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McGuffey slows, but can’t stop McIntyre, Charleroi

4 min read
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CLAYSVILLE – You can only contain Eben McIntyre for so long.

The Charleroi senior, who scored his 100th career goal Sept. 8 and broke the school’s scoring record Monday against Mt. Pleasant, is as easy to stop from scoring as it is to get a cat into a bathtub without getting scratched, and he scored four times against McGuffey the first time the teams met.

McGuffey succeeded in keeping the Charleroi Celebre from scoring for almost 30 minutes. Behind solid goalkeeping by Brandon Burt and a defensive-minded game plan from coach Brian Gillespie and his staff, the Highlanders held McIntyre and Cherleroi’s celebrated attack in check for most of the first half.

Then, the wall broke down.

Charleroi broke the scoreless deadlock in the 30th minute on McIntyre’s 37th goal of the season.

McIntyre struck again for No. 38 in the second half, scoring off an assist by Jake Chambers in the 52nd minute with 28:33 to play. Despite a late goal from Larry Goodman, Charleroi hung on for a 2-1 win to stay unbeaten in Class 2A Section 3.

“Even with four guys covering him,” Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli said, “he was still able to find the back of the net with movement and just his teammates looking to feed for him.”

Just weeks removed from a 7-1 loss at Charleroi, McGuffey’s approach to its second meeting with Cougars, from a tactical standpoint, was passive. The Highlanders put seven boys in defense and had just two attacking, leading to Charleroi dominating in time of possession but only scoring once in the first half.

Charleroi saw it coming.

“We know this coach, and we know the second time around he likes to sit back,” McIntyre said. “So we said in our gameplan “just try to keep the ball, don’t force anything, and one will come.'”

While the two goals were more than the Highlanders wanted to concede, they know that it’s better than most teams manage against McIntyre.

Although nobody would blame him for patting himself on the back, McIntyre was quick to deflect credit.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have some great teammates,” McIntyre said. “I know our team’s young, but we have some players over there. My brother Arlo McIntyre, Bryce Large, Jake Chambers, Jake Caruso, Joel Chambers, really everyone over there. I’m just fortunate to be able to play with them.”

Charleroi will look to stay undefeated Saturday when it hosts Yough at noon.

“We have to play smart,” McIntyre said. “The conference schedule, you play everybody twice, so teams are going to be a little more keyed in on what they know we try to do. So we just have to keep it smart and keep teams on their toes when we go up against them the second time.”

McGuffey will aim to bounce back late Saturday morning at Brownsville with an 11 a.m. kick.

When the two teams met for the first time in 2021, McGuffey was down five starters and had only two substitutes. In the second meeting, they were a shot away from taking the Cougars to overtime.

“There are no moral victories, don’t get me wrong,” said McGuffey coach Brian Gillespie said. “But it’s a progression. It’s a process. And we’re going to be a lot better in three weeks when we make the playoffs, hopefully, and we get to those games. I told them tonight, tonight was, yeah, it’s about trying to beat Charleroi, but it’s (also) about learning to win a playoff game, and I think this teams ready to win a playoff game.”

Gillespie is confident that progression will continue should the two teams meet again.

“I told these kids before this game; you will beat Charleroi. It might not be this game, but it’s coming.”

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