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Ganoe’s goal lifts Muncy past Loyalsock girls soccer in tough game 2-1

By Jon Gerardi 7 min read

Muncy's Mikaila Ganoe quickly looked to see where everyone was setting up around her as Harleigh Miller went over to take the corner kick. Ganoe wanted to get in front of Loyalsock keeper Ava Deknecht to give a teammate a chance to put in a goal.

But once Miller's corner kick got into the 18 and bounced near the 6-yard box, Ganoe quickly noticed something.

"If it deflected off of (a teammate) and I was able to get a foot on it, I could get it in," Ganoe said. "There was a slight possibility. I saw a gap open up between the keeper and me and just took a shot and went for it."

It was a head's up play and one that was huge for Muncy. Ganoe's goal with 4:15 to play which gave Muncy a one-goal lead. The Indians played outstanding defense from there. Muncy didn't let a good Loyalsock team get into position to tie it up and rode it out for a hard-fought 2-1 win  at Stanley T. Schuyler Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon in Muncy.

The win moves Muncy to .500 at 6-6-2 and Loyalsock falls to 3-7-4.

"I think it gave us tons of confidence. It pushed us forward to keep going stronger," Ganoe said. "We were getting tired and everything like that, so it just gave us the energy we needed to finish out the game."

Muncy and Loyalsock went into the break scoreless with both teams recording just two shots on goal through 40 minutes. But coming out of the break, both teams had more fire and were aggressive to score.

With 29:03 to play, Miller sent in a corner that Muncy's Kiki Woodward was able to play and send in to the right post and put the Indians up, 1-0. But Loyalsock kept battling and pushing and responded just seven minutes later.

Mackenzie Miller got a 1-v-1 look inside of the 18 and sent a great shot to the left, sneaking it inside the post out of the reach of Muncy keeper Hailey Ganoe and tying the game up.

"The other night we had a really emotional game vs. Danville. We came out real flat, were down 2-0, fought back real hard to tie them 2-2, played real hard and physical. We're in a spot now where Loyalsock hasn't been in awhile where they have a chance to break .500," Loyalsock coach Pete Ruhl said. "We're coming onto a grass field, we played OK, we're not used to that and they are, but at the same time we were flat at times. "Towards the end when we really needed to, we pressed and almost tied it back up," Ruhl continued. "We just could not put it in the net. We have a lot of things to work on, but we have four games left, need to win three probably mathematically to get in and we're going to do our best to do that."

Once Loyalsock tied the game, Muncy kept pressing and tried to go back ahead, something Muncy coach Jason Gresh was glad to see from his team.

"It's always important to get the first goal because it gives you a little confidence. And then it's a matter of not hanging your head when you give up their first and they tie it up," Gresh said. "We didn't and we kept pushing them forward. We played with some confidence. Kind of reverted back to our end until we got the second one. "

Both teams had great chances throughout the game to put in goals.

Woodward had a breakaway with 20:57 to play and had a great look at the goal, but sent it just wide to the right. Thirteen minutes later, she got to the 18, fired right, but shot blocked by Deknecht.

Loyalsock had a great look with 7:36 to play in the first half when Mallory Paronish got inside of the 18 and tried sending to the right post only to see Hailey Ganoe get the save. It was one of the Lancers' best chances at scoring in the first 40 minutes of the game.

"Over the last couple of weeks we've been working on possession in the final third. We did that in the first half and had a couple close ones there. We did the same in the second half, but just couldn't (score). We were giving up too many corners," Ruhl said. "I think one of our Achille's heels is giving up too many corners. When we could fight to get the ball out for a throw-in, we give up corners, and some of these teams have rested players and came to it in both of those and scored."

Loyalsock ended the game with 13 shots, six of which were on frame, but only were able to get three off inside of the 18.

The Indians knew Loyalsock played well defensively, and that was evident with the Lancers holding a talented offensive duo of Ava Eyer and Woodward to just three shots as Muncy had six total.

"We knew they were going to be really stout on defense. We saw them play against Hughesville where they won that game. Really stout on defense with good counter attacks, so we knew we had to stay composed in the back," Gresh said. "They shifted well. Eva (Nagel), Kyra (Creasey), Mikaila (Ganoe) especially at centerback, those three did a great job and when (Alexis) Girvin came in and gave me minutes, she did a great job. They stayed composed and we maintained our shape and rotated well."

Loyalsock's last chance to score an equalizer came with 3:50 to play. That's when Paronish got a loose ball around the 18 and rifled a shot that went just wide of the goal.

"We did (know Loyalsock was tough). They played some teams we played before, so we knew what we were looking at in how they played against them," Eyer said. "We just knew we needed to stay focused and fight because they're a good team. We just had to go at them."

Loyalsock had a chance to put in a goal with 34:43 to play in the second half from 25 yards off when Ellianna Mertes got a shot she tried sending high and sneaking right under the crossbar, but Hailey Ganoe made a great athletic play by getting her hands on it to tip it out and block it, preventing what would have been a great well-placed goal.

Both Loyalsock and Muncy were fighting for a win on Saturday in terms of playoff position. The win moved the Indians to 6-6-2 and put them in good position with four games remaining. The loss was tough for the Lancers, who are also in a playoff push late in the season.

"Both teams needed that win and they just fought a little bit harder on a few plays to put it in," Ruhl said. " We had those chances in the final minutes to tie it back up, we just couldn't put it in."

Muncy 2, Loyalsock 1

M--Kiki Woodward (Harleigh Miller), 29:03. L--Mackenzie Miller, 22:19. M--Makaila Ganoe, 4:15.

Shots: L 6, M 6. Corners: L 1, M 5. Saves: L 4 (Ava Deknecht), M 5 (Hailey Ganoe).

Records: Loyalsock (3-7-4), Muncy (6-6-2).

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