Montoursville falls in District 4 Class AAA semifinals to Athens
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Montoursville felt they had a good chance to advance to the program's first district final of the 2000s heading into Saturday's District 4 Class AAA semifinal against Athens at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex. But, dreams of playing in a final quickly turned into a nightmare as Athens scored twice in less than a minute early in the match and beat Montoursville, 3-1.
"I don't think it was a lapse of concentration. I just think that in the opening few minutes of the game, Athens came out fast. They're a very athletic team, and they were winning more of the 50-50 balls,” Montoursville coach Adam Mertes said. “I think that's why they were able to pounce on two early goals. It wasn't necessarily that our guys weren't ready to play, but I think they just started a little quicker than us, and we weren't winning as many 50-50 balls at the start.”
Athens got the scoring going with 33:20 left in the first half when Caden Brennan got on the end of a well-placed long ball and slotted it into the net to give the Wildcats the early advantage.
In the stoppage after the goal, Athens coach Travis Reynard subbed on Ben Krissler. Krissler immediately made that choice pay off as he got on the end of a cross and scored just thirty-five seconds after Brennan's goal to give Athens a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the match.
Montoursville was able to settle in, however. The play started to tilt Montoursville's way, and they turned that into a goal. With 17:37 left in the first half, Riccardo Bellosio had a terrific individual effort and cut the deficit in half. Montoursville continued to control the rest of the first half. While they were unable to cash in with the tying goal, it felt like they had plenty of momentum heading into the second half.
We felt like we controlled the pace of the game, controlled possession, and after their two early goals, really closed the half out really well. So you know we certainly trusted in our boys and felt that we had the momentum to get the job done in the second half. But Athens played a great half, played a great game start to finish, and it just wasn’t our day today. But I’m proud of our guys for the fight that they put out there for 80 minutes," Mertes said.
The Warriors were unable to carry that momentum into the second half, however. Athens sat back into a more defensive tactical position, and was able to score a crucial goal on a counter-attack when Patrick Umber got the ball on the left wing and cut inside before blasting it into the net with 16:33 left in the game.
Meanwhile, Montoursville's attack could not find away through the Wildcat defense to create quality chances in the second half.
"I think that when you're chasing a game, at times you can rush yourself, and that happened at times in the second half. But this is a team that has been together. We trust in them to make the right decisions. Athens was sitting a little deeper, sitting in a defensive shell and getting numbers behind the ball, which made them harder to break down in the second half," Mertes said.
Montoursville's senior class will finish as the winningest senior class the program has produced in the 2000s.
Athens 3, Montoursville 1
A–Caden Brennan, 6:40. A–Ben Krissler, 7:15. M–Riccardo Montini Bellosio, 22:23. A–Patrick Umber, 63:27.
Shots: A 8, M 6. Corners: A 4, M 7. Saves: A 5 (Zach Fisher), M 5 (Mason Fry).