Bellefonte boys battle but fall to CM, 1-0

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: September 21, 2019

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – Saturday’s match up of the Central Mountain and Bellefonte boys soccer team had a post season type atmosphere when the two locked up at the Bellefonte Middle School.

It would be a game that wouldn’t see a score until 5:24 left in the game. Trey Gentzel posted an unassisted goal to put the Wildcats up by one. That would be the winning goal as the Wildcats defense held the Red Raiders the rest of the way for the 1-0 victory.

“It was a hard game. Bellefonte played really well,” said Central Mountain coach Billy Hook said. “Honestly, I think the deserved to win. I didn’t think we played that well.”

The game statistics in the contest showed how tightly contested the game was.

Central Mountain outshot Bellefonte 16-11 while the Red Raiders led by a slim 3-2 margin in shots on goals.

In the save department Central Mountain’s Greg Walizer saves six while Bellefonte’s Quin Tooker and teammate Harrison both finished with three.

“I told the guys afterward. That this is right there fellas is post season play right there. That is a District final game what we played right there,” said Bellefonte coach Scott Martz said. “Of these four games this week, I thought this one was the best game they played this week. They were aggressive, they came out and went after it defensively. We changed some things. I thought our defense did much better marking guys up. Overall, I thought we played a very good game.”

Like two prize fighters in a title bout, both came out swinging and it was game on from the first possession.

The Red Raiders opened with instant pressure down in the Wildcats back-third.

But the game evened out as there was a tough battle at the midfield.

Both team tried to find a clear opening for a opening to try to put it past the other team’s goalie but despite numerous breakaway attempts, neither defense blinked.

Central Mountain took over possession and the tempo for the last 10 minutes of the first half.

At the intermission, the Wildcats outshot the Red Raiders 9-4 while Bellefonte led in corner opportunities, 1-0.

In the second, it was more of the same as the two defenses took center stage as the intensity started to fester on the field.

After almost 35 minutes of scoreless action, the Wildcats blasted on through.

Coming off a free kick, Central Mountain got numbers placed in the box and when it was kicked, after a struggle, Gentzel slammed the game winner at 5:24.

Despite a frenzied effort by the Red Raiders in the final minutes, Central Mountain’s defense stepped up their game another notch and clamped down on the fiesty Bellefonte offense en route to the victory.

Central Mountain will be at Hollidaysburg on Tuesday while Bellefonte plays at Philipsburg-Osceola, also on Tuesday.

Central Mountain 1, Bellefonte 0

CM 0 1 – 1

BE 0 0 – 0

Scoring

Second half

CM – Trey Gentzel unassisted, 5:24

Shots on goal: CM 16, BE 11.

Corners: BE 3, CM 2

Saves: Greg Walizer (CM) 6, Quin Tooker (BE)3, Harrison Herr (BE) 3.