After standing strong in the face of considerable pressure in its end of the field in the first half, South Western's defense couldn't hold up any longer.

Central York came away with two second-half goals to defeat the Mustangs, 2-0, in YAIAA Division I boys' soccer action Thursday afternoon at South Western.

The sides went to halftime in a scoreless tie, but the Panthers broke the deadlock with 38 minutes left in the contest as Kyle Smith scored off an assist from Andrew Sauers. Sauers launched a throw-in that reached Smith on one bounce in the middle of the field. Smith was able to create enough space to get a volley off and past South Western keeper Adam Alton into the lower right corner of the net.

"You can't panic when you aren't scoring. You have to stay composed and keep playing the game," Central York head coach Frank Lenno said of what he told his team at halftime. "Kyle's goal was big. It helped us to relax a little."

It didn't take long before Panthers were on the board again, thanks to a goal by Royce Clemens off a helper from Shawn Morrison with 34:42 to play. Morrison played an indirect kick back to Clemens, and he let fly from 10 yards out, finding the top right corner of the net.

"It's no fun to play on your heels. We weathered that well in the first half but made a couple of mistakes in the second half that cost us," South Western head coach Clayton Wilcox said. "They put the pressure on us and made the plays that they needed to make.

"I don't think we showed well at all today. They were more physical, better technically and just played better than we did."

South Western (4-4, 3-2 YAIAA I) managed one shot on goal in each half, neither a particularly strong shot, and both were handled easily by Central keeper Stephen Gross.

"Our defense communicates well," Lenno said. "When you can play most of the match in the other team's end, it keeps the pressure off your defense.

"That's a good team they

South Western goalkeeper Adam Alton, center, looks up as he watches a shot by Central York's Royce Clements sail over the goal during the first half of Thursday's match at South Western. (The Evening Sun - Brett Berwager)
have, and we did well to shut them out."

Central (5-4, 3-1) racked up numerous scoring opportunities in the first half and officially four shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but Alton was up to the task of keeping the match scoreless.

He stopped Morrison's header with 22:30 to go in the opening half then denied Morrison again on a shot 15:03 before halftime.

Morrison did manage to get a shot past Alton earlier in the first half but found the left goal post.

For the match, the Panthers led in shots on goal, 8-2, and the corner kicks were even, 3-3.

The Mustangs return to the pitch with a nonleague match at Central Dauphin East on Monday. That starts a busy week for South Western, as it plays five matches in six days.

"Every team goes through that this year," Wilcox said. "It just happens to be our turn to do it next week. It's tough not having much practice time, but we aren't the only team that deals with it."

Central York -- 0   2 -- 2
South Western -- 0   0 -- 0

   Second Half -- 1. CY, Kyle Smith (Andrew Sauers), 38:00; 2. CY, Royce Clemens (Shawn Morrison), 34:42.
   Shots On Goal -- CY 8, SW 2.
   Corners -- CY 3, SW 3.
   Goalies -- CY, Stephen Gross (2 saves); SW, Adam Alton (6 saves)
   JV Score -- Central York 4, South Western 0.