Lady Huskies lose heartbreaker

By rscaife
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Updated: September 8, 2017

By Kenny Varner
LEWISTOWN – Sometimes sports is just a game of inches. A shot taken a second too soon or too late can mean the difference between a goal or a missed opportunity.
The Mifflin County girls soccer team experienced that Thursday afternoon as it went up against visiting Shippensburg.
On paper, It was a game that the Lady Huskies dominated in every stat with the exception of the final score.
With 15:30 left in the first half, Shippensburg got a goal from the center of the field by Kelly Isola gave the visitors the eventual winning goal.
“We out played them and we won the 50/50 battles. We just couldn’t find the back of the net tonight,” said Mifflin County coach Jeremy Herwig.
One of the many bright spots for the Huskies on this night was the aggressive goalie play by veteran goalkeeper Alyssa Schnell. Schnell collected nine saves while thwarting many Shippensburg breakaway opportunities with coming out and kicking the ball down to her teammates.
In the first half, Mifflin County opened up the game with the ball and the first possession.
The Huskies went right into the heart of the Shippensburg back-third. Despite the early pressure, Mifflin County came up empty.
After the first Husky drive, the game went into a back and forth style of play with each team trying to distinguish its own tempo for the game.
Early on the MC defense was fueling the offense but Shippensburg’s defense was up for the challenge, each time sending the “Purple and Black” attack back empty handed, despite all of their shots at the goal and Shippensburg goalie Hannah Plitcher. Plitcher was perfect on the afternoon stopping seven shots on goal.
Around the mid-period mark, the ball slowly gravitated to the Huskies’ side. With the ball in their opponents end, Shippensburg scored minutes later as Isola found a crack in the Mifflin County defense and sent a sizzler to the opposite top part of the net, making it 1-0.
Going into the intermission, the score would remain the same despite Mifflin County leading in shots on goal 9-7, corners 2-1 and both goalies finished with four clutch saves in the period.
In the second half, the Huskies came out on a mission to get to the Shippensburg goal.
The opportunities were their but some hit the side poles, just miss the goal sliding just beside it or it just sailing above it.
Never ever in the second half did it look as if the game was over. Even in the final seconds, Mifflin County was knocking on the door before the final buzzer sounded.
With the time running out on the Lady Huskies, the team never waivered from its cone back attempt on their new field at the Mifflin County Middle School.