Chuck Meyers photo Josephine Irwin makes a pass against McDowell.

By Jon Fleck

For the Mirror

The Altoona girls soccer team has advanced to the PIAA tournament.

The Lady Lions wrapped up a grueling week with a 6-2 win over McDowell in the District 6-8-10 Class 4A subregional final Thursday at Mansion Park to qualify for the state tourney for the second year in a row.

Lia Sankey topped the scoring sheet with three goals, Sophia O’Dea and Tatum Shoeman each had a goal and an assist while Allison Little and Eva Frye had two assists apiece.

The victory ended an emotionally taxing week for the Lady Lions that started Sunday with news of teammate Lundyn Treese’s tragic death. She was killed in a car accident Sunday morning in downtown Altoona.

“The whole week has been emotionally draining, physically draining. Nobody’s slept. There’s so much on everybody’s mind,” Altoona coach Marc Frye said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how the team and the families have handled this in such a mature way. This team grew up right in front of my eyes.”

There’s was initially some discussion as to whether the team wanted to continue with the season, the coach said.

“We could have folded very easily. When it first happened, we asked the girls if they wanted to forfeit the season. We decided Lundyn would have wanted us to keep playing. She would have been heartbroken had we stopped playing. We’re chasing this whole season in her honor, and the girls are playing their guts out.”

Two days later, Altoona downed Allderdice, 5-0, in the first subregional game before taking on McDowell Thursday.

The Lady Lions now get a few days of much-needed rest before they go for the first PIAA win in program history. The team opens tournament play Tuesday at Mansion Park. They will play the loser of today’s Peters Township/Seneca Valley 4A WPIAL championship game. Start time is to be determined.

“The whole team has been sick at points throughout the season. I’m starting to get sick myself,” an exhausted O’Dea said following the game. “We’re all tired, but we’re trying to push through and make history.”

Altoona opened the scoring 6:40 into the game on Sankey’s first goal off a pass from Little.

“Lia and I work really well together. She’s super fast and always in the right place,” Little said. “We’ve been playing together so long that I know what runs she’s going to make, she knows I’m going to find her, and I know she’ll finish.”

McDowell tied it on an Anna Rosswog goal with 22:03 left in the first half. Altoona defender Aubriana Berardinelli and keeper Hailey Rodriguez collided at the top of the box with the ball rolling into the open net.

The Lady Lions reclaimed the lead for good when O’Dea and Sankey teamed up for a goal less than five minutes later.

O’Dea pushed the ball up the right side, and just before reaching the end line, found Sankey with a centering pass that she slipped past the keeper for the goal.

Altoona added another one late in the half when Frye attempted a pass to O’Dea in the box that the keeper fumbled, allowing O’Dea to turn and quickly put it in the goal.

After being dominated in the first half, McDowell made some adjustments, resulting in Rosswog’s second goal of the game that made it a one-score game.

Three minutes later, Altoona answered to go up two once again when Sankey got the hat trick off Frye’s corner kick.

“There was a big circle of traffic in front of me. I had a little open area, and it just fell right in front of me. It was a beautiful ball by Eva that landed right at my feet,” Sankey said.

Tatum Shoeman added to the Altoona lead with a goal off Little’s second assist.

“Ali was basically ghosted the whole game. She had two girls draped on her but still had the ability to create even with that kind of attention,” Marc Frye said.

Adelyn Himmelwright’s goal with 5:58 left sealed the victory.

“They’re a good team,” McDowell coach Jay Perkins said. “They have some girls that are very quick and fast. We had a hard time keeping up with them. We made some adjustments at halftime and changed the momentum of the game for a bit, but they were able to score a couple more and put it away.”

SCORE BY HALVES

McDowell 1 1 – 2

Altoona 3 3 – 6

First half: A-Sankey (Little assist), 33:20; M-Rosswog, 22:03; A-Sankey (O’Dea), 17:21; A-O’Dea (Frye), 3:17.

Second half: M-Rosswog (Faulkner), 28:02; A-Sankey (Frye), 24:51; A-Shoeman (Little), 12:43; A-Himmelwright (Shoeman), 5:58.

Shots on goal: McDowell 4, Altoona 15.

Saves: McDowell (Chiles) 9, Altoona (Rodriguez) 2.

Records: McDowell 14-5-1, Altoona 15-5.