Oct 24, 2025
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg’s Brealyn Ross muscles into Central Mountain’s Kullen McDermit.
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Hollidaysburg and Central Mountain battled in a physical, back-and-forth District 6 Class 3A semifinal match on Thursday night.
Though both halves provided opportunity for each team to score, the Tigers certainly had more chances in the opening half, while the Wildcats flipped the script in the second 40 minutes.
The end result was a little bit of extra soccer to allow the two schools to sort things out and prove who would really come out on top.
Hollidaysburg’s Owen Naugle ran into the game-winner with 5:25 left in the first overtime to give the Golden Tigers a 2-1 win over Central Mountain at Tiger Stadium.
“I was cramping pretty bad, but I am always looking for space to get off the defender,” Naugle said. “We all feel the loss from the final last year, and we want it way more this year for sure.”
10/23/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Hollidaysburg goalkeeper Liam Jancula makes a save on Central Mountain’s Yayfran Sanchez.
The Tigers, who were taking their second corner kick off the OT, got a beautifully placed ball from corner-taker Alex Arbogast that came the whole way across near the 6-yard box.
Naugle came crashing in amongst the traffic of players and was able to put the ball into the net to send Hollidaysburg into Tuesday’s district final against No. 3 Tyrone, which upset No. 2 Bellefonte, 3-2, in double overtime.
“In overtime, there are nerves but you build off that and use it as excitement,” Naugle said.
For the game, Hollidaysburg had six corner kick opportunities.
“It (Arbogast’s corner kicks) was working today and causing a lot of problems,” Hollidaysburg coach Craig Shale said. “We had six corners where the ball was in that spot between the penalty spot and the 6-yard box. The goalkeeper was getting a bunch of traffic, so we put the ball in there and anything can happen.”
After several near misses in the first half, the Tigers got their best chance late when Arbogast played a long ball into the box where teammate Braelyn Ross was sandwiched between two Wildcat defenders.
Ross went up and won the ball, but had it poked off his foot momentarily before he regained possession, took a small dribble right and fired a shot past Central Mountain goalkeeper Jaggar Pardoe with 1:28 remaining in the first half.
Hollidaysburg had nine shots and six on goal, while CM got off four with three being on net.
“It was a tough game for sure — very physical in the middle,” Naugle said. “I’m just trying to keep my teammates cool off the ball.”
The Wildcats got the equalizer less than seven minutes into the second half as Yayfran Sanchez began the play with a pass to Dylan Bechdel on the left side.
Bechdel, who was able to beat the Tigers’ defender just inside the penalty box, carried the ball to the endline where he dribbled across and found Sanchez in front of the goalmouth on a diagonal pass.
Sanchez directed the ball to the right of Jancula to knot the match at 1-1 with 33:33 left.
The remainder of the half resulted in scoreless soccer as neither team was able to cash in on the several chances each had the rest of regulation.
In the second half, the Wildcats had all five shots taken land on goal, while the Tigers had just one of their two.
“It was a game of two halves. I thought we controlled the first half and were worthy of one goal,” Shale said. “In the second half, they (Central Mountain) got control, got that goal and got momentum. … It could have gone either way. Once you get to overtime, it’s just whoever takes half a chance. That’s a hard, physical game, and we don’t get enough of those during the season.”
SCORE BY HALVES
Central Mountain 0 1 0 — 1
Hollidaysburg 1 0 1 — 2
First half: H–Ross (Arbogast), 1:28.
Second half: CM–Sanchez (Bechdel), 33:33.
First overtime: H–Naugle (Arbogast), 5:25.
Goalies: Central Mountain — Pardoe: 8 saves, 10 shots on goal; Hollidaysburg — Jancula: 7 saves, 8 shots on goal.
Shots: Central Mountain 9, Hollidaysburg 14.
Corner kicks: Central Mountain 1, Hollidaysburg 6.
Records: Central Mountain (8-7-3); Hollidaysburg (16-2-1).
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