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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
A torrential downpour, along with intermittent thunder and lightning, forced a 90-minute delay in the start of the girls soccer game between rivals Altoona and Hollidaysburg Monday night at Mansion Park.
But when the game finally begun, Altoona was none the worse for the wait.
The Lady Lions scored twice in the first 16 minutes of the game and bolted to a 3-0 lead at intermission, en route to a 3-1 victory.
Both teams are now 3-2.
"It was tough being held up an hour and 30 minutes because of the lightning tonight, but we got two goals in the first 16 minutes, which is always nice,'' Altoona coach Derek Winterburn said. "It seemed like our girls came out of the locker room ready to play.''
Junior striker/outside wing Hailey Kravetz scored two of Altoona's three goals in the first half, while senior midfielder Maura Kiser assisted on all three Lady Lions' scores.
Standing in front of the Hollidaysburg cage, Kravetz headed Kiser's corner kick past junior Hollidaysburg keeper Erin McGinnis 13:57 into the game.
Kravetz also scored Altoona's final goal with 2:40 remaining in the half, when she found herself free again in front of the cage.
"She's a really good player who understands the game well and is playing at a different level this year as a junior than she did a couple years ago as a freshman,'' Winterburn said of Kravetz.
Kravetz was happy with the way Altoona played Monday.
"I think we dominated the first half, and we set the tone for the game,'' Kravetz said. "We controlled most of the game. We need to improve on some things, but overall, it was a good showing.''
Less than three minutes after Kravetz's opening goal, Sophia O'Dea scored Altoona's second goal by blasting home a kick from the right wing at the 16:23 mark of the first half.
On a night when Altoona senior keeper Quinn DeAntonio stopped all but one of Hollidaysburg's 13 shots on goal, the three first-half tallies were more than enough for the Lady Lions.
"Altoona is a great team,'' first-year Hollidaysburg coach Tristan delGiudice said. "They played a great first half, and they won all the 50-50 balls.
"They dominated the first half, but our girls came out in the second half and played really hard,'' delGiuidice added. "I'm proud of how our girls fought in the second half.''
Hollidaysburg -- which visits Huntingdon tonight -- got the only goal of the second half when senior midfielder Seddy Clapper scored off an assist from Bella Vent with 5:08 remaining in the game.
The matchups between the two neighboring soccer programs have traditionally been hard-fought, close-knit games, and Monday's matchup followed suit.
"Our games with Hollidaysburg are always tight games because of the rivalry,'' said Winterburn, whose team hosts Central Mountain Wednesday night. "The games are always fun, and they always could go either way.''
SCORE BY HALVES
Hollidaysburg 0 1--1
Altoona 3 0--3
FIRST HALF
1, A--Kravetz (Kiser), 13:57; 2, A--O'Dea (Kiser), 16:23; 3, A--Kravetz (Kiser), 37:20.
SECOND HALF
4, H--Clapper (Vent), 34:52.
Shots on goal: Hollidaysburg 13, Altoona 10. Saves: McGinnis, H, 7; DeAntonio, A, 12.