HUGHESVILLE - Halfway through Saturday night's District 4 Class AA girls soccer playoffs, things looked very promising for Midd-West as it went into the intermission leading 1-0.
However, Athen's Kirsten Colegrove, who posted two goals in the contest, led the Wildcats to four-second half goals en route to the 4-3 victory at Hughesville High School.
Leading the way for Midd-West was Allie Camp who tallied two goals and an assist in a losing effort.
The two teams matched up with similar styles of play and that showed throughout as the two exchanged leads two times.
"I thought the girls played pretty well tonight," Midd-West coach Russ Goodling said. "I don't think we played as well as we could have. I thought we came out a little flat in the beginning."
As the second half got underway, Athens quickly tied the game when Colegrove found a hole in the Mustang defense and sent it home, tying it at one at the 38:38 mark.
It took just four minutes for the Mustangs to take back the lead when Hannah Stauffer picked up an offering from Camp, making it 2-1.
From there, the Wildcats went on a 3-0 scoring run.
With 30:07 showing on the scoreboard, Monica Dougherty picked up her lone goal of the evening after being at the right place at the right time scoring off a rebound shot, tying the contest back up at two.
Athens took the lead midway through as Colegrove took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity, blasting a shot by Mustang keeper Paige Kauffman.
With a 3-2 lead, the Wildcats continued to put pressure on the Midd-West goal, posting its fourth and final score when Rachel Donnelly picked up a pass from Mackenzie Warner to add the insurance goal they would later need.
Midd-West refused to go down without a fight as Camp picked up the team's last goal with 20:03, cutting the lead to 4-3.
However, it was too little too late as Athens held onto to the victory and kept their season alive.
In the first half, Midd-West controlled the pace of the game, keeping Colegrove at bay and allowing themselves to pick up the first goal of the game.
Camp tickled the twine with 8:07 left in the first half, giving the Mustangs the opening goal.
In the contest, Midd-West out shot Athens 22-12 and held the advantage in corner opportunities by a 7-3 margin.
