Tigers make most of opportunity
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
WINGATE -- Hollidaysburg entered the 2023 season with more questions than usual considering the strength of the program built by coach Craig Shale over the past decade.
Some of that had to do with the Golden Tigers' youth as well as Shale's brief flirtation with retirement following last season before agreeing to come back to coach this year's team.
Tuesday night at Bald Eagle Area's Alumni Stadium, holding another District 6 Class 3A championship trophy after a 3-0 win over Bellefonte made it all worth it.
"This is what it's about," Shale said. "You put in the work for the season, and I'm more than happy to coach this group. They have got a couple more years before this main group will be seniors. I'm happy to be part of this. You have a great group of kids, a great group of parents, and nights like this make it all worthwhile."
Caleb Tryninewski opened the scoring just more than eight minutes into the match.
"The back four played really well," Shale said. "Ben Johnson and Caleb up top played superb. They really linked together well, held the ball up and gave us some breathing space. Every one of these guys played well, and they deserve this."
Tryninewski is one of eight seniors listed on Hollidaysburg's roster, but only five started Tuesday's game.
"I was a little worried, because it was an intense game," Tryninewski said. "But that first goal boosted our confidence a little bit."
After the first goal cracked the tension, sophomore Owen Naugle made it 2-0 after Luca Waibel settled the ball off his chest just in front of the goal.
"We had a real young team, but we have a lot of skilled players," Tryninewski said. "We have everything else that everyone else has. It feels great to win a championship."
Waibel, also a sophomore, scored the third goal just before halftime.
"It's a young team," Shale said. "There are four or five sophomores, a couple of freshmen are getting playing time. It has been a nice transition from previous years to the new kids coming through. It took all season. We got a little bit better each game. Today, we played two good halves. Usually, we play either a good first half or a good second half. We took our chances in the first half, and in the second half, we didn't panic, we just played our game. The kids played really well."
Senior keeper Derek Wright was busy early in the second half as the Red Raiders controlled the tempo and possession but kept Bellefonte scoreless.
"I told them if we could score three goals in the first half, they could certainly score three goals in the second half," Shale said. "Give credit to Bellefonte, they came out right from the start in the second half and pushed us back. After we withstood the first 10 minutes, we started to find our groove and just took care of the ball. There was no panic, which is good about this group."
The Golden Tigers will play District 9 champion Bradford, which defeated DuBois, 2-1. Hollidaysburg will host that game on Saturday at Tiger Stadium with a time to be determined. The winner will advance to the PIAA playoffs, which begin on Tuesday.
SCORE BY HALVES
Bellefonte 0 0 -- 0
Hollidaysburg 3 0 -- 0
First half: H--Tryninewski (Johnson), 31:57; H--Naugle (Waibel), 14:50; H--Waibel (unassisted), 1:53.
Second half: No scoring.
Records: Hollidaysburg (15-5); Bellefonte (12-5-1).