High School Soccer

Hollidaysburg boys explode for another title

District 6 Class 3A boys championship

Hollidaysburg Area High School boys soccer coach Craig Shale hasn't kept a list of his best halftime speeches over the past 18 seasons with the Golden Tigers program. He might want to write down what he said Tuesday night at Mansion Park in the District 6 Class 3A final against Bellefonte.

"We just had to tighten things up. Bellefonte came out like all fired up like they always do and we started to panic in the back," said Shale, whose club fell behind 2-0 early, was tied at 3-3 at the break and then went on to get a 6-3 victory over the Red Raiders for its fourth title in a row and ninth overall. "Bellefonte has some good guys out front and we had too many guys going forward and leaving big gaps. I moved my back four around a little bit and they did great."

It was Bellefonte (11-4-1) that was doing great early on as it jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Collin Sharp controlled a loose ball at the 32:39 mark, and with his left foot, scored past keeper Derek Wright for goal No. 1.

With 19:17 to play in the first half, Brady Wertz came up with a loose ball of his own when Wright came out to get the ball. Wertz got to it and tapped it in for the 2-0 lead.

"Every time we play them, it seems we jump out on them, but then we take a break and give up a goal to them," said Bellefonte coach Scott Martz, whose club lost 3-2 and 1-0 during the regular season to Hollidaysburg.

Bellefonte gave up, in fact, three straight goals after that.

At the 13:38 mark, Nate Barton took the ball down the right side of the field and waited long enough for Bellefonte keeper Elijah Davis to come out to deposit his shot for a score.

"Both of those games were really close," Shale said of the regular season. "On paper, I think we have better players, but as a team, they play hard. They play hard as team and they went up 2-0 on us, that is proof right there."

Caleb Tryninewski tied it up at 2-2 at the 13:17 mark when he scored from the left side. This time, the junior decided to try a goal from the right side, and thanks to an assist from Eric Arbogast, put the Tigers up 3-2 at the 9:14 mark.

Bellefonte recovered later at the 5:28 mark. Noah Gadsby fired one that clanked loudly off the bar. Teammate Jeremy Ondrasik got the rebound and scored to tie it at 3-3.

"I was impressed that when we were down 3-2, the guys battled back and tied it up," Martz said.

In the second half, senior Nate Crum took over and secured a hat trick to advance the Golden Tigers to Saturday's subregional game against District 9 champ Bradford. His first goal came at the 20:34 mark off a Derek Desort assist for the 4-3 lead.

"The first goal I just saw the ball rolling in front of me and I trusted my shot and it went in," Crum said. "It was hard to not be nervous, but we had to focus on the positives. We had to play our game. Nerves could not be an option. We had to push through, make passes and play as a team."

Crum made it 5-3 with a bullet from about 23 yards out at the 9:27 mark. His final goal came with 1:22 to go in the game.

"As soon as it was 4-3, I felt confident," said Shale, whose club out-shot Bellefonte 26-14. "We weren't going to sit back, and I mean, how about Nate Crum? I've been telling him all year to hit that ball. Talk about a knuckleball right there. That was awesome to see him get a couple of good strikes on the ball."

Tiger defenders Jack Naugle, Owen Bender, Spencer DelGiudice, Micah Helsel and Ben Johnson were a lot stingier on defense in the second half in front of Wright than they were in the first half.

"We took care of the ball and we didn't panic," Shale added. "We controlled things a lot better."

SCORE BY HALVES

Bellefonte 3 0 -- 3

Hollidaysburg 3 3 -- 6

First Half: B -- Sharpe (unassisted), 32:39; B -- Wertz (unassisted), 19:17; H--Barton (unassisted), 13:38; H--Tryninewski (unassisted), 13:17; H -- Tryninewski (Arbogast), 9:14; B -- Ondrasik (unassisted), 5:28

Second Half: H--Crum (Desort), 20:34; H -- Crum (unassisted), 9:27; H -- Crum (unassisted), 1:22

Shots on goal: Bellefonte, 14; Hollidaysburg, 26

Corner kicks: Bellefonte 3, Hollidaysburg 4

Keeper saves: Davis, B, 11; Wright, H, 4

Records: Bellefonte (11-4-1); Hollidaysburg (15-4)