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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Hollidaysburg and Bradford both scored within the first nine minutes of Saturday afternoon's PIAA Class 3A subregional match.
From that point, the two teams battled back-and-forth in a physical, gritty and sometimes sloppy affair in an attempt to gain the upper hand.
Unfortunately, the Owls got a goal off a deflection in the 17th minute of the second half as Hollidaysburg's season ended in heartbreaking fashion with a 2-1 loss at Tiger Stadium.
"I feel bad for the guys because they didn't deserve to lose that game. We did more than enough to win that game but it comes down to -- you've got to score," Hollidaysburg coach Craig Shale said. "There's was a deflection, I mean, it wasn't even a good goal. So, that's tough but we had our chances. It was just one of those games where we just didn't get a goal. One team's got the luck and they (Bradford) got the luck."
Hollidaysburg concluded at 15-6-0, while Bradford improved to 12-9-0.
"It wasn't our best game -- it certainly was scrappy," Bradford coach Peter Butler said. "We had a plan they pretty much stuck to particularly in the last 15 minutes of so when we went to a 4-5-1 (formation). ... The idea being to hold them (Hollidaysburg) off. We got lucky a couple of times but then you ride your luck."
The Tigers returned only three starters from a squad that went 15-5-0 in 2022 and lost to Bradford by the same 2-1 score in the subregional on the road.
This year's edition had five seniors and six underclassmen in the starting lineup, and thus it would have been easy to think they wouldn't even make it to this weekend.
However, the Tigers continued to gel as the season wore on and the new rotation of players gained experience and with that came the wins.
Hollidaysburg said goodbye to defenders Travis Weyandt and Owen Bender, goalkeeper Derek Wright and forwards Ben Johnson and Caleb Tryninewski out of the starters, as well as Brodie Bilthuis and Paul Giess off the bench.
The underclassmen group gained a wealth of experience and return plenty of talent to not find themselves back playing in the same subregional in 2024.
"I thought we dominated," Shale said. "I just feel like we were robbed. It's a tough way to finish."
Bradford wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard as Andrew Mangold took a feed from Mitchell Strouss about 30 yards out.
Mangold started on the left, dribbled around a few Hollidaysburg defenders trying to find an opening. As soon as the senior found space he rifled a shot about 20 yards out that found went on the arm of Wright and into the left corner to give the Owls a 1-0 cushion at 36:38 of the first.
Bradford nearly got another one in the 32nd minute but Aiden Willard's attempt went wide.
On the counterattack, Tryninewski laid off a pass to sophomore Luca Waibel who took three touches into the center before delivering a shot from 20 yards out.
Bradford goalkeeper Tristen Dragoone got a hand on the shot but not enough to stop it from finding the back of the net to tie the contest at 1-1 with 31:21 showing on the clock.
"I thought both keepers were at fault for the first goals," Butler said. "Their (Hollidaysburg) keeper -- it went under his armpit. And, our keeper, he should have had two hands on it instead of one."
After having no quality chances in the second half, the Owls finally got one in the 18th minute as Patrick French delivered a thru-ball to Mangold who entered the 18-yard box.
With Wright sprinting out for the challenge, Mangold took a shot that was redirected out of bounds off the legs of the sliding Wright.
Mangold's throw-in found the foot of Strouss who took two touches and ripped a shot on goal that deflected off a Golden Tiger defender and went into the goal for the eventual game-winning goal with 17:42 left to play.
"The winning goal, their (Hollidaysburg) keeper couldn't do anything about," Butler said. "It took a heavy deflection and that was it."
The Golden Tigers outshot the Owls, 23-21, and had more attempts that were on goal, 16-11.
"Those couple of one-on-ones we had, you could say it comes down to the forward," Shale said. "But you've also got to give the keeper credit. He (Dragoone) closed down the angle and that keeps you in games. They (Bradford) were in the game long enough to create their own luck. But I honestly feel we were the better team."
It wasn't for a lack of effort or chances by Hollidaysburg. In the end, things simply just didn't go their way.
SCORE BY HALVES
Bradford 1 1 -- 2
Hollidaysburg 1 0 -- 1
First half: B--Mangold (Strouss assist), 36:38; H--Waibel (Tryninewski assist), 31:21.
Second half: B--Strouss (Mangold assist), 17:42.
Keepers: Bradford -- Dragoone: 15 saves, 16 shots on goal; Hollidaysburg -- Wright: 9 saves, 11 shots on goal.
Shots: Bradford 21, Hollidaysburg 23.
Corner kicks: Bradford 2, Hollidaysburg 6.
Records: Bradford (12-9-0); Hollidaysburg (15-6-0).