Bellefonte girls win nail biter to scrappy Penns Valley squad

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: September 16, 2024

Bellefonte 1, Penns Valley 0

BE 0 1 -1

PV 0 0 – 0

Scoring

Second half

BE – Laila Packer unassisted, 27:27.

Shots on Goal: Bellefonte 24, Penns Valley 8.

Corners: Bellefonte 7, Penns Valley 3.

Saves: BE – Rory Pelipesky 3, PV – Emma Marks 8.

By Kenny Varner

SPRING MILLS – Starting the week with a nail biter.

Monday, the Bellefonte girls soccer team headed to Spring Mills to take on a gutsy group of Penns Valley Lady Rams.

The contest would be a defensive gem from beginning to end as the Lady Raiders posted a lone goal by Laila Packer at the 27:27 mark to lift her team to the 1-0 victory.

Penns Valley got a stellar performance by goalie Emma Marks who collected eight saves, keeping her team within striking distance until the final buzzer.

“Overall for us coming here to playing on grass. It’s definitely tougher than our turf field,” said Bellefonte coach Stacey Miller. “So there were a lot of adjustments that had to happen. I feel like the first half we saw that taking place and we were trying to adjust and get used to the field. I feel like the second half we played a lot stronger and played a lot quicker and kept the ball in our attacking half.”

Early on, both teams tried to set their own pace of the game.

The Lady Rams opened with the first substantial run at the Red Raiders side of the field.

The game was dominated by both defenses throughout the first as neither team were able to find a crack in the other’s defense.

The Red Raiders started to clog off the field, keeping the ball in the Lady Rams back-third. Though the Lady Raiders were knocking at the door, they were turned away by a very stubborn backline.

When the first half came to an end, the game remained scoreless. Bellefonte led in shots in the first half by an 8-4 margin. They also held the advantage in shots on goal by a 2-0 margin.

“We knew coming into this game that Bellefonte was going to be a tough match up. They’ve been running over teams so far this year. So credit them for putting it together and having strong performances,” said Penns Valley coach Sean Hermann said. “Our goal going into this game was to keep it close, take our opportunists when we could. The defense they played outstanding and the midfield too. Our midfield was dropping to help out the defense wherever they could. Some of the girls ran up and down the field non-stop. I give them credit to be able to do that.”

Coming into the second half, the Lady Raiders came out with a fury as it dominated the pace of play, taking the ball directly at the Lady Rams goal.

For the 12 minutes of the second, Penns Vallwy had answer for everything Bellefonte could send at them.

But with 27:27 on the clock Packer had to battle through the ball and two defenders to send it passed the goalkeeper, giving the Red Raiders the goal they needed, leading 1-0.

However, the Lady Rams refused to go away without a fight, sending the momentum over to Penns Valley.

Despite numerous chances, the Bellefonte defense stood tall time and time again.

Despite some scary moments, Bellefonte held off the Lady Rams attack to take home the victory.