Lady Dragons lose for first time in final
Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The tears were flowing on the Central sideline following Thursday's District 6 2A championship game. The top-seeded and undefeated Lady Dragons drive for district gold ended in heartbreak.
After downing Bedford in two tough matches during the regular season, Central came up just short of a three-peat over its Laurel Highlands Conference rival, falling 2-1 in overtime at Tiger Stadium.
Central jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Kira Trexler scored off a pass from Leya Hazenstab six minutes into the game.
The Lady Dragons smothering defense, which surrendered just 17 goals all season to that point, nearly made the early goal stand up. The keyword being nearly.
Bedford got the equalizer with 4:33 left in regulation when Rachel Leydig's pass from the left corner bounced high off Cassidy DeHaven over Darcy Heltzel's head and into the net.
The Lady Bisons nearly took the lead a minute later, but Eva Sipes' shot hit off the post. Momentum had clearly shifted to Bedford at that point.
"We got tired and towards the end couldn't connect the passes," Central coach Randy Trexler said. "Bedford was tired. Everyone was tired. You gotta' give it to Bedford. We knew it would be a tough game. That goal with 4¢ minutes left changed the game."
Following two scoreless overtime periods, the game went to a shootout, which Bedford took 3-1 to claim the title.
Beford got goals from Kaitlyn Richardson, Grace Sarver, and Taylor Diehl. Ella Garner scored Centrals lone goal. One of the Central misses hit the left post, and the other two were high and wide right, respectively.
"We've practiced them all season, and we had an order set early on," Trexler said. "You can't practice that kind of pressure with all those eyes looking at you. Half those girls taking those PKs are freshmen and sophomores. What a test for those young girls. I couldn't be prouder of them."
Heltzel gave the Lady Dragons life with a diving save of DeHaven's shot, but when Diehl's kick rolled into the lower left corner, the Bedford celebration was on.
"It's unbelievable. I was shocked. I just had to run to my team. I didn't realize mine was the clincher at first," Diehl said.
"We've been here before. I kept telling 'em to tune everything else, just go up and put it in the corner," Bedford coach Jeff Thomas said.
Both teams qualified for the state playoffs by reaching the championship game. As district champion, Bedford plays the WPIAL runner-up while Central gets the District 9 champion in the opening round Tuesday at times and sites to be announced.
"It's always easy when you're winning. This is a real test of how you're going to do when things don't go your way," Randy Trexler said.
SCORE BY HALVES
Bedford 0 1 0 0 1 -- 2
Central 1 0 0 0 0 -- 1
First Half: C--Trexler (Hazenstab), 33:59.
Second Half: B--DeHaven (Leydig), 4:33
Shootout: Bedford 3 (Richardson, Sarver, Diehl); Central (Garner).
Records: Bedford (17-3); Central (20-1).