Chuck Meyers photo Cambria Heights players celebrate after defeating Huntingdon in the District 6 Class 2A Final 1-0.

By Calem Illig

For the Mirror

While the Cambria Heights girls soccer team spent the last three days preparing for Huntingdon, a wrench was thrown into its plans just moments before kickoff at Thursday’s District 6 Class 2A title game.

Starting goalkeeper Maria Wendekier was injured during warmups, and despite playing the opening five minutes, she exited the game as sophomore Emma Gilbey took over in net.

With the district crown on the line, Gilbey made several key stops to help lead the Lady Highlanders to a 1-0 championship victory over the Lady Bearcats.

“Maria is such a great partner, and she was helping me so much through warmups,” Gilbey said. “I admire her so much, and as soon as I saw her go down, the first thing I could think of was if she was OK. She’s absolutely amazing, and she gave me all the confidence that I needed.”

Gilbey didn’t have an easy introduction to the game. She was forced to make a sliding save on a shot from Grace Buonaccorsi just moments after entering.

She stopped all 11 shots faced and combined with Wendekier to earn the shutout.

“Emma stepped right in and did a fantastic job,” Heights coach Nikki Spanik said. “Maria has been our starter all year but got hurt in warmup, and Emma came right in and made some big saves for us.”

With the win, the Lady Highlanders (16-2-2) claimed their first-ever district title.

“We have grown so much as a team the last few years and have really become a family,” said Heights senior defender Emma Spanik, who helped stymie the Bearcats’ attack. “You could see it on the field before and after the game. We truly just stayed together, and those connections throughout the years helped us get to this point.”

After searching all game for a goal, Cambria Heights finally broke the seal with only 6:50 remaining in regulation with a corner kick from Ella Lamb.

Following a stint of pressure in the attacking end that was rewarded with a corner kick, Lamb curled the ball toward the net before it bounced off the hands of Bearcats keeper Molly Millar and into the back of the net.

“Every time I take corners, I always look to see if there’s an opening to shoot,” Lamb said. “There wasn’t a lot of time left, so I figured, why not? I couldn’t believe it when it went in.”

Huntingdon (12-9) sustained pressure throughout the night and made life difficult for the Highlanders’ defense.

The Lady Bearcats rattled off six of the last seven shots prior to Lamb’s goal, and they nearly converted moments earlier.

With a corner kick of its own, Huntingdon received two shots off the bounce, with one ringing off the crossbar.

Gilbey made a desperation stop on the second attempt as the game remained scoreless.

“Cambria Heights played a very different style than us, and it was hard for us to defend,” Huntingdon coach Allen Gwinn said. “They took a lot of long shots down the field and would chase them down, and we weren’t very used to defending those types of plays.”

Led by the defensive quartet of Emma Spanik, Hallie Hayes, Sarah Weld and Hailey Karlheim, Heights limited the damage to give its offense a chance.

“My defense had my back the entire time,” Gilbey said. “I knew they were going to be there for me, and they helped keep us in the game.”

The Highlanders struggled to find their way early and didn’t record a shot for the first 15 minutes of the game.

A shot from Morgan Ross was denied just 13 seconds before halftime, and Hannah Hite couldn’t find the back of the net on a breakaway.

Slowly but surely, however, they eventually broke through.

“Huntingdon is a really good team, and whenever you face a team like that, you really have to focus,” Emma Spanik said. “It could’ve went either way tonight, but I think we wanted it more. We continued to push into the very end.”

Cambria Heights advances to the state tournament for the first time in school history Tuesday where it will face the second seed out of District 3.

“We have to keep this momentum,” Emma Spanik said. “No matter what, we’re going to put in the effort and the time in practice to keep this going. We’re going in with the same attitude we’ve had tonight. We’re there to win, and we’re there for each other.”

SCORE BY HALVES

Cambria Heights 0 1 — 1

Huntingdon 0 0 — 0

SECOND HALF

CH — Lamb, (unassisted), 6:50

Saves: Gilbey, CH, 11; Wendekier, CH,2; Millar, H, 10

Records: Cambria Heights (16-2-2); Huntingdon (12-9).