DALLAS TWP. — The best part about scoring early is it builds momentum and confidence.
Tunkhannock did just that Wednesday night.
The worst part is it gives the opposition — in this case Dallas — ample opportunity to respond.
The Mountaineers, though, couldn’t.
Instead, the Tigers had a goal by Shane Macko about 10 minutes into the game hold up as they defeated Dallas 1-0 in a District 2 Class 3A boys soccer semifinal game.
Fourth-seeded Tunkhannock (12-7-1) will play at second-seeded North Pocono (14-5) for the district championship. The game is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. North Pocono defeated Wyoming Area 3-2 in overtime in the other semifinal.
The Tigers will be going for their first district title since 2013.
Top-seeded Dallas ended its season at 10-6-2. The Mountaineers had defeated Tunkhannock 1-0 and the teams tied 1-1 during the Wyoming Valley Conference season.
Macko scored the game’s only goal unassisted. He worked into the box and had his initial shot deflected, but he got the ricochet and scored 10:29 into the game.
“It changed the momentum a lot,” Macko said. “We got the lead, we were able to possess more and just keep the ball. At the end of the game, scoring wasn’t our main concern. It was defense considering we had the lead.”
Tunkhannock didn’t sit on the slim advantage. The Tigers appeared to score in the second half, putting together two sharp passes only to have the goal negated by an offside infraction.
“It’s very important to get the first goal,” Tunkhannock coach Sante Romaldini said. “Once we did that it was a breath taker, but we knew the game wasn’t over. Dallas is a great team, could score at anytime in the game. But that first goal was a huge momentum leap for the team. It boosted everybody up.
“We were hoping for a second one, but hey we’ll take the one.”
Dallas put immediate pressure on the Tunkhannock defense to start the second half. Tunkhannock keeper Max Shelhamer had to make two saves on shots by Dallas’ Jace Chopyak, the second coming on a second corner kick during the sequence.
Dallas’ Michael Bufalino also placed substantial pressure on Tunkhannock defenders Callum Jerome, Bode Lukasavage, Max Parry, Brady Slacktish and Owen Stretch.
Slacktish made an outstanding play on Bufalino with about seven minutes remaining, running stride for stride with him through the box and not allowing a clean shot on goal. The Mountaineers’ final chance came with under two minutes remaining, but it was cleared by Stretch.
“We’re definitely looking at the clock,” Stretch said. “We’re all tired. We played Monday and our legs are tired and we’re working as hard as we can for as long as we can.
“You’re just doing whatever you can. Winning every ball you can. Doing whatever you need to do to get the ball and play the ball.”
District 2 Class 3A Semifinals
Tunkhannock 1, Dallas 0
Tunkhannock`1`0 — 1
Dallas`0`0 — 0
First Half: 1. Tun, Shane Macko 10:29.
Shots: Tun 11, Dal 8. Saves: Tun 4 (Max Shelhamer), Dal 6 (Brandon Banks). Corners: Tun 4, Dal 3.
