Lady Dragons hold off Tyrone to earn spot in final
Trending
By Scott Franco
sfranco@altoonamirror.com
The Central girls soccer team is on a quest this year that involves a District 6 Class 2A championship. The Tyrone Lady Eagles almost ruined those plans Monday night at Mansion Park in Altoona.
The undefeated Lady Dragons jumped out to a 4-1 lead and then held on in the final 3:44 of play as a furious Tyrone rally fell short in a 4-3 victory that has Central playing Bedford Thursday night at Hollidaysburg at 5:30 p.m. in the final
"Anybody else would have walked off the field when it was 4-1 and said the game is over, but I could not be more proud of our team and our seniors," Tyrone coach Mike Sparacino said. "My seniors really wanted to get to that championship game again. It's not fun losing, but hopefully, one day, they will realize what an accomplishment that was."
Tyrone (13-7) jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the No. 1 seed when Briley Campbell got the ball on a throw-in from Eliza Vance and scored past keeper Darcy Heltzel at the 37:29 mark of the first half.
It was 10 minutes before another goal was scored, but it wasn't because of a lack of effort. There was plenty of that. Central had a solid corner kick opportunity at the 34:30 mark that Tyrone keeper Rayann Walls got to for a save. The Lady Eagles had the ball inside the yellow box near the 13 at the 30:00 mark but could not get a shot off.
Central's Ella Garner had a shot hit off the crossbar at the 29:35 mark. The Lady Dragons finally tied it when Carli Hart found a loose ball and scored at the 27:31 mark to make it 1-1.
"I like how we connect the ball. I like how we pass the ball and that just opens a lot of passing lanes for us," replied Central coach Randy Trexler on what he thought the difference in the game was. "I thought Kira (Trexler) did a real nice job up top. We normally don't play her up that high, and Ella Garner … she is such a dominant player out there."
The Lady Dragons took a 2-1 lead at the 4:39 mark when Kira Trexler found Garner right in front of the net. The senior settled the ball and fired it in for the lead.
With 1:06 to go before the break, Tyrone's top scorer, Chloe LaRosa who was running up and down the field all night, exploded a shot from about 15 yards out that banged off the crossbar, loud enough to hear all the way up in the pressbox.
"When she hit the crossbar right before half … that is soccer and that is playoff soccer, too," Sparacino said. "You don't get a lot of opportunities and when you do, you gotta finish. Unfortunately, we didn't finish one or two times and they did."
The play of the game may have come at the 29:35 mark when LaRosa was going for a loose ball down the right side with only Darcy Heltzel in front of her. Both players were racing to the ball and Heltzel got to it just as LaRosa got a foot on it to stop a solid shot attempt.
"I trust her," Coach Trexler said when asked if he was nervous about her coming out so far to stop a shot. "She really kept us in it out there. We are a good attacking team at every position."
Central went up 3-1 when Kira Trexler worked the ball from the right side of the field into the middle, right in front of the keeper. She took her shot. Walls got it the first time but it somehow ricocheted into the cage for a score. Brynn Miller made it 4-1 with a goal at the 9:37 mark.
"She is not one of our leading scorers but when she gets in, she contributes," Coach Trexler said of Miller. "She played a lot tonight. That goal was the game-winner."
That's because Tyrone scored two goals in the final 3:44, one by by Rebecca Lewis and one by Campbell. The final goal came with 44 seconds left that had many of the Cove faithful in the stands a little unnerved.
"Only because we were tired, and I know our passes weren't connecting the same, but I knew they would have had to score three goals to get caught up and I didn't think it would happen," Coach Trexler answered when asked how nervous he got down the stretch.
Central plays Bedford for the title on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. The two teams played twice this season with the Lady Dragons winning 2-1 and 1-0.
SCORE BY HALVES
Tyrone 1 2 -- 3
Central 2 2 -- 4
First Half: T -- Campbell (Vance), 37:29; C -- Hart (unassisted), 27:31; C -- Garner (Trexler), 4:39
Second Half: C -- Trexler (unassisted), 26:30; C -- Miller (unassisted), 9:37; T -- Lewis (unassisted), 3:44; T -- Campbell (unassisted), :44
Shots on goal -- Tyrone 13, Central 23
Corner kicks -- Tyrone 1, Central 7
Keeper saves -- Darcy Heltzel, C, 7; Walls, T, 11
Records: Central (20-0), Tyrone (13-7)