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From staff reports
BUCKHORN --The Juniata Christian School girls soccer team reached new heights this season, advancing to its first Allegheny Christian Athletic Association championship game on Saturday afternoon against Northumberland Christian.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Northumberland Christian continued its dominance in the season series, as the Warriors picked up their third win over Juniata Christian by a 4-1 margin for the 2021 ACAA title.
Northumberland Christian scored a pair of goals in each half on the way to a 4-1 win.
Juniata Christian tied the game at 1-1 with 16:48 left in the opening half but were unable to stay with the Warriors after Elliana Zwatty notched the go-ahead goal with 10:29 left in the opening half.
Eden Treas, Zwatty, Anna Ulmer and Emily Garvin all scored for Northumberland Christian, while the Lions' lone goal came from Erin Sheaffer on an assist from Peyton Burd.
"I am extremely proud of the season we have had in the ACAA," Juniata Christian School coach Todd Taylor said. "We advanced to the first ACAA final for our girls soccer program. We played very well today in tough conditions against a good team and never gave up."
The Lions (14-6) will host Northeast Bradford in a preliminary District 4 Class A girls soccer contest, Tuesday, at 4 p.m. The winner will advance into the eight-team championship bracket.
Northumberland Christian 4, Juniata Christian 1
NC 2 2 -- 4
JCS 1 0 -- 1
Goals: Eden Treas, Elliana Zwatty, Anna Ulmer, Emily Garvin (NC); Erin Sheaffer (JCS). Assists: Garvin, Zwatty, Ulmer (NC); Peyton Burd (JCS). Shots on goal: 9-9. Corners: 3-2, JCS. Saves: Morgan Moyer 5 (JCS), Caitlyn Gray 8 (NC).
Junior High Cross Country
LOCK HAVEN --The Mifflin County Junior High cross country teams competed at the Lock Haven University Middle School Championship on Saturday morning with the boys team coming away with a second-place finish as a team.
The boys were led by Hart Oden, who finished in ninth place with a time of 11:30, while Hoyt Rodenbaugh and Wyatt Kauffman finished 10th and 13th with times of 11:32 and 11:39, respectivefully. Reese Cubbison and Koy Aurand each finished in the Top 20 as all of the Huskies' scorers finished in the Top 20. Cubbison was 14th with a time of 11:39 while Aurand was 20th with a time of 11:55.
"The boys showed a lot of determination and grit today," Mifflin County boys coach Greg Loht said. "They got off the line and they ran hard. It was 48 (degrees) and raining, but they kept their focus through two miles of mud and slippery grass to turn in the season's best performance. It was a great end to the season."
For the girls, Amelia Coffey was a top performer, finishing 17th overall with a time of 12:46.
"Mia Coffey brought home a medal taking 17th place with a lot of really fast girls up front," Mifflin County girls coach Neil Breneman said. "Mia has become electrified and excited over these past few weeks and is excelling incredibly with her times. She is driven to work hard, which is the key combination to succeed with the natural talent that she has. She is fast, and will get faster as she continues to progress in training over the next few years."
Abigail Anderson, Kahlen McCracken and Irelynn Milligan each finished in the Top 50. Caroline Palopoli and Audrey Adams each finished in the Top 54.
"It's sad that this is the conclusion of the season already, but I am so proud of all the significant improvements they have made," Breneman said. "I also hope we can continue to build the Junior High Cross Country program. Our district has a lot of good runners, we just need to do a better job of creating a culture of running in our community."