Cougars own first place after beating Mt. Pleasant

With only 15 minutes to warm up, Charleroi had a rather hectic pregame before its first-place matchup at Mt. Pleasant.

Charleroi arrived late Thursday night because the team thought the game started at 7:30. But it was actually rescheduled for 6, something the Cougars discovered on the bus ride to the game.

They arrived just before 7 and kicked the ball around a little before kicking the Vikings into second place.

Junior Dylan Klinger proved too much, as his fourth hat trick of the season powered the fast-paced Cougars to a 4-2 victory in a Section 4-2A boys soccer game at Mt. Pleasant’s Viking Stadium.

The mix-up and general state of disarray didn’t seem to bother the Cougars, who remained undefeated at 8-0 overall and 7-0 in section.

“That’s our mentality; Start out strong,” Charleroi coach Tim Laskey said. “We have lot of talent on this team. The (late arrival) didn’t affect us.”

With Charleroi decidedly controlling possession in the first half, Mt. Pleasant’s scoring chances were slim at best.

The Vikings had one shot before halftime. It went into the net, but overall the offense was fleeting.

Still, the Vikings only trailed by a goal at halftime. “He’s special,” Mt. Pleasant coach Floyd Snyder said of Klinger, who has 19 goals. “We were too timid and too passive from the start tonight. That’s not the message we relayed to them. Our boys were content so sit back. Charleroi came out firing, guns a blazing.”

It was the first section loss for Mt. Pleasant (7-3, 6-1), which was coming off a 3-2, double-overtime win over Southmoreland and played without two key strarters in Aidan Johnson and Bryson Bankosh.

Johnson, a midfielder, is out two games after receiving a red card against Southmoreland. Bankosh, a wing back, has a shoulder injury but is expected back soon.

Klinger ripped a 25-yard shot past Vikings’ keeper Grayson Gardner, who made some impressive saves, for the first goal about 19 minutes in.

Mt. Pleasant finally broke into the final third and tied it when Grant Zahrobsky crept ahead of the pack for a oneon- one and bagged the equalizer with just under six minutes left in the half.

But the Cougars responded as Klinger crashed the net and touched in a rebound with his left foot to make it 2-1 at the break.

“We took advantage of (the harried warm-up),” Klinger said. “It kind of fueled us and fired us up. This was a statement game for us. Our defense was ready tonight.”

Chaleroi, which was coming off of back-to-back shutouts, played a four-man back line, which limited the Vikings to only four shots on goal.

The Cougars, on the other hand, had 16. “Our boys didn’t back down,’ Snyder said. “Our bench was a little thinner … We came out in a newer formation. That is my fault. We changed things up on them a little bit.”

Klinger again swooped in to pull in another rebound and poked it past Gardner for his third goal and a 3-1 lead about 19 minutes into the second half.

“Half our goals are from our guys taking long shots and us crashing,” Klinger said.

His coach was pleased to see his players step on the gas, even when Mt. Pleasant made a push with its minimal opportunities.

Said Laskey, “Our guys have their training. That is when we coach them. When the game starts, we let them play.”

Blake Pendo scored in the 61st minute to increase the advantage to 4-1, before Mt. Pleasant added one more score, with about 19 minutes to go, on a rip from Bryce Gamble. Garner made 11 saves in the loss.

Max Goodwin had two stops for the Cougars, who have outscored their opponents, 55-9.