Late Goal Helps Chargers Earn Tie

In a battle of two of the top girls' soccer teams in South Jersey, (3-0-1) needed a late second-half goal by Elise Pratt and tough defense in overtime to help force a 1-1 draw against visiting Shawnee (1-1-1) Wednesday.

Pratt's goal came with two minutes left in regulation, as she put the ball into the left side of the net on a shot she fired from point blank range in the box.

The goal was a saving grace for a Chargers team that seemed to be tired and frustrated as the Shawnee Renegades controlled the momentum of the game, especially in the first half. Shawnee fired 28 shots in the game. Ariana Gerber led the team with eight by herself.

“They took it to us in the first half,” Timber Creek head coach Shawn McHugh said. “We came out sluggish. I know we can play a little bit harder than that. But we were just tired.”

The player that really helped Timber Creek stay in the game was goalkeeper Layne Halliday. Halliday, who is coming off an ACL injury in the preseason, had an impressive 14 saves in the game. She made a number of tough plays, including one in the first five minutes of the game when she deflected a shot by Shawnee's Kristen Niedrach just over the crossbar.

“She's starting to be on top of her game again,” said McHugh. “That's a great sign for Timber Creek and a bad sign for South Jersey. She's smart back there.”

The Renegades' lone goal came in the 23rd minute off of a corner kick. Misty Hinshillwood took the ball on the right side of the net off the corner and found McKenna Burns open on the opposite side. Burns took Hinshillwood's pass and tapped it in for an easy goal.

After that goal, however, Shawnee was unable to convert its chances. There were many times where an open shooter would break free, uncovered and then miss the net.

"We weren't composed on our finishing touch,” said Shawnee head coach Drew Wagner. “We missed over, we missed wide, we hit the bar. We score a couple of them early and it's a different game.”

It looked for much of the game that Shawnee wasn't going to lose its 1-0 lead, but as the game transitioned to the second half, the missed opportunities increased and frustration mounted. With the Chargers frustrated as well, it led to some chippy play in the second half as well as in the overtime period.

Timber Creek, which had 13 fouls in the game, grew more and more upset with every call. Pratt and Olivia McEachern both received yellow cards for arguing with officials in the second half over calls.

“A lot of girls were nicked up,” McHugh said. “We've had a lot of girls play every minute of every game up till this point. Their emotions got a little touched. That takes us out of our whole game. We're worried about the referees or trying to be physical, but not being smart.”

In the first overtime, emotions appeared to hit their breaking point when Shawnee's Katie Kernan and Timber Creek's Caitlyn Collins got into a shoving match after a foul call. This would go on to provoke more shoving as the two teams set up for a free kick following the incident. Though no cards were issued, it was clear that both teams' emotions were very high at that point.

“The girls were frustrated,” Wagner said. “We had so many chances. To not finish, our girls were getting frustrated and their girls were getting frustrated. The referees did a great job of keeping it under control.”

Shawnee managed four shots in the second overtime period and also had opportunities on three corner kicks. However, they failed to get good crossing passes on two of the corner kicks and Halliday turned away every shot the Renegades put on goal. The solid corner defense by the Chargers in the final minutes helped preserve the tie.

The Chargers' tie allowed them to remain undefeated so far this season after starting the year ranked No. 4 in the Courier-Post Top 10. Shawnee is now winless in its last two games, coming off a tough 2-1 loss to No. 3 Eastern on Monday. Shawnee opened the season ranked No. 5 in the Courier-Post Top 10.

Timber Creek will not play again until next Monday, when they will hit the road to take on Washington Township. After visiting Cherry Hill East next Wednesday, the team will return home on Friday, Sept. 23, to take on division rival Seneca.