But from the start, Seven Hills looked to be the better team.
“It was a tough game right from the start, and we knew it would be,” said Central coach Shane Latham. “We knew they were a strong opponent. It seemed they had a step on us the whole game.”
Seven Hills (19-1-1) avenged an early-season 1-0 loss to the Irish with a relentless attack and smothering defense.
The Stingers hit the post of the goal with shots twice in the first 15 minutes of play before scoring that all important first goal, at the 22:08 mark as Miles Hill deflected a corner pass into the net.
It stayed 1-0 at the half, with Central coming out more aggressive to start the second 40 minutes. The Irish created their first — and as it turned out only — serious scoring threat at the 29:40 mark, beating Seven Hills’ goalkeeper only to have his teammate, defender Charlie Kramer, make a foot save on a Mitch Maletic shot.
Ten minutes later, with game still very much in the balance, Seven Hills was awarded a penalty kick. Gilbert Pasquale made it count to make it 2-0 with 18:59 to play. Walker Schiff iced the game with a goal with 11:15 to go.
“I thought it was a real dubious call,” said Latham on the penalty kick. “One game, you’ll get it, and the next game, you won’t. It was a huge turning point.
“But we had the opportunities to get back into it in the second half. Overall, they had the best of us — from the physical standpoint and the speed standpoint. It was their game today.”
Still, Latham was able to keep things in perspective.
“I told our players that it’s been a great year,” he said. “We set many records. We just came up a little short today.”
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