By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORT ALLEGANY, PA – Through 60 minutes, the North Tier League contest between Coudersport and Port Allegany was deadlocked.
Both teams shared their fair time on the attack with solid defense behind them, leaving the outcome up for grabs. Coming down the stretch, however, one bad play would be the decider, handing the Gators a 1-0 deficit they couldn’t recover from.
Coming into this game, there wasn’t much weight on Port’s shoulders. Having just one win in their scorebooks, the District 9 Class A playoffs were well out of reach. Instead, they just aimed at closing out on a good note, one both their eight departing seniors and core of up-and-comers could find a silver lining in.
“We will not be in the playoffs this year, not with our school having a 0.500 rule,” said Port Allegany head coach Dan Schott. “So we’re just trying to finish out the season on a positive note and hopefully get a win before the end of it.”
Early on, the Gators’ defense seemed to be that glimmering silver lining. After an early round of to-and-fro, the Falcons began to take control of both the tempo and possession. While Port extended their offense in one-and-done drives, Coudy turned up the pressure with long encampments in the Gators’ backfield. Yet, Duke Shelley, the team’s young goalkeeper, wasn’t going to let his home fans down early.
Through the opening minutes, Shelley remained vigilant, hunting down the few initial shots that came his way. When the action came to a head, where the Falcons earned a penalty kick, his intuition paid off, diving correctly to come away with a big momentum-shifting save. A handful of minutes later, Shelley again miraculously protected the net, coming away with a blocked shot before having to heave his body in the way of the secondary attempt.
“For him to come in and play as well as he did is really something. We’ve had a lot of ins and outs at the goalie position, I think he’s the fifth that we’ve played this season,” said Schott. “Duke played a heck of a game. The PK save was huge, it kept us in it. It would not have been the game that it was without Duke stepping in.”
Motivated in part by their goalkeepers play, Port’s offense began to spring to life. Flowing the ball up field between their duo combination of Jarrod Funk and Alex Schott, the Gators began plotting frequent trips downfield, which usually were punctuated by firing off a round at the net. However, despite getting decent looks at a quality distance, Port was unable to hit their mark, including during a frenzied barrage in the last 45 seconds that saw the Gators swarm around Coudy’s box.
Able to take a breath of relief with a deep clear, the Falcons kept their scoreboard empty heading into the half.
In the second period, both teams opened with their own quick strikes into hostile territory before being denied and sent back empty handed. The Falcons chose to rely on their speed, sending long lobs or through balls upfield to their sprinting forwards, while Port zig-zagged passes through the clouds of defenders, yet remained just one shy of a shot.
Then, with just over 20 minutes left in the game, the Gators came up unlucky. Fending off a quick-fired Coudy shot, they looked to defend a corner. While the initial cross failed to produce, the subsequent loose ball banged and rattled around bodies in the box. An errant bounce ricocheted off a Port player before winding up in the net.
“They made a nice crash on the back post. I think we missed a mark there,” said Schott. “Those corners and set pieces are huge and obviously they got one today and we did not.”
The stalemate had been broken, not by talent or skill, but by an unlucky bounce. And the effects of it were evident.
Immediately after the score, the Gators seemed deflated, settling into a lull that saw them become hesitant in their communication, inaccurate in their passing and just a step slow in their attack on the ball. Still, though, they managed to keep Coudy away from point blank range. Despite setting up shop past midfield, the Falcons couldn’t find what would have been the dagger.
Finally shaking off the dread, Port woke up. With speed and intensity, they switched defense for offense and began breaking through the barricade at midfield. But with the clock working against them, every Coudy clear reset their progress, making their comeback just a little more unfathomable and as the minutes turned to seconds, both teams accepted the outcome.
With four games remaining on the schedule, the Gators’ final mission remains the same: play competitive soccer and give their upperclassmen a good sendoff, something emphasized by the Senior Night celebration at halftime.
Recognizing the girl’s varsity seniors as well as the boys, the fans praised and honored the eight men soon to be leaving the pitch for the last time: Owen Kisler, Trey Kiser, Corbin Bridenbaker, James Nichols, Micah Errick, Owen Erhard, Schott and Funk.
“I’ve been coaching these guys since they were really young, so these guys mean the world to me,” said Schott. “They bring effort every single day. They’ve had a lot of success over the years, not so much this year but their character shows game after game. They keep bringing the effort and they keep bringing the maximum try.”
