MANDATA - Line Mountain came oh, so close, to tying Tri-Valley League leader Greenwood on Tuesday that it hurt.
The Eagles, whose only league loss before their 2-1 loss yesterday was a 3-0 loss at Greenwood earlier, took a 1-0 lead this time, gave it up in the second half, then apparently tied the game with less than two minutes to play with a goal off a penalty corner.
But the goal was disallowed, one of the officials saying the ball never left the circle on the inbounds, which it is supposed to do.
"I didn't see it the way she saw it," said Line Mountain head coach Jill Martz-Yisrael. "It hurt. It was gut-wrenching. A call like that takes the wind right out of your sail and
hits you right in the gut. But that's part of sports, I guess. We just have to use it as motivation and get some mental toughness from it."
Greenwood coach Kent Houser was obviously happy that the goal didn't count, but for more reasons than the obvious one. He didn't want to have to play overtime, and didn't want the chance of a playoff game next week should the Eagles have won. Greenwood, coming off a loss to State College, already has three games next week.
The game was very similar to the first game between the teams, according to Martz-Yisrael. The Eagles (13-3, 6-2 TVL) tried to be physical with the faster Wildcats, had a solid first half, but had trouble in the second half.
Madison Lagerman gave Line Mountain a quick lead with a goal with 19:46 remaining in the first half, with an assist from Paige Adams. The Eagles controlled most of the rest of the half but Greenwood tied the score with 4:19 left on a goal by Lauren Fried.
"I think they were beating us to the ball early," said Houser. "We were creating corners and fouls. Once we corrected that it was a different game. We had to be physically tougher. It wasn't going to be a cute game."
It was so not cute that one of the officials called timeout with 7:07 left in the first half, brought both captains together and told the teams to "start playing the ball and not the body," as she later explained it to the coaches. Greenwood also had to play five minutes shorthanded late in the game after a player got a five-minute penalty.
Still, neither coach thought play was overtly over the line.
"That was a physical, aggressive hockey game by both teams," Martz-Yisrael said. "I didn't see it as dirty at all."
She said Line Mountain has to play a physical game with the experienced Wildcats because their team speed presents matchup problems for her team.
"They have so much speed," Martz-Yisrael said. "In the first game, we got so fatigued in the second half from chasing them. Today was better but they still had a good second half."
"We're experienced at most positions on the field," Houser said. "Katie (goalkeeper Katie Osborne) gave one up early but we didn't go crazy after that. We talked to the kids yesterday (Monday) about the magnitude of this game. It was must-win game for them but really for us, too, because we don't want a playoff game."
Mallory Fortenbaugh, who assisted on Greenwood's first goal, scored what proved to be the game-winner on a rebound after a penalty corner with 24:22 left. Greenwood had eight of its 13 corners and seven of its eight shots in the second half.
"They (Line Mountain) are a really, really good team," Houser said. "They're really doing a good job."
Greenwood (11-2-1) 1 1 - 2
Line Mountain (13-3, 6-2) 1 0 - 1
LM - Madison Lagerman (Paige Adams), 19:46 1st
G - Lauren Fried (Mallory Fortenbaugh), 4:19 2nd
G - Fortenbaugh, 24:22 2nd
Shots on goal: Greenwood 8, Line Mountain 6; Penalty corners: Greenwood 13, Line Mountain 10; Keeper/Saves: Greenwood (Katie Olsen) 4, Line Mountain (Colleen Troutman) 6.