Scoring twice in the first eight minutes of last Friday's home soccer game, Mount St. Joseph Academy then entered a scoring drought that lasted almost until the end of the match. In the meantime, non-league rival Bishop Shanahan scored late in the first half and early in the second period to level the tally at 2-2.

As the second half wore on, it looked as though overtime might be in the offing, but with 5:36 remaining, freshman Anna Geib put in an outside shot to seal a 3-2 victory for the host Magic.

The fact that the Mount's first two goals were also scored by ninth-graders bodes well for the future of the program.

With the win, Mount St. Joe got back close to the .500 mark overall, at 4-5, while remaining 1-3 within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies. The Magic haven't lost any games by more than two goals, even when they faced perennial AACA power Villa Joseph Marie, which won 2-0 over the Mounties on Sept. 12.

Mount St. Joseph has a new head coach for the 2024 season, Nick Bellizzie Jr. Just prior to arriving at the Mount, Bellizzie was an assistant coach with the girls' varsity team at Hatboro Horsham High School. He also brings valuable club connections as president of the Horsham Soccer Association.

In addition to the three scorers, Geib, Caitlin Cavallaro, and Kendall Kryst, the Magic's starting line-up last Friday included fellow freshman Olivia Brandon. Also starting were sophomores Bethany Arduino, Charlotte Felix, Taylor Vogel, and goalkeeper Erin Romano, juniors Kaitlyn Cunningham and Jenna Miller, and senior Ava McDonald. Cunningham and McDonald are team captains, along with seniors Sabrina Alcorn and Gracie Pinto.

Against the Eagles of Bishop Shanahan, who arrived with an overall record of 3-3-1, the Mounties attacked early, getting off two outside shots that were saved by the visitors' goalie. With four minutes and 20 seconds elapsed, Mount St. Joe's got on the board with a goal by Kryst, her seventh of the season. Just a few minutes later, a strike by Cavallaro made it 2-0.

In the middle of the opening period, Shanahan pulled its defense together and then began to pose threats at the other end of the field. The Mounties helped create some of these dangers themselves when trying to clear the ball upfield, often passing into the middle of the field instead of the wings and having the ball intercepted by the Eagles.

With 10:08 remaining, Meghan McGonigle scored for the visitors, and the resulting 2-1 figure remained on the board until halftime.

McGonigle tied the match two minutes and 44 seconds into the second half, and the Eagles narrowly missed an opportunity to take the lead for the first time when one of their shots struck the left post of the Mount goal with a bit over 22 minutes left to play.

Shanahan continued to attack. With 17 minutes remaining the Mount's Brandon had to clear the ball out from in front of the right side of the MSJ goal, and a little later a long direct kick by the Eagles was caught in the air by the keeper, Romano.

The Mounties began to generate more offensive activity later on, and an outside shot by Cunningham was grabbed by the Eagles' goalie. From outside the 18 in the middle of the field, Geib launched a long shot into the cage to give the hosts a 3-2 lead with 5:36 remaining.

Mount St. Joe nearly added an insurance goal just a minute later when a hard-hit ball by Cunningham tracked a little wide to the left.

The Magic maintained their lead by quashing a Shanahan corner kick play with under two minutes to go, and when the Eagles tried to bring the ball in along the ground from the right side, Geib stepped in to stop the advance.

The Magic were soon celebrating a 3-2 victory, and looking forward to getting back to the .500 mark overall in their rematch with Gwynedd Mercy on Sept. 24.