No decision
JEFFERSON TWP — After 100 minutes of grueling high school boys soccer, Knoch and Mars decided many things.
Knoch discovered what it already knew: It has one of the best goal keepers in the WPIAL in Steve Frey.
Mars learned it could respond to adversity and keep the pressure on the opponent in crunch time.
The only thing the teams didn't decide was a victor as the Knights and Planets battled to a 1-1 deadlock at Knoch HighThursday night.
"It was just a great effort by both teams," said Knoch coach Doug Wood. "It was an excellent high school soccer game. It would have been nice to come out on top, but we didn't lose, either. I just feel proud of my guys."
The two teams took turns peppering the goal keepers early in the game before the defenses started to impose their will.
It wasn't until Knoch's Quinton Panger came off the bench and pushed a shot into the lower right corner of the net past Mars keeper Joe Hoefner that a team dented the scoreboard.
Panger's goal came with a little more than 15 minutes remaining in the second half.
It didn't take long for Mars (5-0-1 overall, 4-0-1 in the section) to respond, thanks to a penalty kick by Andrew Glavin that just made its way past Frey with 10:53 remaining in regulation.
Glavin received a penalty kick after a Knoch player was whistled for tripping in the goal box.
"Do you want my honest answer?" Wood said. "It wasn't a penalty. They said it was a trip.As far as I could see, and from what my player said to me, he tripped himself."
Frey nearly stopped the penalty kick, which ultimately would have preserved a win.
Still, it was hard to quibble with Frey's night. He made 11 saves and several of them were spectacular.
"He's outstanding," Wood said. "You should have saw him in the Hampton game. He was twice as good. We're very fortunate to have him back there. He's a game saver, but that's his job."
Mars had plenty of opportunities early and in the two overtime periods.
The Planets took eight shots in the overtimes and 22 in the game, but had nothing to show for it.
Meanwhile, Knoch (4-1-1, 3-1-1) managed just 13 shots and a mere three — none on goal — in the 20 minutes of overtime.
"It's a bit disappointing we didn't (score the winning goal)," said Mars coach Chris Knauff. "I thought we fought hard for it. I was disappointed with the way we came out. I thought we came out flat, but we picked it up as the game went on."
The two teams will have to wait until Oct. 9 to decide things once and for all.
"It may just come down to that," Wood said.
