ORWIGSBURG — Stopping the Pine Grove offense has been a tough task for most girls’ soccer teams this season.
Blue Mountain found the right remedy Monday night.
Changing up its personnel on the back line, the Eagles stifled the Cardinals en route to a 2-1 Schuylkill League Division I victory at the Eagles’ Nest.
Emily Valentine’s goal with 1:32 remaining helped Blue Mountain avenge an earlier 3-1 loss to the Cardinals and hand Pine Grove its first loss of the season.
The win moves Blue Mountain (14-2-1, 10-1 D-I) into a first-place tie with Pine Grove (16-1, 10-1 D-I) atop the Division I standings. Each team has one league remaining.
“It’s a big win for us and has an impact on the division race,” Blue Mountain coach Mike Burcik said. “We adjusted, made some changes in terms of who we had playing in the back. I think that limited their opportunities.”
Burcik said he moved center midfielder Jacey Miller to center back and had Angelica Kaledas and Kylie Kutz mark Pine Grove’s two big scorers, Mariah Lesh and Rachel Edge.
Pine Grove’s only goal came on a penalty kick by Mackenzie Lesh in the first half that gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Blue Mountain tied it when Sydney Riegel scored off an assist by Kelly Maberry in the first half. Valentine then netted the game-winner in the closing minutes off a feed from Olivia Benner.
Pine Grove hosts Tamaqua and Blue Mountain travels to Jim Thorpe in the final round of league play Wednesday. If the Cards and Eagles end up tied, a tiebreaker game would be played Monday to determine the Division I winner.
Pine Grove (16-1, 10-1) 1 0 — 1
Blue Mtn. (14-2-1, 10-1) 1 1 — 2
PG — Mac. Lesh (PK), 1st half
BM — Riegel (Maberry), 1st half
BM — Valentine (Benner), 78:28
Shots on goal: Pine Grove 5, Blue Mountain 7. Saves: Pine Grove (Kauffman) 5, Blue Mountain (Derrick) 4.
JV score: Blue Mountain 3-0
Williams Valley 3
Schuylkill Haven 0
WILLIAMSTOWN — Rayanne Hawk scored a goal and added an assist as Williams Valley clinched a league playoff berth with its Division II win over Schuylkill Haven.
Caitlyn Pinchorski and Erica Wessner both scored a goal for the Vikings. Williams Valley will play at Minersville on Wednesday in a battle for first place in Division II.
SH (9-7, 8-4) 0 0 — 0
WV (13-4, 12-1) 2 1 — 3
WV — Pinchorski (M. Schadle), 13th minute
WV — Hawk (Calnon), 31st minute
WV — Wessner (Hawk), 42nd minute
Shots on goal: Schuylkill Haven 7, Williams Valley 12. Corner kicks: Schuylkill Haven 1, Williams Valley 4. Saves: Schuylkill Haven (Mills) 9, Williams Valley (A. Schadle) 7.
JV: Tied 3-3
Lehighton 7
North Schuylkill 1
LEHIGHTON — Alyssa Matika had two goals as the Indians rolled past the Spartans in a Division I contest.
Morgan Yurasits added a goal and an assist for Lehighton, which got out to a 3-0 halftime lead.
North Sch. (0-16, 0-12) 0 1 — 1
Lehighton (5-11, 2-9) 3 4 — 7
Leh — Yurasits (unassisted), 1st half
Leh — R. Quinones (unassisted), 1st half
Leh — Hibbler (unassisted), 1st half
Leh — Schatz (Yurasits), 2nd half
Leh — Matika (unassisted), 2nd half
Leh — Matika (unassisted), 2nd half
Leh — Dekorte (unassisted), 2nd half
NS — James (unassisted), 2nd half
Shots on goal: North Schuylkill 3, Lehighton 19. Saves: North Schuylkill (Sacco) 12, Lehighton (Frey) 2.
Tri-Valley 2
Nativity 0
Brooke Henninger and Wendy Header both scored goals in the first half to lead Tri-Valley to a shutout of Nativity in a Division II contest.
Rachael Souchak made 12 saves for Nativity.
TV (8-8, 7-6) 2 0 — 2
Nat (5-10-1, 5-7-1) 0 0 — 0
TV — Henninger (unassisted), 22:38
TV — Header (Tamburelli), 39:22
Shots on goal: Tri-Valley 14, Nativity 5. Corner kicks: Tri-Valley 7, Nativity 1. Saves: Tri-Valley (Horn) 5, Nativity (Souchak) 12.
JV: Tri-Valley 4-0
Minersville 6
Weatherly 0
WEATHERLY — Emily Kriston and Abby Schofstall scored two goals apiece as the Miners remained unbeaten in Division II with a shutout of Weatherly.
Karina Yutko and Janelle Oshman each added a goal for Minersville (15-2, 13-0 D-II).
Tamaqua 1
Jim Thorpe 0
TAMAQUA — Morgan Boyle’s shot from Kayla Sherry broke a scoreless tie in overtime to give Tamaqua a Division I win over Thorpe.
