Penns Valley boys survive 2OT thriller 3-2 over Central

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: September 26, 2019

It took two overtime periods to decide a winner in the Penns Valley versus Central boys soccer game Wednesday.

But in the end, Penns Valley had what it took to defeat the Dragons late 3-2.

“We had back- to-back away matches are tough this deep into the season and we really needed a win after a tough 2-0 loss last night. Plus Central is a long trip and my guys needed to wake up when we arrived! Central notched the first goal less than 3 minutes into the game by controlling the ball in our half for the first 8 minutes of the half,” said Penns Valley coach Ken Gore. “We finally tightened things up and got to work with a consistent attack that gave us some good chances – then one of my defenders, Jack O’Donald – pushed up on a corner kick and placed a rebound into the top right for our first goal. Late in the 2nd half, Connor Martz had a beautiful finish off a low header on a cross from the right from Caleb Narber. Now with the lead, we settled back into a defensive stance with an extra defender – but it wasn’t enough as Central capitalized on a mistake deep in our box to tie it up at 2. We made a furious attack for the last 8 minutes of regulation and had our chances to win – but just couldn’t finish. We lost our last OT match, so going into extra time, I told my guys that this would NOT be the outcome – that we WOULD win this time! At the end of the first OT we were pretty weary from 90 minutes of hard-fought soccer, but PV never gave up and continued to put the worn-out Central defense on their heels. With about 6-1/2 minutes left, Zach Heckman fought hard for a ball at the edge of the goalie box and slid it past the keeper for the sudden victory winner. Coach said we would win and the guys delivered!”

Central struck first on an unassisted goal by Colin Rupert at 2:41.

Penns Valley battled back to tie things on a Jack O’Donald goal at 19:15.

The Rams took the lead for the first time in the game on a Connor Martz shot past the goalie at 66:44.

With under 10 minutes left, the Dragons Ashton Campbell sent the game into overtime at 70:49.

But after one completed overtime, Penns Valley ended the game on a Zach Heckman blast at 93:26 (2nd OT, scoring the golden goal.

The Rams held the advantage on shots on goal by a 20-16 margin and also led in corners 6-2.

Central goalie Zeb Wyant tallied 15 saves while Penns Valley’s Dristen Wolfe had 13.

The Rams Inprove to 4-5 on the season.

Next game: Penns Valley vs Bellefonte, Monday 9/30 6:00 pmat PV