Hughesville girls set for state quarterfinal against Moravian Academy
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After Tuesday's PIAA Class A first-round playoff game which Hughesville won, defeating Camp Hill 4-1 to advance, Spartan coach Cody Hack joked when asked if the girls are glad to be keeping this postseason run going.
"Who's next, right? I guess that is what it comes down to. We're looking for the next opportunity, so I get to watch some more film I guess," Hack said with a laugh.
There may have been some prepping on the bus ride back to Hughesville on Tuesday night, and probably some more on Wednesday and Thursday.
Now the Spartans get to play another state playoff game, a few days after making history by winning the program's first-ever state playoff victory.
Hughesville has a PIAA Class A quarterfinal matchup this afternoon against District 11 champion Moravian Academy at North Schuylkill at 2 p.m.
"We're really happy," Hughesville senior Kat Temple said. "We're hoping to go as long as we can."
Moravian Academy is a talented program. It has won 10 District 11 Class A championships and this year marks the sixth district title for Moravian Academy since 2020. The only year they didn't claim district gold in that run was 2025.
Last year snapped a run of seven consecutive state playoff appearances for Moravian Academy and the team made it to the state semifinals in 2022 and back-to-back state quarterfinal appearances in 2023 and 2024.
Moravian Academy is no stranger to District 4 opponents, either. The Lions lost to South Williamsport in 2022 in the state quarterfinals before beating the Mounties the following year in penalty kicks.
The Lions enter this year's state quarterfinal with a 10-7-4 record. The third-seed in the District 11 playoffs, Moravian Academy earned a 1-0 win against second-seeded Minersville in the District 11 Class A semifinals before upsetting top-seeded Schuylkill Haven in an overtime thriller, 2-1, to win gold and advance to the state tournament.
Moravian Academy is averaging just over 3.1 goals per game this season and has a potent offense, however the Lions also have given up 51 goals this year.
Hughesville has played well all year defensively, especially during the playoffs. Hughesville recorded three straight shutouts to open districts over Montgomery, East Juniata and Bloomsburg before a tough 2-0 losst o Line Mountain and then beating Camp Hill, 4-1.
The Spartans midfielders and backline do a great job swarming opposing forwards and midfielders and not letting teams string together strings of passes. It causes some errant passes and, more importantly, turnovers on possession.
"That's the whole point. We want to make sure they don't have an opportunity to think clearly. Whether we mess up in that transition or not, no big deal, but as long as they don't get a clean look for the next pass? That's great," Hack said. "Keep that physicality up and keep that energy up all over the field. It will give us opportunities because they cough the ball up."
"Our defense is great. Leah (Lehman) back there, she's amazing," Hughesville senior Kat Temple said. "She's really fast and she gets to all of the balls and Jadyn (Temple) and Addi (Shirvinski) back there (are solid). We have a really strong defense."
That also includes Kalia Hack's play in goal as she keeps playing fantastic as the year goes on. She has 192 saves this year, second-most in the area, and has seven shutouts.
"We always have a midfield that stays in the right position and normally is receiving any throughballs. (Against Camp Hill) they won the entire midfield game and was able to get us those slots up the field," Hughesville Tori Morgan said. "Even when it got through the midfield and to their forwards, our defense was able to lock it down for us."
Now the Spartans' defense and midfield are hoping to carry that success once again with a berth to the state semifinals on the line this afternoon.