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Wildcats shut out Danville at home, win second straight game

By HENRY HUBER 5 min read

MILL HALL - Coming off a less-than-ideal second week of action, Central Mountain boys soccer head coach Billy Hook hoped to see improvements from his squad, particularly on the offensive end of the field.

Their promising 2-0-1 kickoff had been swallowed up by a 0-2 start to league play that featured one combined Wildcat goal. And with a tough opening Heartland-I slate continuing the following week, more offensive shortcomings could've thrown them out of the mix of competing for a conference title.

Rest assured, that trend has turned in the right direction since.

Central Mountain tied its season-high with three goals in an exciting, 3-2 victory over Milton to kick off the week on Tuesday. And two days removed from taking home its first league win of the season, it made it two in a row on Thursday at Malinak Stadium, as Jean Portillo and Tommy Croce notched a goal each to propel the Wildcats to a 2-0 win over Danville.

Defense remained the name of the game for Central Mountain (4-2-1), as goalkeeper Cooper Confer led the team to its third shutout of the season. But after scoring one combined goal through Week 2 of action, it notched five in the following week, presenting a bit more balance while taking the pressure off its back-three.

"It was a good week. A lot of things that we harped on after last week that we needed to improve, we did," said Hook when discussing the wins. "Tuesday was one good half, and it was very, very good. And then today, it was the same ideas we needed to do, but also getting back into the defensive pride a little bit. Shutout shows that we did."

"Cooper Confer was unbelievable in goal. Bryson Weikel stepped up and played a lot of minutes as a freshman and was fantastic. As a whole, we were much better defensively than we had been," he continued.

After another Central Mountain scoring opportunity was thwarted by Danville deep in the first half, it seemed like the teams would go into the break in a 0-0 tie. Seven shots - including four shots on goal - came and went without a score, as an Ironman defense led by goalkeeper Liam Tomko kept the growing Wildcat offense at bay.

However, on the approach from Tomko, the Danville goalkeeper wasn't able to fully secure it off the foot of Central Mountain's Gabe Killinger. The ball popped out of his grip, and Portillo was in the perfect position to capitalize, following up Killinger with a rebound shot past the outstretched hands of Tomko.

With that, the Wildcats went into the half with momentum and played like it out of the break. It wouldn't result in immediate goals, as Danville's strong defensive play continued. But constant pressure eventually created the right opportunity for them to build on their cushion.

13 minutes into the second, a promising attack landed Central Mountain in a penalty-kick opportunity.

In an attack that mirrored Killinger's from the previous goal, Croce was halted by Tomko. But this time, the contact featured more body than ball. Croce proceeded to shake off the pain, set up his penalty shot and deliver a shot to the right corner of the net, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with time becoming worrisome for the Ironmen.

Each goal featured aspects of improvement Hook was happy to see, which was made more exciting by the fact that neither had scored a varsity goal prior to Thursday. Croce previously played defender prior to the 2026 season, and Portillo scored his goal off the bench.

"We were making all the right movements, but we weren't doing it quickly enough from an athletic, competitive standpoint," said Hook. "First half Tuesday and then tonight, there were a lot of moments we did that. That's what created crosses, the PK and different opportunities."

With that, Central Mountain just had to maintain the success it was producing defensively, which it did with flying colors. Danville got opportunities near the box while halting the Wildcats' quest for a trifecta, but Central Mountain rarely allowed the Ironmen to get a good shot that they could land on goal.

The Wildcats ultimately allowed just seven shots total and three shots on goal, all three which were effectively fielded by Confer. Offensively, they logged nine shots in each half, ten of which were on target.

It's a balanced performance they'll look to build on in a tough Heartland-I matchup against current frontrunner Lewisburg (5-1). That road matchup is set for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"Just got to keep rolling. That one (against Lewisburg), it's always tough. But if we can at least show that we can play against a team like that, it's a good notion," said Hook. "Obviously, we're going to go in trying to win and play confidently, but we just need to keep this, what happened this week. Just keep playing like that and get a little better each day."

Central Mountain 2, Danville 0

CM - Jean Portillo (unassisted), 38:11. CM - Tommy Croce (unassisted), 53:10.

Shots: D 7, CM 18. Shots on goal: D 3, CM 10. Corners: D 2, CM 3. Saves: D 8 (Liam Tomko); CM 3 (Cooper Confer).

Records: Danville 2-5-1 (1-3 Heartland-I); Central Mountain 4-2-1 (2-2 Heartland-I).

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