WINGATE – Central Mountain eliminated Bradford 2-0 in the first
round of the PIAA Class AAA soccer playoffs Tuesday on a cool and
damp night.

Central Mountain opened the scoring early with the Wildcats’
Lauren Heimer sending the ball flying into the corner of the net at
the 36:53 mark.

Bradford attempted to respond, but was held off by a strong
Wildcats’ defense.

The Lady Owls nearly scored at the 28:39 mark as the ball slid
just past the corner of the goal and sailed out of bounds.

The Wildcats responded with a strong drive, but their shot
missed the mark.

The Lady Owls once again drove down the field, and at the 24:57
mark were in Wildcat territory. However, a shot went wide of goalie
Courtney Walsh and slid outside playable turf.

Bradford had another scoring opportunity at the 19:08 mark, but
Walsh made the save.

With six minutes left in the half, the Wildcats made a lineup
change, sending Morgan Walker into the game. The tactic was
successful as Walker found the net with 5:31 left to put Central
Mountain up 2-0.

“Our defense did a good job of limiting their attack,” Bradford
coach Tony Doriguzzi said. “Megan Gill of Central Mountain set the
team record on goals and she didn’t score tonight.

“The two who scored aren’t normal scorers for the Wildcats so
are defense forced them to do different things.

“Central Mountain is a good team, but we came into this
expecting more. We definitely played right with them. We made a
couple of tactical errors early that cost us goals.

“Central Mountain made good decisions and played well midfield.
We had trouble getting the ball out of our end.”

Chelsea Rinfrette had five saves in goal for the Lady Owls, who
finish the season 13-4-1.

“The preparation has killed us,” Doriguzzi pointed out. “The
last three weeks we have practiced in six different places and had
a hard time getting in good playing time with the fields in such
bad condition. That just added one more distraction for us.”

Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities in the second
half, but were stymied by superb goaltending.

Despite the loss, Doriguzzi was satisfied with his team’s
season.

“At the beginning of the season, I never dreamed we’d get this
far,” Doriguzzi said. “I’d like to thank coach Joe and coach Jared
for the phenomenal job they did this year.”

Central Mountain (15-2-3) advances to the quarterfinals
Saturday.