Valley Sports ReportATHENS — With two big wins earlier in the week, Athens put itself in position to win its first NTL title since 2020, but Wellsboro had other ideas, forging a 2-0 win here Saturday to win the NTL girls soccer title.
The Wildcats edged Wellsboro 2-1 Tuesday, and Wyalusing 1-0 Thursday to make Saturday's match-up a winner-take-all for the league title.
"Disappointing loss but the girls played their hearts out and as a coach that’s all you ask for," said Athens coach Rich Pitts.
"I thought it was one of the best games of the year and as good as the game Tuesday," he noted.
"We look forward to preparing for districts next week," added Pitts.
Luna Moyer scored with 4:10 remaining in the first half to break a scoreless tie.
And, Haylie Smith added an insurance goal to nail down the win for the Hornets with 46 seconds left in the contest.
Athens had a 12-11 edge in shots-on-goal, and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Junior Annika Lezak recorded eight saves in net for the Wildcats.
Athens wraps up the regular season at 11-4-3, and now awaits word on the upcoming District 4, Class 3A playoffs.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Delanie Patton. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens senior Brinley Nichols (9) and Athens junior Annika Smith (pink). ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
