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Hughesville girls rally to beat Warrior Run in thriller 3-2

By Jon Gerardi 5 min read

HUGHESVILLE -- With his players huddled together at the far end of Raymond H. Perritt Stadium at halftime, Hughesville coach Cody Hack told his team that they have plenty of time to come back. The Spartans also knew they had the ability to do so and score multiple goals. There was no need to panic or get flustered.

Trailing by two goals, Hughesville knew it had to come out and play great in the final 40 minutes of Wednesday’s game if it wanted to rally and beat Warrior Run.

And the Spartans did precisely that.

Hughesville scored a goal ten minutes into the second half and the momentum kept building as Hughesville defeated Warrior Run in an exciting game at home, 3-2, in girls soccer on Wednesday evening.

“I just told them here that's called resolve for us, right? I mean adversity was right in our face and being down 2-0, you still have some room to move. We scored five in a half against Muncy the other night, so we know it can be done,” Hack said. “You just have to come out and play your game. They knew adjustments they had to do in the second half to be able to get more opportunities. Let alone if the goals come, who cares, but give yourself more opportunities to be successful and that's what we did in the second half.”

Hughesville’s players grew more and more excited with each goal scored, but none more so than the third and final goal the Spartans put into the back of the net. With less than a minute to go in a tied game, Leah Lehman got the ball and saw Bella Remsnyder in position to score. Lehman sent it to Remsnyder, who did the rest and scored to the left post with just 29 seconds remaining to give the Spartans the exciting 3-2 victory.

The defense held on from there.

“Leah driving up the middle, a couple of girls here were like ‘shoot it, shoot it’ I was like 'no, don't shoot it,'” Hack said. “She told me after game, she said ‘I just did what we practiced, move the ball left.’ Bella took a fantastic touch. She's a lefty by nature but she trusted her right foot and buried it in the back of the net.”

The Spartans had momentum throughout the second half and never let Warrior Run shift away momentum and quell the Spartans.

“I think we put together 60, 70 minutes of good soccer. And we just kind of ran out of gas at the end,” Warrior Run coach Rob Ryder said.

Hughesville tied the game with 16:21 to play when Remsnyder assisted Hailey Stevens on a goal which Stevens sent high to the left with two Warrior Run defenders closing in on her to make it a 2-2 game.

“When you're down 2-0, you can't get two back in one goal, so you gotta get one, reverse the momentum and keep pushing, put them on their heels,” Hack said. “Tori (Morgan) hit a cracker, that was fantastic and Hailey followed it up with the second goal to put it in position to at least get a result tonight and luckily we came out on the right end.”

Morgan’s goal put the deficit at 2-1 with 30:08 remaining when she took a shot from 25 yards out that snuck below the crossbar.

Hughesville ended the game out-shooting Warrior Run, 15-7, with majority of those shots coming in the second half as Hughesville gained momentum and shifted the game away from the Defenders. Despite the loss, Reese Bingaman played well and ended with 12 saves.

“Yes, definitely (happy with her effort),” Ryder said of his keeper.

With 14:30 to play, Warrior Run’s Alexis Snyder had a shot outside the 18 and a great chance to score, but her shot went just wide to the left.

With 2:03 remaining in a tied game, the Defenders got another chance at the 18 and sent a low shot in, but Hughesville keeper Kalia Hack stopped it to keep the game tied and not allow a go-ahead Defender goal to slip by.

“We found in our first couple of games we get a little antsy. We know the passes we need to make; we know the spots we need to be in, but we get a little antsy where we miss the pass or we have 50/50 (chances). So, settling down and being able to just find that and move it like we know how to do (was key),” Hack said. “That was the adjustment for the second half and giving yourself the opportunity to push forward and be successful. That's what we needed to do and that's what we did.”

The Defenders scored both goals in the first half from Abby Bastian, a freshman who helped spark the team against a tough Hughesville squad.

“She came out of nowhere scoring two goals tonight and capitalizing,” Ryder said.

The result of Wednesday’s game made Warrior Run and Hughesville both 3-1. The Defenders host Loyalsock for an 11 a.m. game on Saturday while the Spartans head to South Williamsport for a 2 p.m. game against the Mounties.

Hughesville 3, Warrior Run 2

WR--Abby Bastian, n/a. WR--Bastian, n/a. H--Tori Morgan, 30:08. H--Hailey Stevens (Bella Remsnyder) 16:21. H--Remsnyder, 0:29.

Shots: WR 7, H 15. Corners: WR 2, H 6. Saves: WR 12 (Reese Bingaman), H (Kalia Hack) 5.

Records: Hughesville (3-1), Warrior Run (3-1).

Starting at /week.