MC boys defense tough despite loss to CC

By rscaife
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 17, 2014

LEWISTOWN – Looking back at the end of the year, possibly most Mifflin County boys soccer team players and coaching staff will look back at Tuesday afternoons game against Mid-Penn Commonwealth foe Cedar Cliff at the Mifflin County as the day that the team had put in its strongest game to date. Despite losing 3-0 to the Colts, the game was much closer than the score appeared as the Huskies went toe-to-toe with Cedar Cliff for much of the contest.

“Our goals from the beginning of the season was to improve every game. Last game we didn’t play so well. We wanted to put more pressure on them offensively and make them make mistakes, be a little more creative up top and that got better this evening,” Mifflin County coach Robert Lepley said. “We did force some turnover. We had some opportunities. We need to put a little more confidence in our attack and go from there.”

Huskies’ goalkeeper Noah Fisher once again had a strong night in the goal, finishing with 14 saves while Colts’ goalkeeper Alex Kunisky tallied seven. Cedar Cliff took the opening possession and played their possession close to midfield. Mifflin County went back into clogging the passing lanes, keeping the Colts off balanced for the first six and half minutes of the game.

It was an early battle in the Mifflin County back-third as the Huskies relied on its defensive prowess.

However, the Colts found their way on the scoreboard when Reed Bertram picked up a pass in transition from Michael Lopez-Ortiz, making it 1-0 with 33:30 left in the opening half.

On Mifflin County’s first possession in the Cedar Cliff end, the Colts defense quickly sent it back down into the Huskies’ end. Despite the constant pressure, the Mifflin County defense plugged the holes and did not give the Colts’ offense much to look at after the first goal. As the half wound down, the Huskies’ passing started to gel.

Mifflin County dodged a huge bullet towards halftime when Cedar Cliff’s Jordan Devine blasted a shot off the top crossbar and bounced back into play. The Huskies’ rallied back with a breakaway attempt by Weston Shugarts.

His shot was snuffed out of the air by Kunisky. Minutes later, teammate Evan Zewe blasted a shot that was also foiled by the Colts’ goalie. When the teams went into the intermission, the Huskies trailed by only one goal.

At the half, Cedar Cliff led in shots by a 14-4 margin and also held the advantage in corner attempts 4-0. The Huskies’ defense fought and battled for most of the second half but at the 12:40 mark of the game, Cedar Cliff found its way back onto the scoreboard. Antonio Hebert picked up a rebound from a goalie block and drove it home for the unassisted goal, upping the lead to 2-0. Cedar Cliff added an insurance goal at the nine-minute mark when Jonah Dudzinski picked up a pass from Neil Painter to finish the scoring at 3-0. “We have a lot of speed in the back. They play together very well, they communicate very well and speed makes up for mistakes they may make,” Lepley said. “Overall, I was happy with how the defense played.”