WINGATE — Avenging a loss is extra sweet when it comes in the playoffs. The State College boys soccer team’s sweet tooth was satisfied in the District 6 Class 4A championship against Altoona.
The second-seeded Little Lions, who had only five wins during the regular season, upset the top-seeded Mountain Lions, 2-1, in double overtime on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Bald Eagle Area’s Alumni Stadium to capture their fourth straight D6 title.
State College avenged a 3-1 loss to Altoona from Monday, Oct. 7. The Little Lions hiked their record to 6-7-3, while the Mountain Lions finished their season with a 16-3 record.
With a minute left in the second overtime, State College senior Rand Parrillo booted his penalty kick past Altoona goalkeeper Luke Mitchell for the game-winning goal.
“Winning the district title was a great achievement for the boys considering we struggled versus a good Altoona team two weeks prior,” State College coach Danny Orton said. “I felt we were heading to penalty kicks so with one minute left to get a chance to win it was really exciting.
“Goals going in are always exciting — overtime goals even more so — but to win a district title late in the game was great. Rand stayed calm and there was never any doubt that he’d find the corner.”
Mason Sampsel scored State College’s first goal off an assist from Arthur Cleveland at 33:04. Altoona’s Jace Black tied the game with 2:01 left in regulation, sending the game into the first and second OT.
State College goalkeeper Dylan Lawrence made nine saves.
The Little Lions were to play a subregional game against the District 10 champion to get a chance to play in the PIAA state playoffs.
RED RAIDERS ADVANCE TO TITLE GAME
The top-seeded Bellefonte boys team advanced to the District 6 Class 3A championship game with a 3-1 win over fourth-seeded Tyrone on Thursday, Oct. 24, at home.
Bellefonte’s Conelle Stabinger scored the first goal off of an assist from John Servant at 23:52. Servant served up a second goal with 3:52 left in the first half. Tate Tooker made it 3-0 in the second half with an unassisted goal at 27:15.
Tyrone got a goal from Ned Smearman at 24:53, but that was the only dent in the Bellefonte armor. Red Raider goalkeeper Eli Davis made five saves.
The 14-3-3 Red Raiders were set to play second-seeded Hollidaysburg on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at Altoona’s Mansion Park. Results were not available prior to The Gazette’s publication deadline.
RAMS FALL TO PENN CAMBRIA IN SEMIFINALS
Top-seeded Penns Valley saw its season come to an end with a 1-0 loss to fourth-seeded Penn Cambria on Monday, Oct. 28, at Philipsburg-Osceola’s Mountaineer Stadium in the District 6 Class 2A semifinals.
The Rams opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over eighth-seeded Huntingdon on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Bald Eagle Area’s Alumni Stadium.
The shutout was the 12th of the season for the Rams.
Penns Valley scored early in the first half as Nicholas Limbaugh scored off of an assist from Cameron Martz. The score remained 1-0 until Tyler Mast booted an unassisted goal with 13:49 left in the game. Owen Robb earned another shutout in goal.
“I’d really like to give my back four a huge shoutout,” Penns Valley coach Brian Markle said as he mentioned Owyn Corman, Colin Forhinger, Matthew Ruoff and Cameron Martz. These guys kept everything in front of them this evening, and really kept Huntingdon from generating any kind of attack or any test on our keeper.
“It (the 12 shutouts) feels good. The guys work hard and it’s something we’ve been proud of as a team collectively.”
While Penn Cambria advanced to the district championship, the Rams finished their season with a 15-4-1 record.
LADY RAMS LOSE IN SEMIS AFTER UPSETTING BEA
The eighth-seeded Penns Valley girls team opened the District 6 Class 2A playoffs with a shocking upset of top-seeded Bald Eagle Area, 2-0, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at BEA’s Alumni Stadium.
But then the Lady Rams lost to fifth-seeded Huntingdon, 2-1, on Monday, Oct. 28, at Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Lady Rams avenged a 2-1 loss to BEA from Sept. 18.
The first half was scoreless until Penns Valley’s Ceci Falls scored with 34 seconds left in the half. Teammate Elle Dinges made it 2-0 with a goal 1:29 into the second half.
“We knew going into that matchup with Bald Eagle it was going to take our best game of the season to come out with a win,” Penns Valley coach Seann Herrmann said. “Bald Eagle wasn’t the No. 1 seed by accident. They have been extremely skilled and consistent all season. I am extremely proud of the entire team for stepping up to be able to move on to the second round.”
“Penns Valley is a good team and they out played us tonight,” BEA coach Jared Moore said. “We had a great season and a great group of girls that worked really hard. Unfortunately tonight was just not our night. We will definitely miss this group of seniors for their great leadership and all the great games we were able to watch them play.”
Penns Valley goalkeeper Emma Marks only had to make three saves. BEA goalkeeper Makayla Spicer made six saves.
The Lady Rams finished with a 9-8-1 record. The Lady Eagles ended up with a 13-5-1 record.
LADY RAIDERS RETURN TO TITLE GAME
Defending District 6 Class 3A champion Bellefonte advanced to the championship game with a 3-1 victory over Somerset on Oct. 24 at home.
Bellefonte’s Sydney Miller scored two goals at the 37:24 mark and 22:12 mark in the second half. Teammate Addalyn DeWeese scored the first goal at 26:05. Goalkeeper Rory Pelipesky made nine saves as the Lady Raiders outshot Somerset, 23-12.
“I’m so proud of this team and these players,” Bellefonte coach Stacey Miller said. “They have worked really hard to get themselves back into the district championship game with this win against Somerset. I was happy to see our team come out tonight and be successful.
“Our defense kept the ball out of our defensive third and out midfield and forwards did a wonderful job at attacking in our offensive third. Beyond proud of their performance tonight.”
The Lady Red Raiders were to play top-seeded Hollidaysburg on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at Altoona’s Mansion Park. Results were not available prior to The Gazette’s publication deadline.
LITTLE LADY LIONS FALL IN CHAMPIONSHIP
After upsetting Mifflin County in the District 6 Class 4A semifinals, the third-seeded State College girls team saw its season end with a 7-0 loss to top-seeded Altoona in the championship game on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Bald Eagle Area.
The Lady Little Lions finished with a 2-16 record.
