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Pombor helps lead WAHS

Jimmy Pombor has played up to competition nearly his whole life. When he was young, it was messing around on local soccer fields or in the backyard with two older brothers who are both soccer standouts in Kolachi and Tom. When he was nine, he began playing on older club teams.

Now as a freshman in high school, the competition has to play up to him.

The freshman Pombor assisted on J.R. Confair’s early second half goal and made things happen all day with his magical right foot as Williamsport picked up a 2-0 win over Altoona on Saturday afternoon at Balls Mills.

Pombor was one of the best players on the turf yesterday despite being one of the youngest. He drew the attention of a strong Altoona back 4, won 50/50 balls and aided Williamsport to two second half goals.

“Jimmy coming in, probably could’ve started for us two years ago as a seventh grader. He’s not your typical freshman,” Williamsport coach Lee Kaar said.” He’s very talented but he’s a team player who wins the ball and looks to get it off his foot to his teammates. He communicates better as a freshman than a lot of upperclassmen. He’s a huge asset to have on the field and off as well. He’s a good teammate.”

“I played with older kids like my brothers,” Pombor said. “It was fun and as we grew up, we played a lot together. I played up for club teams and varsity too.”

Pombor weaved his way through a stingy Altoona defense for much of the first half, setting up teammates for quality shots that were saved. He and his teammates finally broke through early in the second half, though. Pombor forced a turnover in Altoona’s defensive end, took on three Mountain Lion’s as he dribbled down to the end line and found an open Confair inside the 18 and he buried it for the go-ahead goal at 46:15.

Another Millionaire who is playing high-quality soccer is Sam Hillman. After a win at midfield, the senior found Tom Pombor, who raced down inside the 18 and netted the game-clinching goal at 59:21. Hillman also chased down attackers from behind, contained them when in front, won nearly every 50/50 ball and on corner kicks and set pieces, marked Altoona’s top goal-scorer in Alex Berardinelli , who had seven goals in eight games coming in. Like Jimmy Pombor, Hillman was one of the best players on the field yesterday.

“That’s what I expect from Sam. He’s a captain, a leader on and off the field,” Kaar said. “He showed a lot the last two years I thought coming in as a center midfielder. He plays our 6 spot (defensive midfielder) and really controls everything. The last two games, here today and against Central Mountain Thursday night, I thought he really stepped it up. He controlled our midfield, got the ball moving from side to side and I saw that next level. I’m glad he’s stepping up.”

As Altoona began to bog down in the second half, Williamsport grew stronger with a deep rotation that can feature more than 20 players. While substitutions were happening, Altoona players could be heard saying, “Give me like five minutes, I’m exhausted.”

Early season injuries to the Millionaires have allowed other players to gain valuable experience, giving the squad a much deeper rotation than other teams possess.

“We can run 22, 23 deep, which is great. We’ve had some health issues so we’re literally just now, not even halfway through our season, we’re just now getting to a point where almost everyone is completely healthy,” Kaar said. “We’ve had to limit some minutes for Simon (Wallace) and Caleb McKeon, but J.R.’s coming back, Tom’s coming back. It’s a good problem to have a couple weapons and a couple different ways we can attack a team.”

Williamsport 2, Altoona 0

Williamsport — J.R. Confair (Jimmy Pombor), 46:15; Tom Pombor (Sam Hillman), 59:21.

Shots: A 9, W 21. Shots on goal: A 5, W 11. Corners: A 3, W 5. Saves: A 9 (Brady Freiwald), W 5 (Elliott Wannop).

Records: Altoona (5-4); Williamsport (6-2-1)

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