High School Boys soccer

Tiger boys give effort, not enough goals in loss to Plum soccer

PIAA 3A Soccer

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Hollidaysburg Area High School boys soccer team earned an 'A' for effort in its PIAA Class 3A first-round state playoff matchup with highly-touted WPIAL runners-up Plum Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium.

But unfortunately for the Golden Tigers, their effort alone wasn't enough to propel them into Saturday's quarterfinal round.

Plum (19-1-1 this season) led only 2-1 at intermission, but the Mustangs gained separation with a pair of unanswered second-half goals to post a 4-1 victory and end Hollidaysburg's season.

"They were not any better than us -- we can finish our season with our heads held high,'' said Hollidaysburg coach Craig Shale, whose Tigers wound up with a 14-4-3 record after winning their second consecutive District 6 championship last week.

"I'm proud of our players, they showed tonight that they can go toe-to-toe with the big teams in the state,'' Shale added.

That was especially the case in the first half, when Hollidaysburg outshot Plum, 9-8, had two goals whistled down because of offsides calls, and gave every indication of playing an 80-minute, wire-to-wire donnybrook.

Plum scored the game's first two goals on an unassisted tally by junior midfielder Anthony Arrigo just 2:50 into the game, and a close-range kick from senior forward Joaquin Santiago with 20:34 left in the half.

Hollidaysburg promptly answered Santiago's goal just 16 seconds later, when Tigers' sophomore midfielder Caiden Galioto found an opening on the left flat and deposited a short-range kick into the cage to pull the Tigers to within one goal, 2-1 at intermission.

"We played so well in the first half,'' Shale said. "But it was a tale of two halves, and the second half was extremely disjointed and chippy.''

Indeed, several fouls were called in the second half, Hollidaysburg managed just two shots on goal over the final 40 minutes of the game, and Plum was able to build on its narrow halftime lead and pull away.

Senior forward Kent Holmes scored a big goal for Plum just 79 seconds into the second half, ticketing the lower right corner of the cage after finding an opening on the left side of the field, giving the Mustangs a 3-1 lead.

"That third goal helped us relax,'' Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. "If you have just a one-goal lead, and they score, it's tied, 2-2. Getting that third goal changed everything for us.

"Hollidaysburg is a good team -- this wasn't easy for us by any means,'' Kolankowski added. "We had some scoring chances in the first half, but we couldn't put it away. I told my guys to focus in the second half.''

Senior forward Andy Strasser helped Plum padlock the victory by scoring the final goal of the game with 17:05 remaining to set the 4-1 final score.

Hollidaysburg graduates only four seniors and came on strong in the second half of this season to defend its district championship.

"We played well in the second half of the season - we played our best soccer in the business end of the season, when it matters,'' Shale said. "We have a lot of kids coming back next year. We're going to be good again for a couple of more years.''

SCORE BY HALVES

Plum 2 2 -- 4

Hollidaysburg 1 0 -- 1

FIRST HALF: P--Arrigo (unassisted), 37:10. P--Santiago (Maxwell), 20:50. H--Galioto (Walters), 20:34.

SECOND HALF: P--Holmes (Maxwell), 38:41. P--Strasser (Zalewski), 17:05.

Shots on goal: Plum 14, Hollidaysburg 11.

Saves: Eber, P, 7; Majcher, P, 1; Jancula, H, 9.

Corner kicks: Plum 3, Hollidaysburg 2.

Records: Plum (19-1-1); Hollidaysburg (14-4-3).