The Hillbillies are hoping he is getting healthy at just the right time.

Murphy scored a pair of first-half goals and No. 9 Fredonia held on in the second half for a 2-1 Section VI Class B2 prequarterfinal victory over No. 8 Akron on Tuesday at SUNY Fredonia.

“The big thing with Sam is that he’s healthy now. He missed a lot of games for us,” Fredonia head coach Jim Rush said. “He’s a player. You can see the energy that he brings and the athleticism that he brings. He’s finally 100 percent now.”

Next up for the Hillbillies — the defending sectional champions — is a Thursday quarterfinal date with No. 1 Allegany-Limestone.

OBSERVER Photo by Scott Reagle Fredonia’s Sam Murphy settles the ball against Akron on Tuesday at SUNY Fredonia.

“They are a good team. We know we have to play well. We don’t have to play perfect, but we have to play well,” said Rush, whose Hillbillies beat the Gators 1-0 in last year’s final. “Their record speaks for itself. It’s a great program. We’ve played them a lot over the last couple of years in important games. They are a very good team. We have to work hard and take advantage of any opportunity we get.”

In the 13th minute Tuesday, Fredonia was awarded a corner kick. Zach Hall sent a low ball into the box that bounced once before Murphy headed it into the far corner of the net to the left of Tigers goalkeeper Sean Brennan.

“We had a little bit of a scout on them. We wanted to work outside-in. Both of our goals were created from the outside. They followed the plan,” Rush said. “That corner kick early was key. Zach being able to tear-drop it in there and Sam getting there was key.”

In the 22nd minute, Sal Tabone and Josh Reynolds worked a nice passing play to each other, but Reynolds shot wide of the Akron goal.

Less than two minutes later, the Hillbillies struck again as Hall sent a high, deep ball into the box. Murphy raced past a Tigers defender and again directed the ball into the net with his head to make it 2-0.

“You could tell that run was wide open,” Rush said. “We had other opportunities, too, but those were the two that we converted.”

Fredonia continued to carry the play for much of the first half, but was unable to get a clean look at the Akron goal.

The Tigers finally broke through in the eighth minute of the second half. Cole Fleming, who scored 15 of Akron’s 36 goals in the regular season, took a nice header pass from a teammate off a bounce and scored high into the center of the Hillbillies’ goal past keeper Trevor Persch.

“They got one goal and it made us realize that we need to put teams away,” Rush said.

Fredonia, which lost by one goal in six of its 10 defeats this season, seemed re-energized by the Tigers’ goal and started to push the play once again.

The Hillbillies’ best chance to extend their lead came in the 52nd minute when a shot rang off the Akron goalpost and the rebound was then sent high over the Tigers’ goal.

“I thought early on we took it to them. In playoff soccer you don’t want to let teams hang around,” Rush said. “We had opportunities that, moving foward, we know we have to convert, but I felt early on we had the possession.”

Akron never found another prime opportunity as Gabe Schrader and others tightened up on the Fredonia back line.

“We knew we had to get to the ball early and not give them time and space,” Rush said. “Once we did that, it took them out of rhythm.”

The Hillbillies will need that stingy defense to carry over to Thursday when they travel to Allegany to take on the Gators. Allegany-Limestone finished the regular season 16-0-0, outscoring opponents 93-2.

“We can play with anybody. Playing on turf the game is faster, and I think the game is better,” Rush said. “We have to play with them, maintain and continue to work hard.”

In two games against the Gators, Fredonia lost 1-0 and 2-1.

“The first two games against Allegany-Limestone were hard games,” Rush said. “The third time, we’ll see what happens.”