Indians eliminated by Highlanders, 3-0
PATTON — The opportunities were there, but the Juniata girls soccer team couldn’t cash in Monday night.
Traveling to face second-seeded Cambria Heights in the District 6 Class 2A semifinals, the No. 6 Lady Indians had numerous shots just miss the mark and couldn’t execute in a 3-0 loss.
“I think we played a good back-and-forth game,” Indians coach Garrick Paden said. “The game was a lot tighter than 3-0. Sometimes things don’t go your way, and that’s going to happen. But I think the game was a lot closer than the scoreboard showed.”
Juniata, which defeated Central in the quarterfinals, ended its season with a 10-7-1 record.
The Indians managed 13 shots on goal but couldn’t find a way to slip one past Heights keeper Maria Wendekier.
“It seemed like there was a pattern for how (Juniata) wanted to pass the ball,” Wendekier said. “I knew if I could get that pattern down and anticipate where the shots were coming from, I’d be good.”
Juniata chased the game early and trailed less than four minutes in.
Heights midfielder Brooklyn Galinis had an open break toward the net, but she was taken down following a collision just outside the penalty box and was awarded a free kick. With a seeing-eye shot, Galinis used her left foot and curved a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give her team an early lead.
“The refs saw it one way, everyone else wearing white tonight saw it another way, but it is what it is,” Paden said of the foul. “It was a 50/50 play. We made a good hard play on the ball. That’s going to happen sometimes.”
Midway through the first half, Cambria Heights converted again. After Brielle McMillen dribbled to the outside, she made a last-second cut to the middle and set the ball to a wide-open Morgan Ross, who put a soft touch on the ball that rolled past Indians keeper Regan Burd.
“We just had a little bit of miscommunication on the second goal,” Paden said. “Again, I thought we played well, and it was a much closer game. We just had a couple little mistakes that hurt us. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go the way you want it to.”
Cambria Heights (15-2-2) extended the lead in the 52nd minute.
With plenty of traffic inside Juniata’s penalty box, Hannah Hite got a last-second touch on a loose ball and found an opening past Burd to extend the lead to three.
“We never played Juniata before, so we really didn’t know what to expect,” Heights coach Nikki Spanik said. “We knew that we had to play hard, keep pressing and maintain control of the ball.”
Even trailing by three, the Indians continued to fight. A shot from Regan Lowrey just sailed wide, and Juniata controlled much of the possession in the second half.
“Our girls kept battling, which can be tough when you’re down by three goals,” Paden said. “There’s nothing for these girls to hang their heads about tonight. They fought until the very end.”
Juniata bids farewell to four seniors — Kailey Smith, Katelyn Fornwalt, Lowrey and Burd.
“I’m sad to see them go, and they’ve been a great group of girls for us,” Paden said.
With nine juniors on the roster, Paden is encouraged about the future of the program and hopes his team can continue to contend for a district crown.
“Our record wasn’t the prettiest to look at, but we played in a lot of close games,” Paden said. “These girls played some really good soccer, and I’m excited for what next year holds. We have a lot of starters coming back.”
Cambria Heights 3, Juniata 0
Cambria Heights 2-1 — 3
Juniata 0-0 — 0
SCORING:
FIRST HALF
CH — Galinis free kick, 36:25.
CH — Ross (McMillen assist), 23:19.
SECOND HALF
CH — Hite (unassisted) 29:13.
Shots:
Juniata 13-7.
Corners:
CH 3-1.
Saves: CH — Maria Wendekeir, 13. J — Reagan Burd, 6.