State College boys soccer claims the District 6 Class 4A championship with win over Altoona
State College had one goal on its mind on Wednesday: Win the District 6 Class 4A boys soccer championship against Mid Penn rival Altoona at Bald Eagle Area High School.
Not only did the Little Lions win, but they claimed the victory in convincing fashion — 7-1. State College moved the ball around with swiftness and played with finesse, cutting toward the goal and finding players in stride with multiple assists.
“We’ve been working hard for two weeks,” State College head coach Danny Orton said. “We also play in one of the toughest leagues in the state. The Mid Penn Commonwealth Division — we’ll play tough games every week. We have to play that level and we have to do that in training, too. We try to duplicate as much as we do there to stay sharp. In terms of speed, movement and pace of play, the boys have been good.”
Carson Litzinger led the way with two goals on the night. His first score came in the first few minutes of the match and he followed with a second goal with 9:46 left in the second half to put State College up 6-0.
“On the first one, I just took a touch into some good space and I thought, ‘Why not? It’s a 0-0 game and it would be nice to get up by one,’” Litzinger said. “From that point on, our team kept pulling forward from that one. On the second one, I just looked up, tried to hit the back post and it went into the back corner.”
Another player who stood out in the match was Sam Cheslock, who finished with two assists and a goal. Cheslock’s first assist went to Jonathan Mwangi and then a second one to Alden Roth with just a few seconds left in the first half. Cheslock went on to score a goal late in the second half to propel his team to the win.
“I just wanted to get to the second round because I didn’t want the season to end,” Cheslock said. “It’s been so fun and I was just focused on getting to Erie and playing Erie (McDowell) in the tournament. I hurt my ankle earlier in the season. My ankle is better now and it’s just easier for me to play.”
Litzinger began the scoring onslaught for State College with a goal in the opening minutes for the team for the 1-0 lead. Owen Hollobaugh hit Davis Pagett with an assist to put State College up 2-0 with 12:45 left in the first half. Sam Cheslock assisted Mwangi at the 5:39 mark in the first half for a 3-0 advantage. To end the half, Cheslock had another assist to Alden Roth (0:13) for a 4-0 lead.
Cheslock began the second-half scoring (10:25). Lintzinger finished off his second goal (9:46) for a 6-0 lead. Kade Black had Altoona’s lone goal of the game with less than four minutes left in the game and Diego Terrones answered with a goal for State College with less than three minutes remaining and the 7-1 lead.
With the win, State College will advance to play District 10 winner McDowell (16-2-0) in a sub-regional match on Saturday. The winner of that game will earn a bid to the first round of the PIAA championships.
State College girls volleyball wins District 6 championship
State College volleyball defeated Central Mountain in straight set, with scores of 25-17, 26-24, and 25-8, on Thursday at Tyrone to win the District 6 Class 4A championship.
Stat leaders for the Little Lions were: Kate Lally with 23 assists; Sam Shala with 11 assists and 9 kills; Claire Jordan with 13 kills; Sophie Wales with 10 kills; Molly Thompson with 11 digs; Jordan and Iris Archibald each with 7 digs; and Wales with 2 blocks.
While the score looks like an easy win for the Little Lions, they faced some adversity in the second set, finding themselves down by as much as eight points. But they were able to keep cool and battle back for the win.
State College will play in the opening round of the PIAA championships on Tuesday.
