CUMBERLAND — Fourth-seeded Mountain Ridge’s defense stymied top-seeded Fort Hill’s offense, leading to a 2-1 upset win in a Class 1A West Region I semifinal on Saturday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
The victory snapped Fort Hill’s 11-game winning streak.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” Mountain Ridge assistant coach Jeff Shimko said. “Our boys fought well, played a physical game, did all the things we ask them to do the last several weeks. Tonight, my only message to them was in our motto, aggression, heart, hustle and attitude. That’s what they brought to the table tonight.”
Mountain Ridge head coach Tim Nightengale was serving the second of a two-game playoff suspension for arguing a controversial goal scored in last year’s state semifinal defeat to Brunswick.
Entering the playoffs, the Sentinels (12-2) scored at least two goals in their last 12 games and in all but one game this season.
“They were better than us, especially in the first half,” Fort Hill head coach Zach Steckman said. “We started a little slow, gave up two cheap ones. Had many chances in the second half, it just wasn’t our day.”
The Miners (8-6-2) opened with two unanswered scores.
Less than six minutes into the game, Austin Simpson set up Trenton Diamond for the opening score.
With just over 15 minutes before halftime, Diamond lined up for a corner kick on the right side.
John Delaney was on the receiving end, finishing on a header to double Mountain Ridge’s lead.
“It did wonders for our ego and self-esteem for sure and our confidence,” Shimko said. “But I told the kids at halftime, desperate times make dangerous teams. That’s what we were worried about, they have an excellent program and they’ve had a great season. It was a good test for us tonight. We have a lot of young members on our team this year. We’ve had to rebuild some things, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Less than a minute later, a foul in the box set up Liam Hamilton for a penalty kick.
Hamilton buried a shot in the bottom left corner to cut the Sentinel deficit to 2-1.
The rest of the game was defined by the Miners defense.
The Sentinels were known for scoring off set pieces, but countless throw-ins in the second half were offline and landed behind the net.
“We didn’t execute the way we have been,” Steckman said. “We had three or four throw-ins just go straight out of bounds, corner kicks going out of bounds. We weren’t as crisp as we usually are. We weren’t executing there, and that’s one of our strengths.”
Mountain Ridge led 13-10 in shots and 6-3 in corner kicks while Fort Hill led 8-4 on goal.
Will Hughes finished with seven saves for the Miners while Bobby Brauer added two for the Sentinels.
Hamilton, Jacob Bone, Sam Spencer and Korbin McKenzie played their final game for Fort Hill as seniors.
“They’ve had a great four years, they endured a really bad one as freshman,” Steckman said. “They really showed a lot of leadership. I’m extremely proud of them, I can’t wait to see what they do moving forward. The world doesn’t end, it does suck, but the world doesn’t end. I’m super proud of them, and it’s always been an honor to coach them.”
Mountain Ridge advances to the region final on Tuesday against No. 2 seed Allegany.
The Campers (11-2-2) won 2-1 in overtime against Clear Spring in the other semifinal.
The Miners entered October 4-4-1 but have won four of their last five games and have a 4-2-1 mark since.
“It would mean wonders, especially to this young team that’s newly assembled,” Shimko said of being a win away from the state tournament. “They’ve come a long way, they’ve done everything asked and they deserve everything that they’ve got coming.”