High School Girls soccer

Never too late for Lady Red Devils to get the win

D6 2A Girls Soccer

EBENSBURG -- Less than a minute into the District 6 Class 2A girl's semifinal between Central Cambria and Bald Eagle Area, the Lady Red Devils' Marjwok Ohja scored but had the goal nullified after there was handling called on CC.

Neither team found the back of the net until a late goal snuck its way past the BEA goalkeeper and Central Cambria held on for a 1-0 victory over the Lady Eagles on Monday night.

"We started to build the momentum (in the second half), and finally cashed in," Central Cambria coach Gary Simmons said.

With 5:35 remaining in the contest, Lady Red Devils scored when sophomore Kaydence Sinclair finally found what the home team had been looking for all game.

Sinclair got into enough space, and Bald Eagle keeper Cami Walker came out to challenge. However, Sinclair lifted the ball by her enough to the left side as the ball rolled its way into the net for the lone goal of the night.

"It definitely was teamwork as we did really good passing the ball," Sinclair said. "We weren't making our shots but then it finally came, and I just shot it,"

Sinclair nearly got another one moments later but her shot went wide of the net.

"Finally, the keeper (Walker) got out of position, slipped I think and she (Sinclair) just passed it over her," Simmons said.

The Lady Eagles came out from the opening whistle, and minus the CC goal that was called off, controlled the pace of play for the first 18-20 minutes as they had three good opportunities to score but couldn't capitalize any time.

The Devils turned things up a lot as they recorded 12 shots with seven being on goal in the first half of action. CC nearly got help in the 11th minute as a shot across the box deflected off a BEA player before Walker made a diving save to keep it out of the goal.

"I think we really controlled the first half as we had more opportunities by far but we just couldn't finish," Simmons said.

Central Cambria ramped up the shots even more in the second half as it was able to get off 15 with seven getting saved by Walker.

Meanwhile, minus a few early corner kick attempts by the Lady Eagles in the first 10 minutes of the second half, CC keeper Julia Murphy needed to only make five saves throughout the 40 minutes of action.

"They (Bald Eagle Area) looked great to start the second half," Bald Eagle Area coach Jared Moore said. "I thought we moved the ball really well. We got a couple of good chances but we just couldn't punch one in, unfortunately."

The Red Devils nearly cashed in three times before Sinclair eventually got them on the board.

A shot off a corner kick in the 19th minute sailed over top of the bar as did another in the 15th minute.

Just under two minutes before it made its goal, Central Cambria had a wide open opportunity that saw the ball drift to the right of the post.

Central Cambria (9-9-2), will meet Tyrone, a shootout winner over Cambria Heights, for the district title on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Mansion Park.

SCORE BY HALVES

Bald Eagle Area 0 0 — 0

Central Cambria 0 1 — 1

First half: none.

Second half: CC--Sinclair (unassisted), 5:35.

Goalies: Bald Eagle Area -- Walker: 14 saves, 15 shots on goal; Central Cambria -- Murphy: 5 saves, 5 shots on goal.

Shots: Bald Eagle Area 6, Central Cambria 27.

Corner kicks: Bald Eagle Area 6, Central Cambria 6.

Records: Bald Eagle Area (8-10-2); Central Cambria (9-9-2).