Middletown, Pa.– The Blue and White ladies had a game plan to keep the ball on the floor and not allow the Mt. Aloysius Mounties to turn the match into a physical contest.  Unfortunately things did not go to game plan.  One tough play from the Lions defender Rachel Shetler (Pequea, Pa. / Penn Manor) earned her a red card and gave the Mounties a one player advantage for the final thirty five minutes of action.  

Starting the game strong Harrisburg controlled the tempo and possession clock for most of the first half.  Their best effort came off a free kick from Shetler that hit the crossbar and was followed up by Bridget Awantoh (Alexandria, Va. / Mount Vernon) whose shot was blocked leaving both teams scoreless in the first half.

In the second half, it felt like all the Lions needed to do was get their first goal and more could come from there when the game took a very different turn.  Shetler was pushed off the ball and in a retaliation tackle earned hereslf a red card and the Blue and White a one player disadvantage for the rest of the game.

Just a few minutes later, despite being down a player the lions continued to push forward when the Mounties used a nice counter attacking run to create the only goal scoring chance they would need. Even though the Lions were down 1-0 and playing short, they continued to control the flow of the game and created multiple chances as time wound down.  In the final minute all they needed was a touch after a Leann Kazawic (Stanhope, N.J. / Sussex Tech) cross bounced teasingly in the box and three Lions missed their final shots to tie the game. 

"It was a tough loss and we definitely had our chances and fought till the 90th minute.   Now we have to learn from our mistakes and move onto the next game." Assistant Coach Kate Murphy was quoted following Wednesday's game.

Harrisburg stays home this weekend and will face the Albright Lions for a 12:00pm kick off.