CUMBERLAND — Tied at 1 with 24 seconds left in overtime, Noah Simmons delivered the golden goal, leading second-seeded Allegany over No. 3 Clear Spring 2-1 in Saturday’s Class 1A West Region I semifinal at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“It’s nice to win in overtime,” Allegany head coach Blake Geatz said. “We were (0-2-1 in overtime) this season, but that’s why I said let’s win it, fourth time’s the charm. And to go out and do it in the first half of overtime is good. I thought we controlled the game well in the back half of the second half and the majority of overtime.”
The Campers (11-2-2) out-shot the Blazers (8-6) in overtime 4-3.
Three of Alco’s shots were saved, while the other hit the left post.
With double overtime on the horizon, Chris Manherz sent a cross to his right.
Simmons took the pass and did the rest, securing the win for the Campers.
“It’s tough, it’s nice to win one in overtime,” Geatz said. “They’re battle tested, they’ve been in that spot three seperate times against good teams. We haven’t been able to make it work, so it’s nice to prove to ourselves today we can make it work in situations like that.”
The game’s other scores both came in the first half.
Clear Spring controlled possession through the first 20 minutes and led 4-3 in shots.
“They were making us uncomfortable, right there on the ball,” Geatz said. “Right there on our touches, which is what we were preaching all week. We need to be on their touches, we need to make them uncomfortable.”
At the 17:18 mark, an own goal on a deflection put the Blazers on the board.
Alco responded 25 seconds later on a shot from Manherz in the far right corner to even the score at halftime.
“It was a complete game changer, it swung the momentum entirely,” Geatz said. “That’s a tough finish from Chris on the half volley in the top corner, props to him for that. That’s playoff soccer, we make a mistake, they make a mistake. Sometimes people capitalize, sometimes they don’t. Today, we both capitalized off two mistakes.”
The story of the second half was the play of Clear Spring goalie Tyce McConnaughey.
He recorded seven saves, and all seven were difficult plays.
He dove for at least four saves and made at least two saves reaching up at the top of the net.
“He kept them in it, that kid’s an athlete,” Geatz said. “Big kid, great hands. Props to him, he played a heck of a game.”
Allegany put six shots on goal in the second half and came up empty handed.
Eoin Mowbray saved six shots including five in the second half for Alco.
The Campers led 15-12 in shots and 9-5 on goal while the Blazers led 5-2 in corner kicks.
Allegany will host the Region Final on Tuesday against fourth-seeded Mountain Ridge (8-6-2), which upset top-seeded Fort Hill (12-3) in the other semifinal 2-1.
“It’s huge, you wanna win games in regulation,” Geatz said, “but at the end of the day, knowing we have four games of experience in overtime situations is great. It’s gonna be big for the playoffs.”