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By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
Penn Cambria entered the District 6 Class 2A boys soccer playoffs in some unfamiliar territory where instead of being a team trying to knock off the champion, it was the one everyone else was trying to beat.
The Panthers' Nick Marshall scored the game-winner in last year's district championship in overtime.
On Wednesday night, he came up clutch again, midway through the extra session, to send the fourth-seeded Panthers to the semifinal following a 3-2 win over No. 5 Cambria Heights.
"(Cody Farabaugh) hit a beautiful cross, and Nick just touched it," Penn Cambria coach Nick Wanyo said.
Both sides played a back-and-forth first half as Farabaugh, off a free kick from the football 25, had a prime opportunity turned away by Highlander keeper Owen Garrison
About a minute later, though, Heights broke the ice as Cooper Fyock found the upper left corner to give his team a 1-0 lead.
"We played really well today; we did a lot of things right," Cambria Heights coach Adam Strasser said. "We had a lot of opportunities; our two goals were fantastic goals. In overtime we were just unlucky. Hats off to Penn Cambria, they took advantage. They had a beautiful cross in and a finish to win the game."
The Panthers got another prime scoring chance about 11 minutes in as Kyle Conrad had his scoring opportunity stopped by Garrison.
It was Cayden Helsel, though, tying the game up on a breakaway to the lower left corner to tie the match.
Heights' Connor Abrams, from the 30, had another prime chance, but it was stopped by Duncan Gongloff.
The Panthers' Jacob Zunich capped off the offensive attempts in the first half with about 1:30 to go, but it missed just wide to the right to keep the score even at the break.
Play was almost dead even in the second half until about the 58th minute. Nate Conaway buried one from long range to give the Highlanders the lead.
The Panthers, though, tied the game up about seven minutes later as Farabaugh tucked one in off the rebound.
"It's hard to beat a team twice," Wanyo said. "We played very well in the first half. The second half Cambria Heights had our number in the middle. We were struggling, trying to possess the ball.
"We made a few mistakes which cost us goals. They never dropped their heads; they knew they could do it. It was three pretty goals (that won the game). I'm proud of the boys."
The Panthers defeated the Highlanders 1-0 during the season.
Wednesday night's defeat brings the end of the line for eight Highlander seniors. Strasser is taking pride in how the Highlanders continued to fight through the end of the season.
"We beat some really talented teams and I felt that each game we got better and better. We finished the regular season 5-2 to round up our last seven games," Strasser said.
He also took a moment to salute his seniors.
"They're really good leaders, they worked hard every day, and they continued to want our team to do the best that they could," he said. "A lot of these seniors are involved in a lot of different sports at Cambria Heights. We have kids that kick for the football team, we have kids who play basketball, the wrestle. The same goes for the Glendale seniors as well. They were a really talented group of kids."
Penn Cambria will travel to Philipsburg-Osceola on Monday to take on top-seed Penns Valley at 5:30 p.m.
SCORE BY HALVES
Cambria Heights 1 1 0 - 2
Penn Cambria 1 1 1 - 3
First Half: 1,) CH - Fyock (Conaway), 6:46; 2,) PC - Helsel (Conrad), 11:40.
Second Half: 3,) CH - Conaway (Eckenrode), 57:57; 4,) Farabaugh (Latterner), 64:46.
First Overtime: 5,) Marshall (Farabaugh), 87:30.
Records: Cambria Heights (12-7); Penn Cambria (13-6).