LEWISTOWN - Sometimes home field advantage is not what it's cracked up to be.
In the case of Mifflin County and Chambersburg girls soccer, home field advantage did not live up to its definition.
Back on Sept. 14, the Huskies traveled to Chambersburg and rolled home with their first win of the season - a 2-1 double overtime thriller. This time, Mifflin County wasn't as fortunate.
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Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER
Mifflin County midfielder Bryce Papp (2) collides with Chambersburg Katelyn Carey (11) while going for the ball Thursday afternoon in Lewistown.
The Huskies were hoping to bookend its season series with the Trojans but were outdueled early before playing well in the second half en route to a 3-0 Commonwealth Division loss.
Mifflin County proved that it could have swept the Trojans in 2012 with the amount of chances it had. A penalty kick that failed and an early breakaway went just wide to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard.
"We had a penalty kick and a breakaway - it should have been the first two," Mifflin County coach Steven DeArment said. "We had a lot of chances but didn't capitalize."
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Those chances were few. But in the Mid-Penn, the new arrival must start capitalizing the way Chambersburg did. Overall, there were only 16 shots in the game. But the Trojans made them count.
For the first 15 minutes, Chambersburg looked like the better team. And they finally found the net when Noelle Jacobsen cashed in a bouncing ball off a corner for the game's first score.
From that point on, Mifflin County controlled the game. And the center of the field belonged to the Huskies. But once Mifflin County got near the box things did not go its way.
"It's frustrating when you control that much of the possession all afternoon," DeArment said. "There's not much you can do when you don't put any balls in the net."
While Mifflin County began playing some good soccer, Chambersburg continued to get limited chances.
Four minutes after Jacobsen's tally, Mifflin County's Kaitlyn Eckley was fouled in the box and was awarded a penalty kick. With a chance to tie the score, the Mifflin County sophomore approached the ball and fired a strike right at Trojan keeper Shannon Edwards, who made a fairly easy save.
Mifflin County continued to control possession, but was giving up a lot of corners to the visitors. Chambersburg's corner play was solid, but it was a strike from Hayley Guyer that notched the second Trojan goal with 10 minutes to play in the half.
A 2-0 deficit was something that Mifflin County thought it could come back from. And while the Huskies defensive pressure and offensive play began to pick up, Chambersburg got right back on the board midway through the second half.
Guyer blasted another shot from about the 18, her second of the game, to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead.
Mifflin County's play in the midfield continued to grow. But again, no shots were finding the net.
"I feel like we controlled the center of the field," DeArment said. "When we started moving in we were taking long shots when we had support. When we don't have support we try to play the ball."
Breanna Cline and Erika Shawver each had their chances inside 10 minutes to play. Cline played a corner from Eckley. Her header was just wide. Then, a few minutes later, Shawver got a nice corner service from Eckley but her chance was also just wide.
"Cline had a real nice header and the other one Erika crashed and we just couldn't find the back of the net," DeArment said.
Mifflin County (1-12, 1-9) begins back-to-back games against State College next week. Its first is Monday in Lewistown. The Huskies will then travel to State College Tuesday.
