But its opponent, Altoona, certainly provided the champs with a run for their money.

After top-seeded State College took a 2-0 halftime lead, Altoona dominated play in the second half and fought to the bitter end before State College was able to preserve a 3-2 victory.

“Hats off to State College,” first-year Altoona head coach Travis Young said. “They got two really quick goals and put us behind the 8-ball tonight. Bu my boys, as they have done all season, fought and battled until the end.

“This one stings, but our players have a lot to be proud of,” added Young, whose third-seeded Mountain Lions finished the season with an 8-10-1 record and ousted second-seeded Mifflin County, 2-1 on the road in a semifinal-round game to earn their berth in the championship game. “We played really well over the last third of the season. The last third of our season was completely different than the first two-thirds.”

Guillermo Mejias fights for possession against Ryan Hulek.

Both State College first-half goals came on corner kicks. Senior defenseman Bryce Dwyer converted a corner from the deep right wing at the 5:25 mark, and senior forward-midfielder Lucas Caraces booted in a corner from the left side at 16:55 to give State College (11-7-2) the halftime advantage.

“We’ve been working on those the last two weeks, and we’re happy with how those turned out tonight,” State College coach Danny Orton said of the corner kicks.

Altoona battled back in the second half, on the strength of a 6-2 shots-on-goal advantage.

Senior forward/midfield standout Jace Black got the Mountain Lions on the board at 16:57 of the second half to cut the State College lead to 2-1. Aaden Aveni’s free kick from the middle of the field fell in front of the State College cage, and State junior keeper Eric Sulman stopped George DelBaggio’s close-range shot but the ball came loose for Black, who booted it into the back of the net.

Senior forward Daniel Sahakian gave State College some breathing room with 4:55 left in the game, scoring what eventually turned out to be the game-winning goal off a feed from teammate Alex Zlupko, staking State College to a 3-1 lead.

“It was a good finish by Daniel, and we needed that, because Altoona would score later,” Orton said.

Sophomore midfielder/forward Guillermo Mejias gave the Mountain Lions renewed life by scoring off an assist from junior Bilal Eltayeb with 1:36 remaining in the game, but State College was able to hold on.

Sulman came up with three big saves in the second half that made a difference in the game for State College, which will meet a District 10 opponent in a PIAA tournament play-in game Saturday at a neutral site.

“He gave us some great goalkeeping with those saves,” Orton said of Sulman. “Congratulations to Travis and his Altoona team for their great year, but I’m happy with the performance of our kids as well. They battled away, and came through at the right time tonight.”

Altoona graduates only three starters, so the Mountain Lions will have a good nucleus returning around which to build next season.

“There are a lot of positives to take from this season,” Young said. “We were playing very well at the end of the season, but we just came up a little short tonight.”

SCORE BY HALVES

Altoona 0 2–2

State College 2 1–3

First half

1, SC–Dwyer (unassisted), 5:25. 2, SC–Caraces (unassisted), 16:55.

Second half

3, A–Black (DelBaggio), 16:57. 4, SC–Sahakian (Zlupko), 35:05. 5, A–Mejias (Eltayeb), 38:24.

Shots on goal: Altoona 9, State College 9.

Saves: Krause, A, 9; Sulman, SC, 7.

Records: Altoona (8-10-1); State College (11-7-2).