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Huskies drop 5-1 match to Palmyra

LEWISTOWN–For the second time in as many days, the Mifflin County girls soccer team found itself up against Palmyra, this time with the Cougars traveling to Lewistown.

The Huskies celebrated senior day but were unable to defend home field, as Mifflin County fell to Palmyra, 5-1 in a Mid-Penn Keystone matchup at Mifflin County Middle School on Thursday afternoon.

“Tonight wasn’t our night, we played them much tougher last night down there,” Huskies coach Barrett Knepp said. “Last night the shots were even, the score was pretty even actually, I mean it showed 3-1 but we gave up one with 1.3 seconds left so it was a very even match last night. Tonight, just wasn’t our night.”

The Huskies looked to strike first in the opening minutes of the match as senior Maddie Finkenbiner sent a crossing pass over to fellow senior Morgan Breon but the ball was snagged by Palmyra’s goalkeeper Maddie Webb.

Moments later, Mifflin County’s Aubrey Strohecker stole the ball from the Cougar defensive line and took a shot that was caught by Webb. Strohecker had another attempt at a scoring opportunity but her shot was wide right.

Palmyra then began to press toward the Mifflin County net as Liv Pitta received a lob pass and tried to use a header to get the ball in the net, but the shot was wide of the goal.

After ten minutes of scoreless soccer, the Cougars finally got on the board first as Zoe Smith found the back of the net to put Palmyra up 1-0.

The Huskies looked to respond as Strohecker moved the ball over to senior Lily Yoder who tried to take the shot but was cut off by the Palmyra defense.

But not long after that, Mifflin County evened the game up at one apiece with 26:32 remaining in the first half as Strohecker slipped by the Palmyra defense, stole the ball to create a one-on-one opportunity against the Cougar keeper Webb and Strohecker won that battle.

Then Palmyra took its turn with a pair of scoring opportunities from Katelyn Monette but Monette was stopped both times by Mifflin County keeper Bailey McNitt.

But the third time was the charm for Monette as she muscled her way past the Mifflin County defense and sent the ball to the top left corner of the net to put the Cougars up, 2-1.

Four minutes later, Palmyra was on the attack again, as a defensive breakdown for the Huskies ensued at the net and Maddie Grinstead managed to sneak in and put the ball to the back of the net giving the Cougars a 3-1 lead heading into halftime.

“We were kinda out of sorts,” Knepp said. “We saw a lot of the same things we saw last night where they beat us down the end line a lot. Once they get to that point their options are endless and we were not able to stop it.”

Things got a little chippy in the second half as both teams became a little more physical out on the field. Frustration showed for Mifflin County as the Huskies looked to attack the net but were unable to get the ball past the Palmyra defense in large part due to the physical play.

The Cougars took advantage of a miscue and Monette went and shot the ball over the head of McNitt to make it a 4-1 lead.

It did not take long for Palmyra to strike again as the Cougars went right onto the attack where a shot was fired and stopped by McNitt, but the ball bounced off of McNitt and went right to Bridget Krikorian who knocked the ball in for a 5-1 lead.

“Yeah there is definitely some frustration in the second half,” Knepp said. “That and I tried to work in some younger players, give some players rest. I mean this is the third night, third game of the week this week and we have another one, so tough week.”

After the game as a sign of good sportsmanship, Mifflin County honored the seniors of Palmyra in Lindsay Malone, Maddie Julian, Monette, Lisi Heberling, Erin McCafferty and Smith.

Palmyra also won the JV game 3-1.

Mifflin County went on to pay tribute to the seniors of Breon, Lily Yoder, Shae Bagrosky, Kate Knable, Finkenbiner and Leah Bickert. Coach Knepp is very appreciative of their efforts for the girls soccer program and wishes them nothing but the best in the future with their respective plans.

“I mean its a good group,” Knepp said. “They work hard, just if they keep up the work ethic, they will be just fine.”

With this loss, Mifflin County drops to (3-3) overall and (3-2) in the Mid-Penn Conference. The Huskies will look to get back to the win column on Saturday as they travel to face Hershey.

Palmyra 5, Mifflin County 1

FIRST HALF

P – Zoe Smith, 29:04; MC – Aubrey Strohecker, 26:32; P – Katelyn Monette, 12:29; P – Maddie Grinstead, 8:09.

SECOND HALF

P – Monette, 26:04; P – Bridget Krikorian, 25:02.

Shots: P 9-7. Corners: P 2-0. Saves: MC-4 (Bailey McNitt), P-6

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