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In the span of a few seconds late in the second half, Williamsport's Isaac Balza showed those in attendance how dangerous he can be when the ball is at his feet.
With just over seven minutes on the scoreboard showing, Balza got the ball down the right-side of the field and dribbled it outside of the 18 with a Selinsgrove defender draped on him. Balza quickly shifted to his right, got into the 18 and quickly got by another defender. Before the Seals had time to react, Balza struck.
The Millionaire got a slim window opening and took his shot, burying it just inside the right-near post as his teammates quickly engulfed him.
That quick sequence showed Balza's abilities and it gave the Millionaires a lead with exactly 7:00 to play at Balls Mills on Monday evening.
The defense did the rest from there and Williamsport secured a 2-1 win to send Selinsgrove home with a loss in a physical boys soccer game.
"A matchup one-on-one with him is tough. Getting him that ball in that box, anything can happen," Williamsport coach Brett Hofstrom said. "He's very skilled in those tight spaces and he can score those goals out of nothing."
That was evident with his go-ahead shot with 7:00 to play in the game. His foot work was as great as you could expect from a high school kid and no matter how tight Selinsgrove's defenders played him in those moments, he was able to take advantage of the narrowest window to put in a goal from just outside the 6-yard box.
Williamsport had to battle in the second half on Monday after alling behind 1-0 to Selinsgrove in the first half. The Seals scored their goal with 23:44 left until halftime when Danny Kratzer got 15 yards out and fired a shot towards his right, just past Max Fink for the go-ahead goal.
Williamsport pressed throughout those first 40 minutes, but went into the break trailing by a goal despite a 6-4 edge at that point in shots on goal.
With 18:20 to play in the game, Williamsport got a penalty kick called in their favor and sent Connor Hofstrom to take the shot. Hofstrom did a quick stutter step and drilled a shot slightly to the left of Selinsgrove keeper Landen Messimer. The goal tied the game up and give Williamsport some momentum after a handful of missed chances and opportunities.
"A goal always lifts the spirits up when you're down. The game was pretty even in that first half," coach Hofstrom said. "They scored, they had a couple other chances, we had numerous chances. But anytime you get a goal, it always lifts the team spirits up and gives them a little bit of energy."
Defensively, the Millionaires prevented any equalizer in those final seven minutes, preventing the Seals from getting inside the 18 and rifling off shots.
The Seals did have chances to put in a second goal early in the second half, however.
With 28 minutes left, the Seals crossed near the base line to the right and a Selinsgrove player was there and slid perfectly in front of an open net, but the shot went narrowly wide to the left.
Four minutes later, the Seals' Ryan Toskey had a 1-v-1 look inside fo the 18 with goalie Max Fink and tried sending a shot to the near post, but it was blocked as Fink dove perfectly to save it.
Fink then came up with another great stop with 22 minutes left when Toskey had a chacne outside of the 18.
Fink ended the game with six saves to keep Williamsport in the game and help the team earn the victory.
"He made some big saves and so forth. He's been big for us all year," coach Hofstrom said. "A senior captain and senior leader. He knows what's going on. We need him to continue to do what he's doing and keep us in games when we need those big saves."
Roughly two minutes after Selinsgrove scored its go-ahead goal in the first half, Hofstrom got into the 18 and had a good 1-v-1 look with Mesismer, but as Hofstrom shot to the far-right post, Messimer read it and dove to block it.
With 18:50 left until halftime, Williamsport had another great chance to put in a goal from 20 yards out when Balza fired, but it was stopped.
Late in the first half, Charles Plummer found himself 40 yards out and let go an outstanding high shot that was right on target. Plummer's shot nearly snuck under the crossbar and would have been a fatnastic goal, but Messimer used his athleticism to block it and preserve a 1-0 lead going to halftime.
"They got some base lines on us and dropped it back, they missed some shots, but we were in same boat as them," coach Hofstrom said. "They're a good team. I coached some of those kids on that team in club. They're well-coached, Brian (Derr) is a good guy. They're a solid team."
Williamsport 2, Selinsgrove 1
S--Danny Kratzer, 23:44. W--Connor Hofstrom (penalty kick), 18:20. W--Isaac Balza, 7:00.
Shots: S 7, W 9. Corners: S 4, W 4. Saves: S 7 (Landen Messimer), W 6 (Max Fink).
Records: Selinsgrove (8-7), Williamsport (10-4).