MIFFLINTOWN - After two goals in the first 20 minutes of play, Juniata's Tri-Valley League girls soccer debut turned into a marathon.
In the first overtime, the Indians thought they locked up the win. But a waved off goal took the game into a second extra period, and that's where the home team made it certain. Janelle Swartz used her head for the winning goal and a 2-1 finish in her team's favor over Lancaster Country Day.
The winning goal came on a direct kick from outside the box, Juniata coach Brian Strawser explained. He changed a set play based on the defensive alignment and it worked. Carly Burns served the ball and Swartz headed it into the goal.
Swartz also had the assist on the game's first tally, a Lauren Baublitz effort barely eight minutes in. Ten minutes later, Lancaster Country Day evened the match, and that's where it stayed.
"Both teams had some opportunities. Joelle Winey came up big for us probably three different times," Strawser said. "Their goalie made some nice saves. A lot of the time the game was played between the 18s."
It appeared to be over in the first overtime when a Juniata corner kick went in the net. But that one was called back for an inadvertent whistle, forcing the extra play.
Juniata (1-0, 1-0) hosts Oakland Catholic Friday.
Girls soccer
Northumberland Christian 6, Juniata Mennonite 0
McALISTERVILLE - Northumberland Christian's Alyssa Wessner carded a hat trick in the first half en route to a 6-0 win over Juniata Mennonite in Allegheny Christian Athletic Association girls soccer action Tuesday.
Wessner had a total of four points in the first half - a trio of goals and an assist - to pretty much bury the Lions.
"Our defense was a little timid and didn't step up on her," Juniata Mennonite coach Trisha Hoffman said.
Wessner and the Warriors held Juniata Mennonite to no shots in the first half. But the Lions came back strong in the second. They allowed only a pair of goals and had more pressure on the Northumberland Christian defense.
"The first half we played with the ball too much up front," Hoffman said. "In the second half we needed to get shots and we were able to do that. We were getting shots on them quick."
Juniata Mennonite (2-1, 0-1) travels to Meadowbrook Christian Thursday.
Centre County Christian 6, Mifflin County Christian 4
BELLEFONTE - Mifflin County Christian plated Centre County Christian neck and neck in the first half, but the second half was controlled by the Bulldogs.
Mifflin County Christian fell, 6-4, in Allegheny Christian Athletic Association girls soccer action Tuesday.
Julee Hoffman and Victoria Moon each had a pair of goals for Mifflin County Christian in the loss.
Mifflin County Christian (0-1, 0-1) travels to Huntingdon Calvary Sept. 21.
Boys soccer
Central Dauphin East 2, Mifflin County 0
HARRISBURG - Mifflin County failed to work both sides of the field in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Central Dauphin East in the team's first tilt in the Commonwealth Division of the Mid-Penn Conference.
The Panthers scored with less than a minute left in the first half to take a 1-0 lead. It was eight minutes later that they put another one on the board to finish off the Huskies.
"Offensively we had spurts and we moved the ball failry well," Mifflin County coach Jared Byler said. "We got a little bit stuck trying to overwork the right side of the field."
The Huskies had a pair of one-on-one chances against the Panthers. Byler said this team must convert on those chances when they get them.
"We created a couple chances," he said. "We bury those we have a 2-2 game possibly."
Mifflin County (0-1, 0-1) hosts Cumberland Valley Thursday.
Northumberland Christian 4, Juniata Mennonite 1
McALISTERVILLE - Juniata Mennonite dug themselves a big hole and were unable to recover in a 4-1 loss to Northumberland Christian in Allegheny Christian Athletic Association boys soccer Tuesday.
Jesse Watts scored the lone goal for the Lions in a game that featured a few miskicks and mistakes for Juniata Mennonite.
Northumberland Christian scored the first four goals of the game until Watts found the back of the net with 4:56 to play in the second half. The Lions were outshot 16-6 in the loss.
"They outplayed us but we actually played fairly well," Juniata Mennonite coach Kurt Wagner said. "The scored could have been closer."
