Mount Pleasant edges Laurel Highlands in non-section match
Mount Pleasant scored 11 minutes into Tuesday’s non-section girls soccer match and held on for a 1-0 victory over Laurel Highlands at Mustang Field.
The Vikings’ Cam Kapr scored the lone tally when she corralled a ball that was sent in by Addie Czekaj 30 yards from goal, made a quick right to left transition, then fired a right-footed shot low, and to the left, of Mustang keeper Addison Stroko.
Mount Pleasant (1-1-0, 2-1-0) won possession in its half of the field before ninth grader Kate Wisniewski touched a pass to Czekaj that started the sequence for what turned out to be the game-winning tally.
Kapr and Czekaj are two of the Vikings’ senior captains.
Senior Izzie Overly and junior Faith Stuart are also captains for Mount Pleasant head coach Rich Garland.
Despite allowing the goal to Kapr, on a shot that very few keepers could stop, Stroko didn’t allow the early deficit to affect her play, as she stopped seven shots, and constantly played the ball out of danger when the Vikings were in Laurel Highlands’ final third.
Stroko made her first save at 21:54 of the first half, and she knocked the ball out of danger 18-yards away when Wisniewski sprinted toward the Mustangs’ box without a challenge with roughly 20 minutes remaining in the first half.
Laurel Highlands (0-3-0) earned its first corner kick with 15:45 left in the open 40 minutes. Camryn McClean took the set piece and fired the ball toward the mouth of the goal, but Stuart snatched the ball out of the air before a Mustang teammate could put a shot on target. Stuart played the entire 80 minutes to earn the clean sheet.
Wisniewski took her team’s second corner kick 90 seconds later, but the attempt went out of play and Stroko sent a goal kick into Mount Pleasant’s half of the field.
McClean attempted a free kick from 50 yards, but her low, line drive didn’t provide a significant attempt on target for the home team.
Stroko challenged an attack from the Vikings with five minutes remaining in the half, as she covered the ball to keep the deficit at 1-0.
Mount Pleasant worked to add an insurance tally in the second half, as Overly had a free kick from 25 yards go over the net with 35:30 left in the match.
Stroko smothered a cross with 33 minutes remaining to keep her team in the contest.
The Mustangs earned three straight corner kicks that began with 27 minutes left in the second half. McClean took all three set pieces, and she had a shot that went just outside the target on her second attempt.
The Vikings cleared the third corner kick out of danger before Czekaj’s free kick from 27 yards out sailed over the net to keep the home team in the match.
Mount Pleasant earned four corner kicks, and its possession and defense limited Laurel Highlands’ chances.
The Mustangs opened section play against Elizabeth Forward (1-2-0) on Wednesday. LH plays cross-town rival Uniontown (1-1-1) on Sept. 15 at Bill Power Stadium in a Section 3-3A match. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Vikings host South Park (2-0-0, 4-0-0) at 6 p.m. tonight in non-section action.