeeper Meghan Cutshall, who has been a starter on all four Hollidaysburg district championship teams, winning titles never gets old.
"It's really special to see how this team has grown,'' Cutshall said. "Every year has been better and better for us.''
Hollidaysburg coach Dave Soellner expressed his pride in his players.
"Four in a row,'' Soellner said. "These girls have worked hard from day one for four years to get to this point. I'm very proud of every single one of them.''
Hollidaysburg built a 4-0 lead in the first 15:57 of Monday's game and held off a second-half Bellefonte rally to improve to 12-6 and advance to a PIAA state play-in game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Bradford of District 9 at the DuBois Area High School field.
"We couldn't get it together in the second half, but it was very important to start off early,'' said Bell, a forward who scored the game-winning goal in last year's district championship game for Hollidaysburg. "We kind of put the game way in the first 25 minutes.''
Kendziora got Hollidaysburg's first goal on a sharp-angled shot from the right side of the field, picking the upper left corner of the cage against Bellefonte sophomore keeper Haley Popovitch.
"We were attacking, the ball came out, and I knew with my speed, that I could beat their defender,'' Kendziora, a midfielder, said. "I just ripped it with confidence.''
Sciarrino put Hollidaysburg ahead 2-0 by scoring out of a goalmouth scramble at the 13:10 mark of the first half, then set up Johnson's goal with a beautiful centering pass to put the Lady Tigers up 3-0 just 65 seconds later.
Kendziora knocked in a rebound off a Popovitch save at the 15:57 to put Hollidaysburg firmly in the driver's seat, 4-0.
"Alyssa Bell had a great cross pass, there was a huge scramble, and I attacked it and got it in the back of the net,'' Kendziora said.
Bellefonte got on the board at the 31:46 mark of the first half when junior midfielder Mia Johnson scored on a corner kick from the left side to make it a 4-1 game at halftime.
Bell gave Hollidaysburg a 5-1 lead by booting a shot from in front of the cage into the back of the net at the 20:25 mark of the second half.
Bellefonte made a game of it but fell short. Goals by senior forward Mackenzie Hubbs at 22:34 and senior midfielder Mallorie Smith at 31:36 pulled Bellefonte to within 5-3, but that's as close as the game would get.
Bellefonte coach Stacey Miller, whose team finished 6-11, saw a silver lining in the loss.
"For us, we looked at this as a bonus -- a way to get experience in a playoff game,'' Miller said. "We lost 8-0 to Hollidaysburg earlier in the season, so to come out of here with a 5-3 score was progress for us. Once we settled down and played our game, we had a fantastic second half.''
For Hollidaysburg, Monday's fourth straight district title was fantastic in and of itself.
"Not too many teams have a chance to win this many years in a row,'' Bell said. "It's very special.''
SCORE BY HALVES
Bellefonte 1 2 -- 3
Hollidaysburg 4 1 -- 5
First half: 1, HOL--Kendziora (Johnson), 1:47. 2, H--Sciarrino (Aly. Bell), 13:10. 3, H--Johnson (Sciarrino), 14:15. 4, H--Kendziora (Aly. Bell), 15:57. 5, B--Johnson (unassisted), 31:46.
Second half: 6, H--Aly. Bell (Reed), 20:25. 7, B--Mac. Hubbs (unassisted), 22:34. 8, B--Smith (unassisted), 31:36.
Shots on goal: Hollidaysburg 18, Bellefonte 8.
Records: Bellefonte (6-11); Hollidaysburg (12-6).