Magical season ends for Blue Jays
ALTOONA — Central Columbia's magical ride came to its final destination Tuesday evening in the PIAA Class 2A boys soccer semifinals.
But not without one last valiant effort by the Blue Jays in an attempt to extend its state playoff run.
In the end, Quaker Valley proved to be too fast and aggressive for Central to overcome in a chippy 1-0 loss.
The Blue Jays finish 21-3, going the deepest they've gone in a season by recording their first-ever state playoff win and ending their campaign as one of the final four teams in their class.
The decisive goal came in the second half, with Nick Allan — who took all nine of the Quakers' corners in the contest — finding Jack Karwoski on a corner, who tucked it into the left corner at 31:13.
The Quakers were camped in front of Lucas Utt all evening with the Blue Jays finding it difficult to pry the ball away and create offensive opportunities of their own. Central's defense held up, for the most part, bending, but not breaking. It allowed 11 shots, with all but three going well off target because the Blue Jays hurried the Quakers to either take a shot or took away passing lanes inside the box.
"We knew this team could hurt you in many different ways and we softened the pressure a little more than we wanted to and didn't generate as much offense as we'd like to, but I thought we played equal to them for 79 of the 80 minutes," Central coach Zach Diehl said. "The one minute they were better, they scored. We can't argue with that against an opponent that keeps the ball, moves the ball, and has the quality of players that they do."
Karwoski's goal woke up the Blue Jays a bit as they started getting to the ball quicker and closing in on Quaker ball handlers with multiple defenders. As they did so, the game — which saw a yellow flag against each side — got even more chippy. Tripping, wrapping up opponents, and elbowing were common throughout the second half by both teams. Central's Bryce Rafel was even playing with a ripped jersey in the back.
Still, Central struggled to get anything going offensively with the likes of Bennett Haas, Kiril Grin, Sutton Hoehl, Cameron Diggins and Karwoski playing keep-away all game long. Its first corner came after 60 minutes of play and two of their three shots came on free kicks.
"We saw how the game was going and tried moving some people into wider spots," Diehl said. "... We had some two-on-one situations not in our favor and it was an effort to get on the ball a little more. The way they hunt the ball, it was tough for us to get the ball and have our flair. We tried creating more options, and I thought we did a better job (in the second half) but Quaker Valley sent three guys and hunted the ball really well."
The Blue Jays' best chance at equalizing the contest came with just under 13 minutes remaining when Torin Karns got a breakaway, setting up a 1-on-1 with Quakers goalkeeper Nathan Pribik. Karns got too much of the ball, sending it too high and far to the left. In disbelief, he fell to his knees and pounded the turf.
The Quakers then ran out the clock and the Blue Jays' season.
Diehl wouldn't trade in the experience of playing in the western bracket of the Class 2A tournament and taking three rather long trips on this magical run. His squad, along with the girls' team that punched their ticket to the state title game for the second straight year, turned the school into a soccer frenzy this fall.
"There are a lot of guys who play high quality all year and hopefully this is enough to bring them back and with more of a fire in their belly," Diehl said. "We lose a couple of guys and they're irreplaceable, but we'll try our best. The future is only bright from here and hopefully, we can only keep moving. We're still playing soccer on November 14th and it's been everything I could have ever asked for. ... The school has been crazy the last couple of weeks and everywhere around here is football country and we (along with the girls' team) turned it into soccer country here and it's been exciting."
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