Juniata Mennonite (2-1-1, 0-1-1) travels to Meadowbrook Christian Thursday.
Halifax 4, Juniata 0
MIFFLINTOWN - The Juniata Indians took a tough 4-0 season opening loss to Tri-Valley League opponent Halifax on the soccer field Tuesday night.
Halifax had an onslaught of offense in the first half of the game, scoring three of its four goals before the halfway mark of the game. Then, just seconds into the second half, Halifax scored its fourth and final goal of the game. Halifax's Marty Brennan notched three of those four goals.
Juniata coach Clint Brackbill noted that Halifax's momentum seemed to slow in the second half.
"I think the tone of the game just changed for them. The urgency kind of went away,"
Brackbill said. "They're a good team, and I think we settled a little bit, but I think their urgency went away."
Brackbill sees room for improvement as his team progresses into the season.
"We had some good effort by some players individually, but we didn't play eleven as a team. We have a lot of things to figure out, and today was just one step in that process."
Juniata (0-1, 0-1) travels to Upper Dauphin on Thursday for continued TVL action.
Cross country
Boys: Central Dauphin 24, Mifflin County 37
Girls: Central Dauphin 23, Mifflin County 32
REEDSVILLE - Coming off a hard race at the Big Valley Invitational, the Mifflin County cross country team hosted Central Dauphin in its first Commonwealth Division Mid-Penn Conference meet in school history.
Both the boys and the girls lost to Central Dauphin - 24-37 for the boys and 23-32 for the girls.
But it wasn't all bad for the Huskies. Jon Colwell and Megan Becker each took home the top spot in the race. Colwell's 16:56 was 10 seconds ahead of the pack. Becker ran the race in 22:24.
"Jon ran a solid race on tired legs," Mifflin County coach Ruth Yoder said. "(Megan) ran a strong race."
Addison Monroe came in third for the boys, but it was Central Dauphin's strong 2-5 running spots that did the Huskies in.
The girls got some relief from the heat and humidity as rain started about halfway through the girls' race. A few changes in position in the last 400 meters resulted in the loss, Yoder said.
Becker was followed by a fifth-place run from Makayla Pearce at 23:14.
Mifflin County (Boys: 0-1, Girls: 0-1) travels to State College Sept. 11.
Golf
Mifflin County 338, Central Mountain 390, St. Joseph's 419
MILL HALL - Talk about timing - Mifflin County's golfers stepped off the Par 73 course in Clinton County Tuesday just in time to avoid the rain.
Also timely was a much-needed win for the Huskies, who bested host Central Mountain by 52 strokes in the non-league event.
"(It was a) familiar golf course and some familiar faces. There's a little bit more of a comfort level there," Mifflin County coach Kevin O'Donnell said.
With five scores under 90 - four of which counted - O'Donnell said the outcome drives home the idea that the Huskies can play better golf. Jason Perry and Marc Auker each shot 93 to lead the team.
"Golf is obviously a tremendous mental marathon," O'Donnell said. "We still need to kind of find our footing in a match. We have a fairly young crew. There's some growing that needs to go on as a crew."
Mifflin County (8-12) hosts another District 6 opponent, Altoona, today.
Mount Union 394, Bellwood 397
ALTOONA - Mount Union coach Matt Fiscus was the first to admit his team didn't play a great round Tuesday at Sinking Valley. But considering it was being played in the rain - and his team won the Inter-County Conference match by three strokes - he wasn't complaining.
"We played through it and didn't play well but we won," Fiscus said. "A couple times it rained extremely hard. There were streams running through the greens. They played on and did the best they could."
Fiscus said Cole Boozel, who shot a 93, still has not returned to form, and that Ryan Varner's score was nearly 20 strokes off his average, likely weather related. But he was pleased with Alex Ashman's 86, even if it was one off Bellwood's Jake Pearson.
"That was big for Alex to stay with him and keep us in the match," Fiscus said.
Mount Union (4-2, 3-0) travels to Iron Masters Sept. 11 to play Central.
