The third-seeded Cardinals had an opportunity to get revenge Tuesday night in the Section VI Class C semifinals at Allegany-Limestone High School, but faced an identical result to last year’s final, a 2-0 loss.

“These seniors, when I took over, were seventh-graders,” Randolph head coach Dave Pihlblad said. “They’ve been there since Day 1, I’ve seen them grow, mature, they’re such a great group of kids that are going to leave a legacy for years to come — just what they did for this program. I’m proud of them, obviously the result wasn’t what we were hoping for, but I’m really proud of these guys.”

It was an even match in the first half and it was clear with the skill on display both teams belonged in the stage.

Early chances for Randolph went through its talisman Cooper Freeman, making either impressive runs while being marked by several Gators or delivering passes to teammates heading to dangerous areas.

Allegany-Limestone’s Adam Jaquith slide tackles the ball away from Randolph’s Gavin Senn during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal in Allegany. Photo courtesy of Mike Frame

“Cooper, it’s his final game,” Pihlblad said about the program’s all-time leading scorer. “He’s the best player I’ve ever coached, the best I’ve ever seen in the area. I can’t wait to see what he does at the next level.”

No. 2 Allegany-Limestone found its best chances coming off the wing, including an impressive display of dribbling by Kaleb Reed that was kicked away by Randolph defender Grady Steward.

If his defenders couldn’t prevent the opportunity, junior goalkeeper Randall Nottingham was there to make the big save on numerous occasions.

“Randy was our backup last year,” Pihlblad said about his keeper. “Stepped up huge tonight, huge all season. It was a big question mark, we lost our goalie from last year and it’s just been him. I’m not shocked he made some really big saves to keep us in there for a really long time tonight.”

After a scoreless first half, Allegany-Limestone got the first big break in a very physical semifinal matchup, a penalty kick in the 52nd minute.

While Nottingham had been great to that point, it was a tall ask to have him stop the reigning state finalist’s top scorer on the penalty spot. Cooper Wilczewski went right and Nottingham guessed wrong as the Gators went up 1-0.

Now trailing, Randolph had to get aggressive with its entire squad and Allegany-Limestone capitalized on the counter attack. In an opportunity that would have been more difficult if the score was still level, Noah Hatch delivered a pass coming down the right wing to Reed in the box and he doubled the Gators lead in the 61st minute.

“I thought the first half was really even,” Pihlblad said about the game. “Two really good teams creating chances and they get a call, get a PK and that changes everything. We had to change our plan to push to get one, they got a second one shortly after because we were trying to tie it up. We could have got the bounce and call to go our way, unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”

The game finished with more bad blood as the yellow cards continued to come out for each side, but in the end, Allegany-Limestone moved on again from the same result, this time facing No. 1 Wilson for the sectional title Friday afternoon.

While the loss stings, the Cardinals should have nothing to hang their heads about as they still managed an undefeated league season and posted a 15-2-1 record.

“We lost to them the second game of the year and didn’t lose again until today,” Pihlblad said after having the season end to Allegany-Limestone. “We’ve had a good run, we won the league in a really tough league with Portville and Ellicottville/Franklinville. This is where we wanted to be in the semis, played a really good program that came out on top tonight.”