HUGHESVILLE - Once the official signaled to stop the clock, it was obvious Warrior Run was going to a penalty kick.
While attempting to give Warrior Run another goal, Chloe Eisenhuth had her feet taken out from underneath her. Once the call was made, the Warrior Run girls immediately turned to the defense and called for Laura Bastian.
Bastian displayed little concern, and even seemed to thrive on the pressure of the moment. And with that much confidence in her abilities, Bastian buried a low shot to the corner of the goal, helping Warrior Run to a 2-0 victory Saturday night.
"She's a great shooter," Warrior Run coach Jen Allen said of Bastian. "You just don't see it with her back there (on defense). She's very accurate with her passes and it's more about accuracy on PKs than it is about power."
Bastian, who scored her first goal of the season on a PK against Hughesville (8-4, 4-4 HAC II) as part of a 3-0 win, set the kick up and beat the keeper to squash any chance of a late rally.
Hughesville keeper Allison Russell made the right guess as to which side Bastian would go, but failed to stop the shot. Bastian curled a low rolling shot just inside the post, and under Russell's outstretched arms.
"The team trusts her," Allen said. "The team turned around and called for her. She said she enjoys it. She likes the pressure and she does well."
The first meeting between the two earlier this season was decided quickly when Emily Potter took a Taylor Landis pass in for a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes. Bastian, who also assisted on Landis' second half goal in the game, scored the dagger ten minutes later with her PK finish.
Much like the first time around, Warrior Run's (11-0, 9-0 HAC II) offense pushed the tempo, creating five corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes.
"We gave up way too many corner kicks," Hughesville coach Murray Hanford said. "And for a team that's really good at set plays like Warrior Run that's not good enough. Except for the one, though, I thought we played them pretty well."
The one exception, though, was part of the opening surge by Warrior Run and led to another early goal when Emily Potter headed Taylor Landis' ball home for a, 1-0, lead.
"Set plays are important and we won on them tonight," Allen said. "We practice them and the girls follow through on them."
It wasn't how Hughesville wanted the game to began, especially against the PIAA Class A defending champion. And the mistake was that much more painful considering it was the second time in as many games the Spartans conceded an early goal to the Defenders.
"You want the team to come in with confidence and when that happens early you have to work twice as hard to rebound that confidence," Hanford said. "I thought we handled ourselves well. We regrouped in the second half and got more chances."
Already with an assist, Landis continued to pace the Defenders offense, recording 11 of the team's 20 shot attempts. Landis nearly gave the Defenders a three goal advantage in the final minute when her shot connected with the farpost. Her desire to get a goal continued to carry her as she closed out the game with a hard attempt Russell was forced to stop.
"She just kept pushing," Allen said of Landis. "We told her to keep her head and just keep sending balls in the box. We had a ton in there and she did well."
WR-Emily Potter (Taylor Landis), 5:14; WR-Laura Bastian (PK), 69:56.
Shots: WR 20 H 7. Shots on goal: WR 8 H 4. Corners: WR 10 H 3. Saves: WR (Olivia George) 4 H (Allison Russell) 6. Fouls: WR 14 H 11. Cards: WR none. H Ashley McCracken (Yellow) 79:15.
Records: Warrior Run 11-0 (9-0). Hughesville 8-4 (4-4). Next: Hughesville at Southern Columbia, Monday, 4 p.m. Warrior Run at Shamokin, Monday, 4 p.m.
