WINGATE — Practice makes perfect.
At least it did for State College sophomore forward Makenzie Graham in the Little Lions’ 2-0 victory over Altoona in the District 6 AAAA girls’ soccer final Nov. 2.
After playing for 61 minutes in a scoreless defensive struggle against the Mountain Lions, Graham secured a loose ball just off the high-left corner of the box and fired a shot that missed just outside the right post. It was perhaps SC’s best opportunity so far to break through the resilient Altoona defense.
Two minutes later Graham got another chance with the same shot in almost exactly the same place. This time she didn’t miss, and her goal proved to be the winner in State College’s ninth consecutive D-6 championship.
The State College boys followed and made it a sweep in the second game, another SC-Altoona D-6 championship matchup, when the Little Lions took a two-goal halftime lead and then cruised away after the break for a 6-0 victory.
Fernando del Castillo scored two second half goals and had an assist, and Eli Bokunewicz, Devin Morrison, Jacob Krantweiss and Marc Rogers also scored as SC took home its sixth straight D-6 title.
Both State College teams will now advance into the super-regional games against the No. 1 seed from District 10. The winners advance into the PIAA tournament, which will begin Tuesday, Nov. 8.
“I was nervous the whole game,” Graham said. “I was trying to shoot it (the first shot) far post, but then I tried to hit it (the second shot) near post, and it went right in.
“I saw that the keeper was out of position a little bit and that I had open space, so I took the shot. I knew it was going in the moment I shot it.”
The Mountain Lions turned defensive and fought the nine-time D6 champs through a perilous — but scoreless — first half that was almost completely controlled by the Little Lions.
After an even grittier 20 minutes following the break, Altoona began loosening up a defender, hoping for some kind of break, some kind of State College mistake, that would never come.
Instead, the break came on the other end as Graham took advantage of a momentary manpower advantage with her breakthrough goal.
“We just never really got there,” Altoona coach Derek Winterburn said. “We talked about it all week, that if it came down to the last 10 minutes, we were going to take one out of the back. I mean, it was working, but when you gamble like that, you see what happens. We didn’t have enough (players) back.”
Down now with time running short, the Mountain Lions gamely mounted two rushes that both produced shots on goal, but both were handled by SC goalie Ali Wicks.
Altoona’s hopes came to an end with less than two minutes to play when Graham nailed a penalty shot that sewed up the win, and the D-6 title, for State College.
“We basically told the players to calm down a little bit,” State College coach Bud Price said. “They started running around the field, and we needed to control the center more. We started to connect a little better there in the second half.”
Price added, “The girls did a great job, and we are blessed to have the players we have.”
BEA 1, CAMBRIA HEIGHTS 0, AA BOYS’ SEMI-FINAL
The Bald Eagle Area boys’ soccer team, ranked No. 3 in District 6, edged No. 2 Cambria Heights 1-0 in an intense AA semi-final at Altoona’s Mansion Park on Oct. 31.
Sophomore Garrett Giedroc netted the game-winner off a throw in by Joey Gates with only six minutes to play in the game. Then the BEA defense, as it had the entire night, held off Cambria Heights to bring home one of the biggest soccer wins ever for the Eagles.
The Bald Eagles now advance to the D-6 final game for the first time in the program’s history. They will face off against No. 1 Everett on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5:30 p.m. at Mansion Park.
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