Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Altoona's Kade Black handles the ball in box by Central Mountain's Braylon Gentzel (11) and Zane Cooper.

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

The Altoona Area High School boys soccer team came out like gangbusters in the first half of its 7-0 District 6 Class 4A semifinal victory over Central Mountain at Mansion Park Thursday night.

Second-seeded Altoona played the type of complete 80-minute game offensively and defensively Thursday that the Mountain Lions are hoping to replicate in next Wednesday night’s district championship matchup against top-seeded State College that is set for Hollidaysburg’s Tiger Stadium.

Beating defending district champion State College (13-2-1) will be a formidable task for Altoona, which dropped a 5-0 regular-season decision to State College less than two weeks ago at Mansion Park.

But coming up with another performance like the Mountain Lions (13-5) turned in Thursday will certainly give them a fighting chance.

“I’m really proud of the way this team played tonight,” Altoona coach Dave McCarter said. “We played 80 complete minutes out there, and our team looked fantastic tonight.

“I was thrilled with our team’s composure and effort,” McCarter added. “Year in and year out, State College is battle-tested in the Mid-Penn Conference, and they’ve got a quality team from top to bottom. They’re going to be a good test for us, but if we play next Wednesday the way we played tonight, I think that we can do well.”

Star senior midfielder/forward Kade Black scored a three-goal hat trick and also assisted on two other goals for Altoona, which also got two goals from junior striker Coen Crawford.

Altoona outshot Central Mountain, 12-3 in the first half and broke out to a 5-0 halftime lead. Goals by Black at the 7:31 mark of the first half and freshman Colin Etters at 9:23 started the scoring, while Crawford added his first goal of the night at 17:30.

Black’s penalty kick goal with 8:37 left in the half wrapped up the five-goal outburst, in which a Central Mountain defender kicked in an own goal while trying to clear a shot at the 29:33 mark, accounting for Altoona’s fourth score of the half.

“We started out real strong, and we played well together tonight,” Crawford said. “We handled the ball well, and we played good possession soccer. We came out ready to play.”

McCarter agreed that the Mountain Lions’ ball movement was superb.

“Before the match, I issued a challenge to our players to score a goal in the first 10 minutes, and they answered my challenge by scoring two,” McCarter said. “We had a lot of unselfish play, and a lot of ball movement.

“We put two great halves together, and I feel that we played our best match of the season tonight,” McCarter added.

Central Mountain, which finished with a 6-11-1 record, appeared deflated emotionally after Altoona took the early lead, according to Wildcats coach Billy Hook.

“In the first 10 minutes, I thought we played well,” Hook said. “Overall, I thought that we could have played better. (Altoona) played real well.

“Their first goal was a nice goal and I noticed that we seemed to drop off emotionally after that,” Hook added. “Then they got their second goal very quickly.”

The Mountain Lions added late second-half goals from Crawford and Black on a free kick, to establish their final margin of victory.

Black said that while Thursday’s game was a stepping stone, the Mountain Lions still have another hurdle to clear in order to gain the grand prize of a district title.

“This is just another piece of the puzzle as far as us pulling it all together goes,” Black said. “Next week’s game is a big game.

“We’re not finished yet,” Black added. “We still have work to do.”

SCORE BY HALVES

Central Mountain 0 0–0

Altoona 5 2–7

First half

1, A–K. Black (J. Black), 7:31.

2, A–Etters (K. Black), 9:23.

3, A–Crawford (Bossler), 17:30.

4, A–Own goal by Central Mountain, 29:33.

5, A–K. Black (penalty kick), 31:23.

Second half

6, A–Crawford (K. Black), 33:12.

7, A–K. Black (free kick), 34:30.

Shots on goal: Altoona 22, Central Mountain 10.

Saves: Stahl, CM, 15; Mitchell, A, 10.

Records: Central Mountain (6-11-1); Altoona (13-5).