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Bennett’s second-half goal helps Montoursville beat Loyalsock

By Jon Gerardi 7 min read

As Montoursville's players and coaches gathered around their part of the field at halftime for a talk, Montoursville junior Khaya Bennett was a little upset. Just a few minutes prior, she had a chance to score on a penalty kick, only to see it get blocked.

So, Bennett wanted to try and redeem herself in the second half. That's when she looked in the stands and saw her dad, who told her to refocus mentally.

"I knew I had to get myself back in position to score another goal," Bennett said.

The Warrior did exactly that. Just 57 seconds into the second half, Bennett got the ball down towards the 18 and sent a laser of a shot to the far-right post high just past the fingertips and reach of Loyalsock keeper Ava Deknecht and put Montoursville on the board.

That goal was the lone goal to fall on Thursday evening at Memorial Stadium in Montoursville as the Warriors beat rival Loyalsock in a great game, 1-0, during Montoursville's pink out.

"It was super big (to score). After I missed that PK, I was kind of down on myself. I was even shocked that I scored that goal. My face after, I just didn't even believe it," Bennett said. "Yeah, I was really upset at halftime. I looked up at my dad and he was like (focus) mentally."

Bennett had a penalty kick chance with 6:15 remaining in the first half. Bennett tried sending it low to her left, but Deknecht read it perfectly and had a huge stop to keep it a scoreless game and keep Montoursville from swinging momentum away.

"That save really motivated the girls. That's all we talked about at halftime other than being more aggressive. How that lifted us up," Loyalsock coach Pete Ruhl said. "We came out playing well to start the second and they got that goal. But we didn't get deflated, we kept playing hard and pushing. We got opportunities after the fact. We didn't put our heads down."

Shots were hard to come by on Thursday night. Both Loyalsock and Montoursville's defenses did well in limiting opportunities. There were just four shots on goal recorded all night as both teams did their best to get chances.

With 35:06 to play in the second half, Loyalsock's Ellianna Mertes received a direct kick from 22 yards out. The Lancer took her shot high, but it went right over the post in a good chance for the Lancers.

"Loyalsock's definitely a tough team, so coming into this we knew it wasn't going to be an easy thing for us to win this game," Bennett said. "We knew when we had a chance, we had to score it."

Loyalsock's best scoring chance came with 26:59 to play. The Lancers got a shot from 20 yards out and sent it high, only to see Abby Strassner get her hands on it to tip it backwards off the crossbar, coming just inches from being a great goal.

Instead of tying it, Montoursville kept the lead and momentum.

The Lancers' last chance to tie it up with an equalizer came with 5:46 remaining in the game. The Lancers had a direct kick 40 yards out and sent a shot into the 18. The ball took a good bounce near the 6-yard box, but no Lancer was able to finish and put it in as Strassner grabbed it and prevented any shot attempt close to the goal.

After a tight first half in which both teams combined for one shot on goal -- that being Bennett's penalty kick -- the Warriors were glad to have scored fast in the first minute of the second half to get momentum and break open the scoreless draw.

"That was a huge goal by Khaya. It was a beautiful goal that she scored and obviously that set the momentum in place for us the rest of the second half," Montoursville coach Vic Gorini said. "We were able to keep a lot of possession on their end which obviously helps us maintain that lead."

The Lancers came out more aggressive in the second half, especially once Montoursville scored, but that goal was never able to fall as Montoursville did well possessing and from a defensive perspective.

"They came out hard and came out ready to play us from the start. We came in ready to play -- I think touch wise, idea wise, concept wise -- but it took us a little bit to wake up physically. At half time I just talked to girls to step to challenge, being on your toes instead of on your heels, and moving to ball quicker," Ruhl said. "We did that. We were able to produce some better defense and get ball up the field, but we weren't able to produce much offense. Maddie (Perry) had a good carry up middle to earn that direct kick. We took a shot earlier that their keeper saved right off the crossbar. We did get some chances, but just couldn't put them on frame enough to pressure the keeper."

The Warriors had a chance to extend the lead roughly halfway through the second half. With 20:12 left, Bennett got the ball and crossed it into the 18 to her right to just outside of the 6-yard box. That's where Adele Dunkleberger ran in and connected on her shot, but it went just high and over the post.

That was one of the Warriors' final chances to score.

Gorini was glad to see his defense step up against Loyalsock and limit players like Perry and Mackenzie Miller from scoring and shifting the momentum.

"We have a young defense. We had two freshmen as centerbacks for a good part of the game. They've been very solid. We have some freshmen defensive midfielders who are in there. So, we're really happy with how they're playing this early in their careers," Gorini said. "The defense has been pretty solid all year. We're really pleased with them. Abby's been really good in goal and she's really athletic and can make a lot of saves for us as needed."

Strassner recorded her third shutout of the season with Thursday's win. Her third shutout tied Warrior Run's Melody Gardner for third-most in the area as Wellsboro's Jadyn Dunlap has five and Deknecht has four.

For the Warriors, any time they play Loyalsock, they know it'll be a tough game that brings out the best in one another.

"It's always a tough matchup, especially when we're playing under our home lights and everybody's here to watch us," Bennett said of the rivalry game against Loyalsock. "It's always a tough game, but it's always fun to play in it."

"It was going to be tough; it was going to be physical. You understand the rivalry between this game and these two schools. It's just a big deal to both teams. I know we won last year at our field; they just won this year in a tough physical match," Ruhl said.

Loyalsock will look to snap a two-game losing skid as the Lancers travel to face Line Mountain on Saturday morning. Thursday's victory was the Warriors' fifth consecutive win and Montoursville heads to Warrior Run for a big matchup on Tuesday evening.

Montoursville 1, Loyalsock 0

M--Khaya Bennett, 39:03.

Shots: L 1, M 3. Corners: L 1, M 3. Saves: L 2 (Ava Deknecht), M 1 (Abby Strassner).

Records: Loyalsock (3-5-2), Montoursville (6-3-1).

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