Cambria Heights boys sneak past Huntingdon in 6-2A soccer

PATTON – Cambria Heights will see a familiar and challenging opponent in the District 6 Class 2A boys’ soccer playoffs next week. The Highlanders staked their claim to one of four semifinal berths with a 3-2 victory against Huntingdon in a quarterfinal-round match Tuesday evening at AmeriServ Field. Cambria Heights will face Westmont Hilltop at a date, site and time to be determined. The top-seeded Hilltoppers eked out a 2-0 shutout of the Highlanders Sept. 19 at Westmont Hilltop. “Westmont is one of the best-coached teams in the area. They have a phenomenal coach with coach (Ed) Corona. They have an outstanding team. They have one of the best defenses in the entire District 6, so it’s going to be a big challenge. Our hope is to prepare for them and (we hope) keep the score close,” Cambria Heights coach Adam Strasser said. Nate Conaway scored the match’s first two goals, and Carter Bradley tacked on the third goal to give the fourth-seeded Highlanders a 3-0 lead. “We played well the first half, kept a good lead. And then we got into the mindset that a one-goal lead would not be enough, so we kept going,” Bradley said. Conaway landed awkwardly after a collision with goalkeeper Davien Wise a short time after he had scored his second goal, however, and sat out the rest of the match. “We’re hoping a little rest and recovery will get him through to next,” Strasser said. Huntingdon spent the final 37 minutes without sophomore defender Finley Uhrich. He dislocated his knee and had to be carried off the field. “It’s a hard adjustment. We had to move players around,” Huntingdon coach Jason Morris said. “They fought through it all.” “We scored early (in the second half). And from there it was just playing within our comfort level, play possession, try not to just play defense,” said Bradley, who scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 27th minute. Huntingdon, by that time, had switched to a three-back formation with hopes of pushing more attackers forward. “It was desperation time, and you could see that they sat back. It’s just like any other sport; if you sit back, you give us a chance, we get possession, we attack more,” Morris said. Jett Zolonski and David Phillips scored within eight minutes of each other to draw the fifth-seeded Bearcats within two goals. Huntingdon posed challenges for goalkeeper Owen Garrison throughout the evening. The Bearcats were awarded three corner kicks in the first half. “Owen Garrison has been a phenomenal goalkeeper the last two years,” Strasser said. “He started toward the end of his sophomore season, and he has been a very good goalkeeper ever since. “Any time Owen’s in, we feel very confident in him. “And he played an outstanding game today.”