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The Altoona boys soccer team has won six 1-0 matches this year with excellent defense, but those games lead to a thin line between winning and losing.
Thursday night in the District 6 Class 4A boys soccer semifinals, the Mountain Lions found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 score for the second time this season against Central Mountain.
"It's a cruel game," Altoona coach Dave McCarter said. "We had a ton of chances and a lot of looks at goal. It's who buries them. I thought we were playing great defensively, lights out. If you don't finish, one opportunity for the other team can be a game-ender, and that's exactly what happened to us. It's a tough way to lose, but you have to score more goals than them to win. It's that simple. All the other stats in the world don't matter. The one on the scoreboard matters the most."
Altoona came close to scoring several times and hit the top crossbar twice, once in each half. Cohen Crawford nearly scored with 5:20 to play in the first half as well, but Wildcats goalie Luke Simcox was in the right place at the right time to stop it.
With 21:45 to play in the game, Simcox made another outstanding stop on a shot by Jace Black where he dove to his left.
"He's been a stud all season," Central Mountain coach Billy Hook said. "It's actually his first year playing. He's a phenomenal wrestler, and he's been awesome. He got helped by the crossbar twice, which was helpful, but he played phenomenal all night."
The game looked like it was headed to overtime, but with less than five minutes to play, Altoona keeper Luke Mitchell had to make a diving save. With 4:37 left, Asher Talbot scored the game's only goal in the ensuing scramble.
"We couldn't get possession going, so we were trying to pressure as much as we could," Hook said. "We were hoping something like that would happen where a ball bounces around, we get a cross and get into that position. It was all on effort. They did a great job defending us. We couldn't build anything."
McCarter gave credit to Talbot.
"It's one of those things that is part of soccer," McCarter said. "We had a little bit of a breakdown and presented them with an opening. Luke makes a save, it kisses the post and the next thing, we're in a scramble mode where we're just chasing. The ball comes in, and they countered with a great shot, upper left. Luke can't be expected from that distance and that angle to get anywhere near that. That's not a goalie thing, that's a full team breakdown. No blame goes on anything. It's just a bad scenario."
Talbot, a senior, scored his team-leading 12th goal for the Wildcats.
"He's had a knack," Hook said. "That's his second or third game-winning goal. He has a knack for it, and we feel really good when he's in the game."
Altoona loses nine seniors, including Crawford who led the team with 10 goals this season.
"The attitude is infectious," McCarter said. "Being around those kids every day, they are so positive. They play for each other, and it's a fun group to be around. They left it on the field. It's a great group that will be really hard to replace. They are great kids all around. They are Altoona soccer. They do what we preach, and they live our values and how we approach the game. Their mindset was amazing this year. They came to battle every day. It's tough for them to end it this way. It's always tough when a season ends, but this one hurts, because this is such a special group."
As Altoona (13-5) missed chance after chance on Thursday, McCarter said he was happy with the way his team maintained its composure.
"The old adage is you worry it's not your day," McCarter said. "We had the mindset as a coaching staff and as a team that we were going to bury the next one and not worry about the past. It's ancient history. We talk about going after the next one and not dwelling on it. We won a ton of 1-0 games, so we have been there and done that and kept fighting through. We figured we would eventually get one, and it just didn't happen for us."
Central Mountain (10-6) will play top-seeded State College in the 4A championship game on Monday at Bald Eagle Area at 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY HALVES
Central Mountain 0 1 — 1
Altoona 0 0 — 0
First Half: none.
Second Half: CM-Talbot (unassisted), 4:37.
Records: Central Mountain (10-6); Altoona (13-5).