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By Matt Michelone
sports@altoonamirror.com
Sometimes if you want to be the champion, you have to beat the defending champion along the way.
That happened on Wednesday night.
The first half of the District 6 Class 2A boys soccer quarterfinal between No. 4 Penn Cambria and No. 5 Juniata featured a lot of both sides playing between the 20-yard lines.
That was until early in the second half when Panther sophomore Nick Marshall went top shelf for what ended up being the game-winner as Penn Cambria knocked off the defending champion Indians, 1-0, at Mansion Park.
"We just said this top half of the bracket was going to be tough," Penn Cambria coach Nick Wanyo said. "We knew Juniata was good, we know Penns Valley's good, we faced them. This is only our second playoff win we've ever had at Penn Cambria.
"They've worked really hard, we ended the (regular) season a little tough, and they've really bounced back, taken everything we've said, and they've really road with it," he added.
Officially, this is the second time the Panthers have won a playoff game in program history, the first since 2019.
The defenses stymied both offensive efforts for each team before Seth Conrad had a prime opportunity turned away by Juniata keeper Wyatt Dessin.
Daniel Lopez later found an open Ricky Guante around the 25th minute for the Indians but Duncan Gongloff turned the opportunity away.
"We have no one to blame but ourselves," Juniata coach Jared Byler said. "We had 13 opportunities in the first half, a lot of balls just sitting right in front of the goal that we didn't put in. We make one mistake in the second half that they capitalize on."
Both teams were tied, and momentum started to build to the game-winner as Jackson Rice had a prime scoring opportunity that went high before Marshall finished the lone tally.
"(Marshall)'s a sophomore, and he's still learning," Wanyo said. "He's still learning learning how far he can take a ball, his own speed, I still think he's figuring out his own body. I know he can finish, that's why he's up there. With Andrew (Dillon) behind, Sean (Tomlinson) behind him, those two captains just lead him and tell him what to do. He's a hustler."
Wanyo was also proud of the efforts of Gongloff who turned way three prime scoring chances by the Indians in a matter of six minutes, capped off by a chance from Anthony Maradiaga.
"He's grown into his own," Wanyo said. "There are still things he needs to work on, he gets hard on himself, but we're trying to let it go, we'll go from there. He had saves we needed, and he's always come up big for us."
During the postgame happenings, Byler took a moment to salute the Panthers and encourage them to take the crown from his Indians.
"You always got respect for anybody that beats you," he said. "We're never going to be a program that's going to pout if we lose. I just went over there and told them 'look, if you're going to defeat a defending district champion, I tip my hat to you, but your job is to go win now.'"
Wanyo appreciated the words.
"He's seen it, he's been through it," he said. "We've never been to a championship game. Jared's awesome. Me and him, we talk every postseason. We help each other out. I'm happy for his success and I'm glad he's doing the same. We have a good relationship."
Penn Cambria will face Penns Valley on Monday at Bald Eagle Area's Alumni Stadium at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
SCORE BY HALVES
Juniata……………………………………………………..0 0 - 0
Penn Cambria 0 1 - 1
Second Half: PC - Marshall (Tomlinson), 44:26
Records: Juniata (9-9-1); Penn Cambria (10-8-1).