KC boys hold off Coudersport
KARNS CITY — Hobie Bartoe struck early. Lucas Yasika leaped late.
The combination helped Karns City’s boys soccer team defeat Coudersport, 2-1, Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the District 9 Class 1A playoffs at Diehl Stadium.
Bartoe — a junior midfielder who entered the game with four goals on the season — scored in the fourth and fifth minute for the Gremlins, getting them off to a 2-0 lead. Yasika made a leaping save on a shot with less than two minutes left to prevent overtime.
Bartoe’s first goal was the result of a 2-on-0 break in the goal crease. Bartoe broke free with teammate Jacob Callhan after a scrum in front and deftly slid the ball into the left corner of the net.
He scored a little over a minute later, taking a cross from Adam Smith and burying a shot past netminder Lorenzo Salamone.
“Hobie came out for the team a little late this year,” KC coach Justin Ryan said. “He was thinking about it, was talking to guys on the team and decided to give it a try. He is all hustle. He goes 100 miles per hour all the time.
“We wanted to get off to a quick start tonight,. They (Coudersport) had a two hour and 45-minute bus ride to get here. We wanted to take advantage of that and I think we did.”
Bartoe nearly had a hat trick in the game’s first 12 minutes. Callihan sent him in alone, but the play was ruled off-sides before he got a shot off.
“It doesn’t matter to me who gets the goals or whether I got that third one tonight,” Bartoe said. “All I want to is see us get wins. It felt good being able to contribute to this one.
“(On the second goal), I saw Adam, coming down the right side and figured he was going to try a cross pass to me in the middle. It was up to me to be in the right spot and he put it right there.”
Karns City (14-3) won its fourth straight game. The previous three were by shutout. This one didn’t come easily.
Coudersport (13-7) cut its deficit in half in the game’s 26th minute. Senior forward Jacob Hooftallen fought off one defender, dribbled past another and sent a shot over sprawling goalkeeper Yasika into the net. It was his 21st tally of the season.
“I coudn’t be more proud of these guys,” Falcons coach Michael Delp said. “We left everything out there. Our effort was monumental ... It’s going to be a long bus ride home. Our bench is pretty emotional right now.”
Ryan said Karns City “laid back a little too much” after grabbing that early lead.
“Coudersport is a good team and I knew they would come back at us,” he said.
Six of the Falcons’ seven shots on net occurred in the second half. With 23:50 left, Hooftallen drilled a shot from 15 yards away that handcuffed Yasika, but he maintained control and deflected the ball ot of bounds.
With 1:41 remaining, Yasika made the save of the night.
Senior captain Isabel Poretrfield was standing alone in the center of the field, letting loose with a high arching shot from 25 yards away. The shot was ticketed for the net until Yasika jumped and caught the ball, his arms extended over his head.
“Lucas has been working on timing his jumps, cutting off angles, and it paid off for him there,” Ryan said. “That was a tremendous stop on a tricky shot.”
The Gremlins had 10 shots ion net to Coudersport’s seven. KC had five corner kicks, the Falcons three.
Karns City, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, will stay at home for the semifinal round Thursday. Seventh-seed Ridgway upset No. 2 seed Redbank Valley, 3-2 in overtime, to advance in the tourney. Thursday’s game is expected to begin at 6 p.m.
“We’ll take every game we can get on our turf field here,” Ryan said. “We welcome it.”
:
