Since moving up to Class AAA last year, Moon's boys soccer team has struggled to find its footing.
The ground may have slid out from under the Tigers for the 2007 season on Tuesday with a 3-0 loss at Upper St. Clair.
Facing a chance to move into a third-place tie or fall two games back with the tiebreaker working against them, Moon knew it needed to reverse what was a 1-0 win for USC in the teams' first meeting. It took just 15 minutes for the Tigers' climb to get much steeper.
The home side had the game's first corner kick and they cashed in with a second chance. Rob Merritt's first shot at the Moon goal was blocked away by the Tigers' defense, but his rebound attempt found the back of the net, giving USC a 1-0 lead.
"(The USC coaches) told me afterward that they had been practicing their set pieces for two hours," Moon coach John Arnold said. "It showed tonight."
Down a goal, Moon nearly answered a minute later.
Ryan Seuss had a bouncing ball sit up nicely for him at the top of the box, and he struck a hard half-volley toward the left side of the net. Upper St. Clair goalie Mark Hast was equal to the shot, smothering the ball for one of the more difficult of his eight saves.
The Panthers then had two chances to increase their lead, the first on a dangerous bouncing ball in front of the Moon net.
USC's Pat Davis waited for the ball to settle for him, but Tigers' keeper Chris Zier showed no hesitation. He knocked Davis to the turf and the ball away from goal with a crushing collision that had the Panthers' coaches pleading for a penalty kick. No call was coming and Moon cleared the danger.
Later, speedy USC forward Aashay Kumar was denied by Zier on a breakaway, one of his six saves, only to have the ball roll to the back post. Davis was a step too slow to put the ball in, as his slight touch failed to redirect the ball toward the net.
Moon had one more good chance on the foot of Seuss, who was able to turn away from two defenders at the top of the box to shoot late in the first half. Again, Hast was up to the challenge, tipping the ball away to his left for a corner kick.
The start of the second half finished off the Tigers, conceding two goals within the first 11 minutes.
First came a goal by USC's Joe Paladino, who walked in toward the back post unmarked after a long stretch of possession. Kumar scored the last, finishing on his own rebound on a play that began with a throw-in.
The three goal lead was too much for Moon to overcome, especially against a stout defense like the Panthers'.
"They have two kids, their keeper and number 6 (defender Chris Burke). Basically, those two guys kept us at zero, because we got our chances," Arnold said.
"We've struggled to finish our chances, and that's been our albatross all year."
Still, Arnold has to feel disappointed that his team couldn't produce the same sort of performance it had earlier in the year against Peters Township, when the Tigers took the first-place Indians to the end before losing late.
"This was our worst loss of the year," he said. "They knew what was on the line tonight, and it's tough to lose like that."
The Tigers (4-7-0, 3-4-0 Section 5-AAA), still in fourth in the section, will have to try and bounce back in a home game against Trinity tomorrow night. Upper St. Clair (6-3-1, 5-2-0 Seciton 5-AAA), now securely in third place, would have to lose to Ringgold, Trinity or Canon-McMillan later this season for Moon to have a shot at the playoffs.