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Rivalry matchup between Central Mountain, Shore girls soccer ends in 2-2 tie

By HENRY HUBER 6 min read

JERSEY SHORE - With both Central Mountain and Jersey Shore girls soccer teams battling injuries, the hope has been to see newcomers and underclassmen step up while the veterans that remain continue leading the way. That was the case in Tuesday's rivalry contest, as the teams battled through a tightly contest affair.

Though the Wildcats had more success generating shots, particularly in the first half, a strong performance from freshman goalkeeper Kaia Notevarp kept the Bulldogs within striking distance of a win. The result was a stalemate that reached its conclusion without a victor, with the rivals tying, 2-2, in their lone matchup of the season.

For Jersey Shore (2-8-3), the tie put an end to a four-game losing streak while marking its third tie of the season. And after following up its September win over Milton with five straight defeats, Central Mountain (3-8-2) has now gone two games in a row without a loss, having defeated Bald Eagle, 3-1, on Saturday.

"We took a bit of time to adjust, kind of get settled in, and in the second half, I think we did a better job of that," said Jersey Shore head coach Sarah Luprek when discussing the game. "A lot of little things that we need to be able to take care of moving forward, like first touch, communication and passing. I think that's something they did better in the second half."

"I thought we had a great two halves. Our girls were passing and moving the ball well," said Central Mountain head coach Lauren Heimer. "Getting used to playing on grass is definitely a challenge, but we practiced on it yesterday and came here a little early just to prepare ourselves."

Despite the Wildcats opening the game with a 5-0 shot advantage, it was Jersey Shore that got itself on the scoreboard first.

Sophomore Elizabeth Hollick nearly put a great shot in at the midway point of the first half, hitting the top of the goal from a decent distance back. That shot ricocheted just out of reach of CM goalkeeper Alyssa Ford before fellow Shore sophomore Abigail King fielded to Ford right and scored off the rebound just four seconds before the 20-minute mark.

It wouldn't take long for the Wildcats to respond, providing immediate pressure that netted them their first great scoring opportunity.

Less than four minutes after Shore's score, they'd be awarded a free kick from 15 yards out due to a pass-back penalty. Junior Autumn Sneath would make the most of it, ricocheting her shot off Jersey Shore’s Elliana Herr into the back-left corner of the goal and tying at 1-1.

From there, the teams would spend the next 40 minutes of gametime battling to break the tie. Hollick landed multiple deep shots just off target and almost blocked two CM goal kicks directly into the goal, and Sneath narrowly missed out on notching her second goal at the 32-minute mark of the second, seeing a great deep shot saved by Notevarp.

FInally, three minutes past the midway point of the second, the tie would be broken, this time with Central Mountain taking the lead. Senior captain Leah Karstetter fielded the ball a few yards outside of the box, make a move to open herself up for a shot on goal and curved the deep ball into the top-right corner of the net.

"It was a beautiful shot," said Heimer. "She looked at me and said it was with her right foot because she's a lefty. We were jumping up and down excited for her."

There were definitely a lot of moments today where I was like, 'They really stepped up and played as a team.' Our defense was controlling it for the most part and telling people where to go, and that definitely helped up in our middle and through the front," she added.

With time running out to respond, Jersey Shore upped the intensity in hopes of creating more scoring opportunities. Central Mountain was able to keep those opportunities to a minimum through the next few minutes. But just when it seemed like it was heading towards back-to-back wins, the Bulldogs made something happen.

Deep in Wildcat territory, Shore freshman Nora Withey stole the ball from a Central Mountain defender and made another defender miss on her way to the box. With only CM goalkeeper Alyssa Ford in her way, she was able to scrape it past Ford's outstretched hands into the bottom-left corner of the net with less than seven minutes to go.

"As a freshman, she's been a key player for us. I definitely have high hopes for her moving forward," said Luprek on Withey. "She definitely has a lot of drive, and she's someone who has been pivotal for us in attacking more. Previously, we've had a defensive mindset, so having someone who can help us be a bit more aggressive is key for us."

Tense moments followed Jersey Shore's game-tying goal, with Central Mountain getting multiple corner opportunities down the stretch and putting itself in great position to score. But Notevarp and the Shore defense held firm, with the freshman finishing with ten saves, and the clock hit triple zeros without another score on the board.

Moving forward, both teams hope to build on solid, balanced performances. While neither went into Tuesday's matchup hoping to tie, they're performances each can build on as they look to finish their 2026 campaigns strong.

Jersey Shore returns to action on Wednesday at Shikellamy before rounding out its week with home contests against South Williamsport and Wellsboro. The Wildcats get a bit of a break, with their next matchup coming on the road at Forest Hills on Saturday.

"We definitely have a busy schedule ahead of us, so just keeping a positive mindset," said Luprek. "I'm hoping that we can take the lessons we've learned from these games and apply them towards being successful for the rest of the season."

"We have a little break, so we're definitely going to use that to rest up," said Heimer. "We have three on crutches right now and a few more that are out, so just trying to get them healthy so we can have a full lineup again."

Central Mountain 2, Jersey Shore 2

JS - Abigail King (unassisted), 19:56. CM - Autumn Sneath (unassisted), 23:30. CM - Leah Karstetter (unassisted), 63:07. JS - Nora Witney (unassisted), 7:38.

Shots: CM 19, JS 9. Shots on goal: CM 12, JS 5. Corners: CM 4, JS 2. Saves: CM 3 (Alyssa Ford); JS 10 (Kaia Notevarp).

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