Championship bound!! MC girls top Sc to advance to D6 title tilt

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: October 28, 2020

By Kenny Varner

LEWISTOWN – Onward to the championship game.

History was made Wednesday as the MIfflin County girls soccer team advanced to the District 6 Class AAAA championship game after topping rival State College 3-1.

Aubrey Strohecker led the scoring attack posting a hat trick as well as scored all her team’s goals as they move onto to play Altoona in the D6 Championship.

But it would take a total team effort to take down the Little Lions as they got their lone goal from Paola Menendez unassisted, 6:40.

The unsung heroes of the night from the Lady Huskies was the entire backline and goalie Bailey McNitt. McNitt was everywhere as she finished with nine saves. Numerous times she was helped by her backfield as they kept their marks to a “T” allowing just one goal to crack their back line of defense.

Despite the loss, State College had its own strong defensive effort, they started with a double team on Strohecker but found it hard to keep up with her speed and foot skills along with passes from the main distributor Elle Kammerer and teammate Gabi Clark.

“I think things really started on Monday when we upset Hershey. I think that kind of set the bar for the week,” said MIfflin County coach Barrett Knepp. “ They rode the momentum right through. It was great to see.”

State College took the initial run into the the Lady Huskies end, but could not find an opening as the defense pushed the ball out to its offense.

Both team’s battled for momentum as well as possession for the first 18 minutes of play.

State College was able to double team Strohecker early.

However, you can’t always keep a good player down as Strohecker was able to run down a pass from her teammate and start on a breakaway. She faked her way in towards the goalie and blasted it home, making it 1-0 contest at 22:14.

With the early lead, MIfflin County began to feed off of it and started to control the ball deep in Lions territory.

With MIfflin County knocking on the door constantly, Strohecker found another opening in the middle and again sent it to the back of the net, lifting her team to a 2-goal lead with just 12:04 left.

But State College needed a goal to get back in the game and with the long history of success, the Lady Little Lions did just that when Menendez refused to be turned away and smashed one past McNitt.

As the time started to run out in the first stanza, Strohecker had one last good shot in her for the half, scoring with only 30 ticks on the clock, giving her team a slight cushion as the teams went into the intermission.

In the second half, the focus was strictly on the Huskies defense as they repeatedly were challenged by State College.

It would be a mix of maximum effort and a little help from “Lady Luck” as Menendez hit the crossbar twice while the defense held their own in the box.

Despite getting five shots out in the half, it wouldn’t be enough as the defense held tight, lifting the team to an appearance in the title tilt.

MIfflin County 3, State College 1

SC 1 0 – 1

MC 3 0 – 3

Scoring

MC – Aubrey Strohecker unassisted, 22:14.

MC – Strohecker unassisted, 12:04.

SC – Paola Menendez unassisted, 6:40.

MC – Strohecker unassisted, :30

Shots on goal: MC – 14, SC 12.

Corners: MC – 6, SC 6.

Saves: Bailey McNitt (MC) 9, Evie Lenze (SC) 3.