Hollidaysburg takes D-6 soccer crown over Central Mountain, 4-0

ALTOONA, PA – It was not  for lack of effort, but Central Mountain was unable to pull off a second successive upset in District 6 soccer playoff action Wednesday  night. Instead top seeded Hollidaysburg showed why it came into Mansion Park with a 19-0 record, pulling away from the Wildcats in the second half for a 4-0 win and the district Class 3A title.

Coach Billy Hooks underdog ‘Cats stayed with the favored Golden Tigers through much of the first half until the Tigers’ Shusant Dahal punched in a rebound with 5:07 to go in the first half; the halftime score 1-0.

But Hollidaysburg came out firing to start the second half, picking up a goal from Braden Callahan at the 36:40 mark, followed by a Ryan Frank score at the 34:21 mark to open a 3-0 lead. The Mountain League champs would score a final goal, again from Dahal, at 13:42 to put the final at 4-0.

Central Mountain battled throughout but had difficulty penetrating the Tiger defense. The Wildcats were held to two shots on goal, compared to Hollidaysburg’s 18; corner kicks saw a 7-2 edge for the Tigers. The Wildcats did get a couple scoring looks in the first half, but could not convert.

The loss ended Central Mountain’s season at 7-13, a year that saw the team playing its best soccer down the stretch, including its 1-0 overtime win over favored Bellefonte on Monday of this week. Hollidaysburg was coming off a 15-0 semifinal win on Monday over Penn Cambria.

CM  0 – 0 = 0

H     1 – 3 = 4