CUMBERLAND — It took Allegany 20 minutes to warm up on a chilly Halloween night, but once they did, the Campers hastily filled their bag with treats.
Cole Ricker broke a scoreless draw with a goal off a long throw-in at the 19:51 mark. He added another a minute later, and Chris Manherz and Noah Simmons tacked on two more in the final 10 minutes of the half to turn the contest into a rout.
Sixth-seeded North Dorchester gave third-seeded Allegany some trouble early with its size and athleticism defensively, but the Campers found their way through with a 4-0 rout in a Class 1A state quarterfinal on Friday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“They did exactly what they needed to do,” Allegany head coach Blake Geatz said. “I was worried there for a little bit with the slow start. I get it. It’s cold, it’s rainy, it’s windy. The touches are off.
“The back line has been doing a great job the back half of the season holding it down for us, and we put some nice goals in.”
Allegany (13-2-2) advances to the state semifinals for the fourth time in five years to play No. 7 Liberty (8-5-2) at a neutral site next weekend. Liberty defeated No. 2 Patterson Mill (14-1-1), 2-0.
North Dorchester (8-6-1) won its first region championship since 1986 to advance to this stage, but the Campers had too much quality in the midfield and up top, dominating shots, 21-3, shots on goal, 10-1, and corner kicks, 9-3.
“Allegany is a really good team,” North Dorchester head coach Gabe Guzman said. “They’re a really good squad. They pass and move the ball really well. … At the end of the day somebody has to win and lose, and unfortunately it was us tonight on the losing end.
“I played for North Dorchester myself. We never got this close, so it’s nice to be able to coach my guys (to this point).”
North Dorchester center back Chris Sanchez, the anchor of a physically imposing backline, denied the Campers over the first 20 minutes.
A Jack Hensel long throw-in changed that. The ball bounded over a pair of tall defenders and found Ricker near post in the 21st minute.
Just 1:53 later, Liam Panetta sent a cross into the box and it clipped off a North Dorchester defender to the head of Ricker back post for a 2-0 lead.
Allegany found its second set piece goal at the 8:27 mark after Ryan Mitchell fed Simmons on a short corner, and Simmons crossed to Manherz for a header back post.
Simmons gave the Campers a 4-0 halftime lead after picking Sanchez’s pocket and scoring a transition goal with 1:45 left in the half.
Against a team with North Dorchester’s height in the back, it was paramount for Allegany to position well to generate chances.
“We’re getting in the right areas in the attacking third,” Geatz said. “We always want to run at people one on one. I thought our wingers did a good job. Our forwards did a good job of running at people one on one because they were giving us tons of space.”
Ricker left the game late in the half with a leg injury. He was cleared to return but was held out as a precaution.
Allegany began to pull starters early in the second half, and it cleared its bench in the 66th minute.
North Dorchester didn’t attempt its first shot of the first half until the 2:28 mark, and it was held without one in the second period until there was 5:34 remaining.
Alco keeper Eoin Mowbray was tasked with stopping just one shot in the shutout. North Dorchester’s Jayden Coleman made six saves.
Allegany now advances to the state semifinals, where it’s aiming to secure its second championship appearance in school history (2023).
“I want to see the best week of practice we’ve had all year,” Geatz said. “They’re hungry. Compared to some of these teams I’ve seen in the past, there’s a certain fire they bring to everything with them, certain chemistry.
“I’m excited to see what they are going to provide for us for the next week because I think the next week is where we’re going to win the game, lose the game.”