LEWISTOWN - On a crisp, early fall afternoon, the Chambersburg Trojans traveled into Mifflin County to take on the Husky field hockey squad.
When the final whistle blew, Mifflin County claimed a 3-0 victory in the Commonwealth Division contest.
But it started slowly for the home team.
A mere three and a half minutes had expired when Mifflin County coach Tish Maclay called a time out. She told the players, "You are not cutting to the ball, you are being outhustled - you need to step up and to see what the other team is giving you and adjust your play accordingly."
It's not uncommon for Maclay to push her team that way - and it wasn't uncalled for against a team the Huskies dominated in their earlier meeting.
"We just were not playing with a lot of enthusiasm, and we need a big push in this second cycle if we hope to make districts," Maclay added.
The first 10 minutes of the game was evenly matched with both teams taking turns moving the ball into the opponent's end of the field. There were no shots on goal during this time.
Trojans' coach Jeni Amsley called timeout with just under 16 minutes left in the half to encourage and correct her squad. Shortly thereafter, on just the third shot on goal, Mifflin County scored.
Macie Lucas buried one in the corner of the cage on an assist from Whitney Strohecker with 11 minutes to play in the first half.
At halftime, after many trips up and down the field, after eight Mifflin County penalty corners and six Mifflin County shots on goal the score still stood at 1-0. But Chambersburg had no corners and no shots on goal thanks to a stingy Husky defense.
The Huskies scored two more goals in the second half to seal the victory, not even a minute apart. Strohecker assisted Kezia Loht on one score at the 18:24 mark and finally scored one herself with 17:16 left to play off an assist by Gracie Wagner.
"We are happy with the win and happy for our second straight shutout. Our defense did not allow a shot on goal. When we go to Cedar Cliff on Wednesday, we will need to show sixty minutes of intensity, passion and enthusiasm," Maclay said.
The Husky bench saw plenty of action in the game.
Mifflin County (5-6) also won the JV game by a 2-0 score. Sami Morningstar was assisted by Allison Sheetz and Marissa Byler scored on an assist by Brenna Shilling.
