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Tigers roll to district title game

Fogle scores 3 as EJ tops Meadowbrook Christian

Sentinel photo by JEFF FISHBEIN
East Juniata’s Clarye Guyer, right, cuts off Mattie Steck of Northumberland Christian in a race for the ball during a District 4 Class A girls soccer semifinal at Loyalsock Tuesday.

WILLIAMSPORT — Another district game, another shutout for East Juniata.

The Tiger girls cruised past Meadowbrook Christian, 6-0, in a District 4 Class A semifinal Tuesday at Loyalsock.

Kierstyn Fogle led the way for the Tigers tallying a hat trick in the win. East Juniata advances into the District 4 Class A championship game and is guaranteed a spot in the state tournament.

The opponent will be Bloomsburg, a surprise 3-2 winner over Southern Columbia. The game is slated for Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Despite the lopsided final score, the beginning of the game did not go in the Tigers’ favor. For the first 10 minutes of the game, East Juniata went on the attack, firing shot after shot just trying to get on the board. The Lions’ defense near the net was solid, holding the Tigers off the board by deflecting shots before they reached the goal.

East Juniata dominated time of possession but had nothing to show for it. That changed when Cypress Feltman fired a shot on goal. The ball seemed to go through the arms of the goalie, Shelby Hartman, and right to an awaiting Kierstyn Fogle who buried the rebound. The goal gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 31 minutes left in the first.

“It’s frustrating. But, it’s good overall,” East Juniata coach Val Dressler said about the lack of scoring in the first 10 minutes. “In the whole first half, it’s good to get it out of our system and get the cobwebs out.”

That one goal was all the East Juniata defense needed, but their offense wasn’t done yet.

With 23 minutes left in the first, Amara Brubaker got a pass deep in Lions’ territory. She used her speed to dribble past the goalie and score, while two defenders closed in trying to make the stop.

With a two-goal lead the Tigers continued their attack as Fogle scored her second of three goals in the game. This goal came just two minutes after Brubaker scored.

The Tigers dominated control of the ball, never allowing Meadowbrook Christian to get anything going on offense. East Juniata’s defense was swarming, preventing the Lions from completing multiple passes in a row. The Lions were able to take a few shots, but none of them gave goalie Brianna Henry too much trouble.

Fogle scored her third and final goal of the game with about five minutes left in the half, giving the Tigers a safe 4-0 lead heading into the break.

East Juniata struck early in the second half on a beautiful finesse goal by Brubaker. The junior received a pass inside from Fogle which came in at waist height. Brubaker lifted her foot in the air to meet the ball, and tapped her shot passed Hartman.

Even with a comfortable lead, the Tigers refused to give the Lions any hope of a comeback. Their final goal game came on a smooth play by Fogle and Leah Sankey. The ball began with Sankey, who passed it inside to Fogle who then immediately passed it back to Sankey. Catching the defense off guard, Sankey had a great look at goal and didn’t miss, putting the game on ice.

The final 20 minutes of the game gave the substitutes time to play and they continued the aggressive play for the Tigers. No goals were scored, but East Juniata was able to rest its starters for the next round.

“I think it was our team playing really well together.” Dressler said. “We’ve done really good with transitioning from the offense needing to help out the defense and the defense needing to help out the offense.”

Even with a spot in the state tournament, Dressler does not want her girls overlooking an important district championship which affects seeding at the state level.

“We are actually not even going to look at states right now,” Dressler said. ” All we have in mind right now is districts and that’s all were going to focus on.”

East Juniata 6, Meadowbrook Christian 0

First half

J– Kierstyn Fogle (Cypress Feltman), 31:07. J– Amara Brubaker, 23:03. J– Fogle (Marin Varner), 21:47. J– Fogle (Clarye Guyer), 5:02.

Second half

J– Brubaker (Fogle), 37:16. J– Leah Sankey (Fogle), 28:42

Shots: EJ 29-1. Corners: EJ 13-1. Saves: MC-15 (Shelby Hartman, Emily Toland), EJ-2 (Brianna Henry, Grace Hibbs)

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