Gremlins still on roll
KARNS CITY— Fall behind Karns City and you're in trouble.
Give up a penalty kick to the Gremlins in front of the net and it's a guaranteed goal, courtesy of Aaron McGarvey.
Redbank Valley fell victim to both circumstances in dropping a 3-0 District 9 Class Aboys soccer semifinal to Karns City Tuesday night.
McGarvey scored his 29th goal of the season on a penalty kick from 18 yards in front of the net with 30:18 left in the first half. He is perfect on penalty kicks during the past two seasons.
"That's seven or eight in a row now. He's Mr. Automatic,"Karns City coach Roy Parker said.
He's so automatic that when teammate Chris Harmon got knocked down right in front of the net to create the call, he handed the scoring chance to McGarvey.
"Chris deserves the credit for making that play happen,"McGarvey said. "He controls the ball so well in the middle of the field.
"He let me take the kick. He didn't have to do that."
The kick gave the Gremlins (19-1) a 1-0 lead and sent them on their way to their 15th consecutive victory. KChas won its last five games by shutouts and has allowed only two goals in its last 10 games.
"I don't even look at the goalie on a penalty kick,"McGarvey said "My eyes look one way, then I shoot the ball into the left corner of the net every time."
"Giving up the first goal on a penalty kick was kinda deflating,"Redbank Valley coach Greg Campbell admitted. "But we had plenty of time to do something about it afterward and we didn't."
The score remained 1-0 until early in the second half, when Corey Terwilliger split two defenders and chipped a shot over diving goalkeeper Daniel Sager with 29:38 left in the game.
The goal was Terwilliger's eighth of the year.
"Corey has scored all of his goals with that choppy shot,"Parker said. "He has a knack for taking a bouncing ball and getting it over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net."
If the game wasn't over at that point, it was definitely over when Nick Lopresti scored his 10th goal of the season with five minutes remaining.
Ethan McGarvey dribbled down the right side of the field and deftly slid a centering pass to Lopresti, who got off his shot before the Bulldogs defenders could react.
Goalie Josh Grenninger recorded his 12th shutout of the season for the Gremlins, who face Elk County Catholic (18-2) in the District 9 title game at 8 p.m. Thursday at Clarion University.
This is KC's fourth district title game in six years. Its lone championship came in 2005.
"People talk about our offense a lot, but our defense is the backbone of this team,"Parker said. "Every one of those guys has a role back there.
"JohnBurns is a complete player who is our shutdown guy on the other team's top scorer. Zach Sadowski is a physical player who muscles his way to winning the ball. Charlie Beck is quick and smart. Tim Johnston is the sweeper who cleans up the garbage and Cody Zabicki is the transition player who turns the ball back the other way."
Three of Redbank Valley's (14-5-2) five losses this year are against the Gremlins: 2-1 in overtime and 2-0 during the regular season.
