Virbitsky, Whitaker help team win battle of unbeatens

BY SHANE HENNIGAN
Times-Shamrock Writer

With the District 2 playoffs two weeks away, and having not faced much of a challenge so far this season, Mountain View was prepared for a battle against fellow unbeaten Lakeland on Monday.

The Lady Eagles got the challenge they were looking for in more ways than one, as windy conditions played a factor for both teams.

They rose to the challenge.

Ali Virbitsky scored midway through the second half to break a scoreless tie and Makenna Whitaker tacked on another goal late to give Mountain View a 2-0 victory in a Lackawanna League Division III girls soccer match.

Mountain View (7-0) has not lost a regular season game since Oct. 6, 2010, a stretch of 43 games. On that day, Lakeland defeated the Lady Eagles, 4-2.

The win Monday also gave Mountain View at least a share of the division title.

“This is huge,” coach Erika Lewis said. “We needed this because we haven’t had much competition and we needed someone to make us work for our victory and really make us earn the goals that we got and that’s exactly what we got.”

Coming into the contest, Mountain View had outscored its opponents, 50-1, and its lowest margin of victory was five goals. But from the opening kick, Lakeland (6-1) came out attacking, firing shots and forcing goalkeeper Hannah Phillips and the Lady Eagles’ defense to work.

After not being able to penetrate the zone for most of the first 20 minutes, Whitaker was able to get behind the defense, took a pass and fired a shot inside the 18-yard penalty box. But it went high above the net, and out of play.

In the 28th minute, Ali Showalter made a move on a defender on the right side of the box and fired a shot that was stopped by a diving Emily Sashko.

Hannah Richner had a chance in the 34th minute when a cross-in was deflected out to her but her shot went high.

Lakeland got an opportunity in the 39th minute when Corah Krantz fired a shot but was denied by Phillips, who finished with 14 saves.

“(At halftime) we talked about how we would improve in the second half,” Virbitsky said. “We all agreed we needed to talk to each other more on the field and keep a positive outlook. We just had a feeling that we were going to get (a goal) sooner or later.”

Both teams came out and kept the intensity up in the second half, forcing Sashko and Phillips to each make three crucial saves in the first 15 minutes. Mountain View couldn’t convert on a golden opportunity in the 56th minute, when Showalter’s shot from point-blank range hit the crossbar.

The Lady Eagles, though, finally came through in the 62nd minute. After Lakeland was whistled for a foul and was issued a yellow card, Virbitsky blasted a direct kick from about 40 yards out.

The ball deflected off of Sashko’s hands and into the net to give Mountain View a 1-0 lead.

“There’s so much faith in this team, it’s unbelievable,” Whitaker said. “These girls have your back no matter what and it’s just an awesome feeling to know that at some point, we’re going to get a goal.”

Whitaker gave her team an insurance goal in the 77th minute, when she took a pass from Karlee Weida and knocked it in to give the Lady Eagles some breathing room.

In last week’s play action, Mountain View took a 7-0 win over Forest City.

Hannah Richner scored twice and assisted on two others and Erika Freely netted a pair of tallies as the Lady Eagles pulled away in the final 20 minutes for the victory.

Makenna Whitaker contributed a goal and an assist.

One of Freely’s goals, and another by Lucy Adams, came in the first half.

But Mountain View’s scoring run really kicked off at the 61:00 mark with Hannah Richner hitting the net. Richner followed up the goal with her second at 65:18.

Scores by Whitaker, Freely and Ali Virbitsky capped off the scoring run.

Mountain View goalie Hannah Phillips had four saves.

Morgan Gasper had 17 saves for the Lady Foresters.