Mifflin County upsets top-seed AAHS girls soccer to end its season
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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- In its regular-season matchup with Mifflin County, the Altoona girls soccer team trailed by one goal at halftime.
On Wednesday night during the District 6 Class 4A championship, the Lady Lions trailed by two.
In the first contest, Altoona was able to come back with three unanswered goals after the break.
With the district crown on the line, the Lady Lions were, unfortunately, only able to muster a late goal as Altoona saw its season come to a close with a 2-1 loss to Mifflin County at Hollidaysburg's Tiger Stadium.
"They (Mifflin County) are a great team. I like their coaching staff -- we get along," Altoona coach Derek Winterburn said. "So, congratulations to them. It was nice to see somebody get their first one (championship)."
The championship is the first in the history of Mifflin County School District for girls soccer.
"It's exciting. This group of seniors have worked their butts off. I've got 10 of them this year that are seniors," Mifflin County coach Barrett Knepp said. "This is the first group we've qualified for district finals with and we've done it three years in a row. Two years ago, we had a COVID case and it got taken away. Last year, we lost to these guys (Altoona). So, it's nice to finally get one up on them."
Altoona got a corner kick that Maura Kiser took and guided across the front of the goalmouth around the 6-yard box.
As Mifflin County goalkeeper Bailey McNitt came out to make a play on the ball, she ended up on the ground as the ball rolled all the way to the back post area where the Lady Lions' Brooke Thomas was able to redirect it into the back of the net at the 5:47 mark.
The defense of the Lady Huskies, which had been strong all evening, didn't budge as the Lady Lions had no quality chances the rest of the way.
The Huskies were definitely the aggressive team for most of the opening half as they ripped off five shots with four being on net in the first 20 minutes.
"They (Mifflin County) had a good gameplan coming in, and it's always been close," Winterburn said. " … The last three games we've played them have been 3-1. … Two goals weren't insurmountable, but I thought we needed to get one within the first 15 or 20 (minutes), and then when we didn't, it just made it a little harder. Then they're pressing. Unfortunately, we just couldn't find another one."
It didn't take MC long to cash in as Aubrey Strohecker got a through pass from Brynn Knepp, ripped a shot just inside the 18 that glanced off Altoona goalkeeper Quinn DeAntonio's hands and went between her legs.
Strohecker ran by the outstretched goalie and followed the ricochet to make sure it rolled into the goal just under three minutes into the match.
The Lady Lions had a chance five minutes in when Alli Little took a direct kick that was cleared of trouble by the Mifflin County defense.
Strohecker struck again at the 16:35 mark on a penalty kick to give the Lady Huskies a 2-0 edge, which held through the rest of the first half.
The sequence that awarded Strohecker the kick came when she passed to Danielle Warfel, who had her shot knocked away by DeAntonio.
Warfel then chased down the loose ball, circled back around and was knocked to the ground inside the penalty box to set up the penalty kick.
The only corner kick of the first 40 minutes came by the Lady Lions but was easily booted down the field and out of danger by Mifflin County.
Altoona was able to get five of its seven shots off in the last 10 minutes as the Lady Lions found themselves more on the attack.
However, many of the shots that were actually on goal came from outside the 18 or when they were off-balance as pressure came from the Lady Huskies' defenders.
"We kind of talked about that at halftime -- we were kind of settling for deeper shots rather than trying to possess a little more in the final third and trying to slip somebody in," Winterburn said. "It happens. It can't be your night every night. Unfortunately, tonight was the night."
After giving up the lead in the first battle between the two squads, the Lady Huskies weren't about to let this one get away from them.
The second seed got very defensive after scoring the second goal but definitely came out of the half even more so looking to make things rough on Altoona.
Before it got the goal, Altoona had a direct kick chance in the 20th minute that Kiser kicked right to McNitt.
In the ninth minute, Little got a great opportunity but kicked it right to McNitt, who covered it up.
The Lady Lions picked up the intensity in the second half as they made sure the Lady Huskies felt their presence.
Strohecker took a pass, made a move around an Altoona defender in the 26th minute, and as two Lion defenders were on the chase and DeAntonio came rushing out, Strohecker pushed the ball to the left of the goal.
The loss ended the season for Altoona (13-5). Mifflin County (9-9-1) plays McDowell on Saturday in the PIAA state playoffs.
SCORE BY HALVES
Mifflin County……………………………………………………………..2 0 — 2
Altoona……………………………………………………………………….0 1 — 1
First Half: MC–Strohecker (unassisted), 37:08; MC–Strohecker (penalty kick), 16:35.
Second Half: A–Thomas (Kiser assist), 5:47.
Goalies: Mifflin County — McNitt: 10 saves, 11 shots on goal; Altoona — DeAntonio: 12 saves, 14 shots on goal.
Shots: Mifflin County 17; Altoona 15.
Corner kicks: Mifflin County 4; Altoona 3.
Records: Mifflin County (9-9-1); Altoona (13-5-0).