OAKLAND — After a season of exceeding expectations, Southern met them Friday, and it earned the Rams a spot in the region championship game.
Second-seeded Southern took care of business and defended its home turf against third-seeded Allegany, winning 2-0 on the strength of goals by Tommy Scott and Grant Sweitzer in a Class 1A West Region I semifinal.
“Winning a regional semifinal at home, I think it’s the first time that’s been done,” Southern head coach Jon Price said. “A region final for men’s soccer, this will be the first one of those in a long time. We’re checking off the things on the list. We don’t have the trophies that we want.”
Southern (12-2) will play for one Tuesday against the winner of top-seeded Mountain Ridge (14-0) and fourth-seeded Fort Hill (6-7-1), the victor earning a spot in the state tournament.
The other semifinal is being played today in Frostburg at 2 p.m.
It was a dream start for Southern on Friday and a nightmare one for Allegany.
Just over two minutes into the action, Southern striker Ben Lohr found Scott on a cross for a 1-0 lead with 37:38 left in the first half.
Southern earned an insurance goal 57 minutes later when Scott connected with Sweitzer on a ball over the top, and Sweitzer settled and put the ball inside the right post with 19:57 to play.
The Rams controlled play throughout, finishing with a 17-2 edge in shots, 8-1 in shots on goal and 6-2 in corner kicks.
The only reprieve for the Campers came when play was stopped for a fan ejection with 25:49 remaining, and when Price picked up his area-leading fifth yellow card of the season with nine ticks on the clock.
“It’s a talented Southern team,” Allegany head coach Blake Geatz said. “They went out and did what they were supposed to. We just weren’t as threatening on offense. Similar story to last time we were up there. We weren’t that threatening going forward.”
That margin could’ve been worse for Allegany if not for keeper Eoin Mowbray, who made an athletic diving save in the 33rd minute.
Sean Eiswert linked up with Lohr via a cross in front of the goalmouth, and he unleashed a shot with some pace, but Mowbray stabbed it away — one of his six saves. Southern keeper Jared Haskiell made one stop.
Seventy minutes into the game, Southern’s Shane Sisler put a hard shot from distance off the right post.
Southern did put two into the back of the net however, and it was enough to advance to the region championship, likely against unbeaten Mountain Ridge unless Fort Hill shocks the local soccer world today.
Allegany finishes with an 8-6-1 record.
“We came out as the two seed and beat the three seed,” Price said. “Credit to Allegany. They’re a lot better. They’ve proved a lot of people wrong this year. People kind of overlooked them with all the people they lost. That’s a good team.”