Before Hughesville could even get settled into the game, they trailed District 4 power Midd-West by two goals, a deficit that felt insurmountable based on the four minutes and change it took the Mustangs to take a two-goal lead. The Spartans were able to collect themselves and play a strong final 76 minutes.

But it wasn’t enough as their season came to an end in the District 4 Class AA quarterfinals at Milton on Saturday with a 3-0 loss.

“I think they, they had a few lapses in the beginning, but they really came back from that strong, and we talked about what we need to fix, and they proved that they were able to fight to them for coming back through that it’s tough, especially being down in the beginning,” first-year Hughesville coach Cole Lesher said. “But they fought their way into it.”

Midd-West’s pressing style of play paid dividends pretty much right from the opening kick. After a Hughesville turnover, it took Layden Swinehart just 55 seconds to score off perfect service from Evan Devine.

“We take pride in (being relentless). We take pride in knowing that nobody’s going to be able to play with us if we continue to work as hard as we do,” Midd-West coach Mark Ferster said. “Being fit is something we take pride in, and we work on it non-stop. Sometimes the guys will say, ‘Coach, don’t we need to do more tactical stuff?’ and I tell them, ‘Yeah, it’ll come, we’re capable.’ It’s something we really take pride in, and the boys buy into it.”

The Mustangs got back to work, and it didn’t take them very long to score. Gabriel Romig played a ball from outside the penalty box across the face of goal, left to right. While it was intended to be a cross, it actually found the bottom right corner of the net for a commanding 2-0 lead.

Hughesville had its chances to cut into the lead however. Spartan Carter Gormont was able to get behind the Midd-West defense for two breakaways in the middle part of the first half. But, each time, Derek Wert was up to the challenge, keeping the ball out of the net.

Midd-West made Hughesville pay for not capitalizing on those chances. They scored their third and final goal of the afternoon in the 37th minute. Nathan Horst was played in behind the defense, giving him a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper. He slid it just to the right of the keeper to give Midd-West a 3-0 lead. Hughesville would hit the crossbar in the final thirty seconds of the first half, but the shot somehow stayed out, and Midd-West took a 3-0 lead to halftime.

While the Spartans weren’t able to create as many clear-cut chances as they did in the first half, the run of play was much more competitive. And, for a young team like Hughesville, that’s something to build on for next year.

“There’s a lot of younger players that are coming up and showing well, and it’s a shame the seniors have to leave as we’re building something,” Lesher said. “I think that we have guys that are going to work, and I’m trying to build a culture that says ‘we can compete with these teams.’ We just have to keep playing our game.”

Midd-West 3 Hughesville 0

MW–Layden Swinehart, 39:05. MW–Gabriel Romig, 35:58. MW–Nathan Horst, 3:37.

Shots: MW 9, H 3. Saves: MW 3 (Derek Wert), H 7 (Royce Gardner).