Mar. 23—CUMBERLAND — After playing 80 minutes of goalless soccer, it took less than a minute for Allegany to find the winner as Eli Wallace scored 57 seconds into sudden-death overtime to lead the Campers past Fort Hill on Monday evening at Greenway Avenue Stadium as high school soccer season restarted in Allegany County.
“We came out with our game plan and played well in the beginning,” said Allegany head coach Mark Lechliter. “I guess COVID kicked in … both teams got tired legs, you could tell, but we finally settled in there at the end the way we should have.”
“I’m happy the kids are back on the field,” said Fort Hill head coach Jim Hott. “That was the main thing. There’s a lot of talk about ‘teams this, teams that,’ but we come into this because it’s four more opportunities that these kids get to play this year that they didn’t get in the past.
“We played our hearts out tonight against a good Allegany team. I think we showed them the moxie that we have. We have a good, focused team that’s ready to play, and they’re going to come out ready to play in every game that we have.”
The game-winner came out of seemingly nothing, as defender Drake Lechliter looked up and played a perfectly-placed pass to Wallace screaming down the left side. Wallace took a touch to gain separation from a Fort Hill defender before firing a shot into the net past the onrushing Fort Hill goalkeeper.
“It was nice to get that goal,” Mark Lechliter said of Wallace, who had a handful of shot attempts prior to the goal. “But we’re going to pick up the pace and hopefully get more production out of him this season, even though it’s short.”
The Campers possessed just about all of the offensive chances in the opening 32 minutes, getting six corner kicks during that span before the Sentinels’ Connor Hipp fired Fort Hill’s first shot attempt off the outside of the goal.
Allegany led in corner kicks, 8-1, but wasn’t able to muster many chances off of them.
“Fort Hill’s just a tough team,” said coach Lechliter. “You pack a bunch of kids in the box and it’s just an all-out brawl. Jacob Tichnell is a heck of a goalkeeper, so it’s hard to get goals in on him.”
Tichnell finished with four saves on six Allegany shots on target, with Westyn Parks tallying a save after Tichnell collided with an Allegany player and had to briefly come out of the game.
The Campers got a corner kick with just under eight minutes left and Tichnell on the sideline at midfield waiting to be subbed back in. Drake Lechliter was left alone at the top of the box to get off a strong header that forced a diving save to Parks’ left.
Playing out of position was a theme for a few Sentinels, who were more than up to the challenge.
“We had some kids not come back, so that kind of hurt us and our numbers are a little low,” said Hott. “But we had some freshmen step up who haven’t played a lot of soccer, and they played their hearts out tonight. … I don’t like to single anybody out, but Kolten Whorton in the middle of the field hadn’t had a lot of experience in there, but played a heck of a ballgame. Connor Hipp played three different positions tonight. So we have a lot of versatility here.”
Both teams had a chance, of varying degrees, to win it in the final 30 seconds of regulation, as the Campers got their eighth corner kick to Tichnell’s right. The corner kick made its way through a gaggle of players before Allegany got a shot off at the far post that was handled by Tichnell. With less than 10 seconds left, Tichnell looked up and found a pair of Sentinels sprinting down the field before playing a long punt, but a heavy touch forced the ball out wide before time expired.
“I liked the first probably 50, 60 minutes of the game,” said Lechliter. “I like how we possessed and worked the ball. The whole first half we ended up in Fort Hill’s territory most of the time. The second half, we need to learn to relax and just continue to play our game.”
Allegany hosts Mountain Ridge on Monday.
“The bottom line is I’m happy these kids get another chance to be out on this field,” said Hott. “I talked to them before the game and said a month and a half ago we didn’t know we’d be here. Right now, we’re here, we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity.
“There’s a lot of kids in the past that came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I wish I had one more game.’ These guys got three more. They were very positive in the huddle afterwards. They’re going to take this and use this for what it is and we’re going to move forward. … I’m proud of the kids. Yeah, it’s a loss, but I told them to let this sink in because we have these guys in a week and a half. I think we’re ready to go.”
The Sentinels host the Miners on Thursday before meeting the Campers again next Wednesday.
Kyle Bennett is a sports reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @KyleBennettCTN.
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