Alexa Hromyak made eight saves, earning her third shutout of the season for the Blue Raiders.
JT (6-9, 5-6) 0 0 0 — 0
Tam (7-9, 5-6) 0 0 1 — 1
Tam — Boyle (Sherry), 85:28
Shots on goal: Jim Thorpe 15, Tamaqua 25. Corner kicks: Jim Thorpe 3, Tamaqua 2. Saves: Jim Thorpe (Cressman) 19, Tamaqua (Hromyak) 8.
JV: Tamaqua 3-2
Lourdes 5
CMVT 1
COAL TOWNSHIP — Selina Albert scored twice as Lourdes rolled to a Division II win over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech.
Kendall Krebs, Krissy Komara and Sierra Coleman each added a goal for the Raiders.
CMVT (1-13-2, 0-10-2) 1 0 — 1
Lourdes (4-12, 4-9) 3 2 — 5
Lou — Krebs (Mileuski), 1st half
CMVT — Six (unassisted), 1st half
Lou — Albert (unassisted), 1st half
Lou — Albert (unassisted), 1st half
Lou — Komara (unassisted), 2nd half
Lou — Coleman (unassisted), 2nd half
Shots on goal: Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 7, Lourdes 12. Saves: Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (Burgess) 7, Lourdes (Candelora) 6.
Boys’ Soccer
Pine Grove 5
Palmerton 2
PINE GROVE — Cameron Shollenberger recorded a hat trick and added an assist to lead Pine Grove past Palmerton in a non-league game.
Michael Elo scored twice, while Jeremy Weaver had two assists for the Cardinals.
Palmerton 2 0 — 2
PG (11-3-1) 2 3 — 5
PG — Shollenberger (Weaver), 3:21
PG — Elo (Shollenberger), 7:25
Pal — Kaput (unassisted), 12:27
Pal — Blasiak (unassisted), 36:04
PG — Elo (Snedden), 44:19
PG — Shollenberger (Raudenbaugh), 51:06
PG — Shollenberger (Weaver), 52:42
Shots on goal: Palmerton 4, Pine Grove 23. Saves: Palmerton (Yacone) 9, Pine Grove (Soper) 2.
JV: Pine Grove 4-0
Lourdes 9
Line Mountain 2
COAL TOWNSHIP — Jordan Fobia recorded a hat trick, while Vinny Bucanelli added a goal and two assists as Lourdes cruised to a non-league win over Line Mountain.
Line Mountain 0 2 — 2
Lou (5-8-1) 3 6 — 9
Lou — Holleran (Adams), 3:23
Lou — Nguyen (unassisted), 4:10
Lou — Fobia (Bucanelli), 13:44
LM — Weiler (unassisted), 43:17
Lou — Fobia (unassisted), 46:21
Lou — Fobia (Klembara), 47:17
Lou — Bucanelli (unassisted), 48:00
LM — Bartholmas (unassisted), 62:58
Lou — Reichard (unassisted), 64:25
Lou — Padula (Bucanelli), 70:20
Lou — Casper (unassisted), 76:05
Shots on goal: Line Mountain 26, Lourdes 20. Corner kicks: Line Mountain 1, Lourdes 1. Saves: Line Mountain (not provided) 11, Lourdes (Reiner) 24.
Millersburg 5
Tri-Valley 2
MILLERSBURG — Nick Stiely and Ethan Shatz both scored for Tri-Valley, but the Bulldogs fell to Millersburg in a non-league contest.
Bryce McNally stopped 21 of 26 shots he faced in goal for the Dawgs.
TV (4-10, 3-5) 0 2 — 2
Millers (7-9, 4-7) 2 3 — 5
Mill — Erdman (Snyder), 4th minute
Mill — Keiter (Latshaw), 34th minute
TV — N. Stiely (unassisted), 46th minute
TV — Shatz (unassisted), 49th minute
Mill — Hoover (unassisted), 51st minute
Mill — Youells (Reid), 57th minute
Mill — Reid (Erdman), 78th minute
Shots on goal: Tri-Valley 5, Millersburg 26. Corner kicks: Tri-Valley 2, Millersburg 5. Saves: Tri-Valley (McNally) 21, Millersburg (Kintzer) 4.
Men’s College Soccer
PSU Wilkes-Barre 4
PSU Schuylkill 1
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Tyler Christensen scored a goal with less than a minute remaining in the game, with Adam Wessner earning the assist, but Penn State Schuylkill fell to Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
Wilkes-Barre 4 0 — 4
Schuylkill (3-12) 0 1 — 1
WB — Patrick (unassisted), 9th min.
WB — Blasi (unassisted), 23rd min.
WB — Wrobleski (unassisted), 30th min.
WB — Pugliese (unassisted), 41st min.
Sch — Christensen (Wessner), 79th min.
Shots on goal: Wilkes-Barre 20, Schuylkill 8. Corner kicks: Wilkes-Barre 4, Schuylkill 5. Saves: Wilkes-Barre (Hartman) 3, Schuylkill (Fryer) 4.