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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Marc Frye is in his first year as the girls varsity soccer coach at Altoona Area High School this fall, and he admits that there were some initial growing pains on both sides.
"We got off to a little bit of a slow start this year,'' Frye said. "I have a certain style and form of play that I want to coach, and it took the girls some time to adjust to that. But once they figured it out, this team has been playing very solid. They believe in the system now.''
Altoona certainly played a solid game Monday night, carving out a 3-1 non-conference victory over archrival Hollidaysburg at Tiger Stadium.
Senior target position standout Hailey Kravetz scored two goals and senior Hannah Vancas tallied the other for Altoona, which built a 3-1 lead en route to winning its sixth game in a row and improving its season record to 8-5.
"This is six in a row and seven out of the last eight for us,'' Frye said. "I'm very proud of our girls. We have seven varsity players out right now, and we've yet to play a game this year with our full roster.
"I thought this was a gutsy win for us,'' Frye added. "As a team, we refused to lose tonight.''
Vancas got Altoona on the board first with an unassisted goal from in front of the Hollidaysburg cage at the 28:15 mark of the first half.
Altoona had a surge of pressure on in the Hollidaysburg end when Vancas found herself with an open shot.
"I feel like when I scored, it gave us some momentum,'' Vancas said.
Kravetz extended that momentum and gave Altoona a 2-0 lead by scoring off an assist from junior Lia Sankey just over six minutes later.
"Hailey is the ultimate competitor, and she exhibits a fearless style of play,'' Frye said. "When you combine those two qualities, it's just amazing to watch what she can do.''
Kravetz made it a 3-0 Altoona lead six minutes into the second half. Racing down the field with an assist from freshman Ava Frye, Kravetz booted a kick into the upper righthand corner of the cage.
"It's definitely a good feeling to win this game,'' Kravetz said. "The teams I've been on haven't lost a game to Hollidaysburg going back to my playing days in junior high school. It's the last time I'll be playing against Hollidaysburg, and I knew that I had to go out with a win.''
Hollidaysburg averted a shutout on a goal by senior forward Aubree Waksmonski midway through the second half.
"I thought our team played well tonight,'' said Hollidaysburg coach Tristan delGiudice, whose team dipped to 9-3 on the season, with two of those losses coming to Altoona. "I thought that the final score wasn't reflective of how we played.''
With Altoona shorthanded due to injuries, the Lady Lions made the most of their scoring chances.
"We are low on numbers right now,'' Kravetz said. "It was very important for us to play a simple, sound game tonight, and to take advantage of our opportunities when we needed to do so.''
SCORE BY HALVES
Altoona 2 1--3
Hollidaysburg 0 1--1
First half
1, A--Vancas (unassisted), 28:15.
2, A--Kravetz (Sankey), 34:39.
Second half
3, A--Kravetz (Frye), 6:00.
4, H--Waksmonski (C. Stoehr), 18:42.
Shots on goal: Altoona 12, Hollidaysburg 10.
Saves: Dietzel, A, 9; Foster, H, 9.
Records: Altoona (8-5), Hollidaysburg (9-3).
Next game: Altoona visits State College Wednesday; Hollidaysburg hosts Bellefonte tonight.
JV: Scoreless tie.