FROSTBURG — When few others did, Allegany believed it could shock the local soccer landscape on Saturday afternoon.
That was the goal Cameron O’Neal and the Campers set out when he took over the program three weeks ago after a pair of midseason head coaching changes.
Ryleigh Nelson stuck a top-class goal in the net in the 23rd minute, and for 40 minutes after halftime, favored Mountain Ridge pounded shots at Brilynn Beatty and the blue and white wall in front of her.
Four balls clanked off the goalpost, Elexa Mazuran, Sierra Campbell and Surae Stewart stood their ground and third-seeded Allegany accomplished what it set out to, pulling off a 1-0 upset of second-seeded Mountain Ridge in the Class 1A West Region I semifinals.
“In practice we put together a scouting report,” O’Neal said. “We put together a game plan, and the kids executed really well. Something we worked on really hard was set pieces. That showed.”
Allegany improves to 9-4-2 and advances to the region championship at top-seeded Northern (12-2-1) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Mountain Ridge defeated Allegany 3-0 and 4-1 during the regular season and held a lopsided advantage in shots against the Campers on Saturday, 16-4.
However, Allegany won where it counted, on the scoreboard, and Mountain Ridge fell to finish 11-3-1.
“Allegany showed up and played a really hard game,” Mountain Ridge head coach Jenna Delaney said. “It was possession going back and forth, and they just finished on it.”
The one player to finish was Nelson with 17:26 remaining in the first half.
The freshman forward had her back to the net when she received the ball on the edge of the box, made a quick turn and rifled a shot into the corner past one of the area’s top keepers in Taylor Lamberson, who made two saves.
“I just really wanted to win,” said Nelson, who had two regular-season goals. “I just kicked it.”
To the surprise of many in attendance, the first half was mostly played in the Mountain Ridge half of the field.
Allegany had success with Nelson up top and its leading goalscorer Avery Miller in the midfield, both to help with defense and act as a distributor. Myia Miller did the same from a more defensive position.
The Miners still had two prime chances before the break. Ava Armstrong hit the post in the 20th minute and Kyla Farris did so with under two minutes to play.
The roles reversed after halftime and Mountain Ridge had a 12-0 shot advantage and put balls off the post in the 46th and 66th minutes. The Miners also had five corner kicks after the intermission.
As the end neared, Allegany moved Nelson down to a more defensive position and put 10 in the box to protect its 1-0 lead.
The breaks just didn’t go the Miners’ way, and Allegany’s defense and Beatty, who finished with seven saves, outlasted the barrage to pull off the upset.
“We have a lot of good kids back there,” O’Neal said of his defense. “A lot of good athletes who’ve played a lot of soccer. The one thing we have in common as a group, is we want to win everything we do. Win every ball. Win every game. Win every moment.
“We gave up seven goals in the two games we played them. Tonight we didn’t give up any. … I thought we limited the amount of chances they had.”
With that said, luck is always a factor in single elimination playoff soccer, and Allegany made the most of its good fortune to live to play another day.
“Anything can happen, especially in soccer,” O’Neal said. “It’s not like other sports. One wrong bounce, and I feel like we’ve been on the wrong end of a couple bounces recently. For once we got a couple bounces to go our way.”
Allegany now turns to the Huskies, who it tied 0-0 in Cumberland on Sept. 23 and lost to 2-0 on Oct. 9.
The Campers have ended Northern’s season the past three years, and they’ll try to do it once more on Tuesday.
“We’re going to go back, look at the film and come up with a game plan,” O’Neal said. “Got to figure out a way to get some goals.”
Mountain Ridge’s season came to an emotional close.
The Miners battled through injury, like to senior leader Jazmyn White, who didn’t play Saturday, and still conceded just nine goals in 15 games and tied Northern for the area’s best regular-season record.
“The girls were thrown a lot this year,” Delaney said. “New stuff with me being a new coach, different things, roadblocks throughout the season. They made the most out of it. I want them to be proud of it. They had a great season. Even though this wasn’t the outcome they wanted, they finished strong.”