CUMBERLAND — Allegany head coach Andy Farrell was wondering how his team would respond to conceding its first goal of the year: It lit a fire.
Sadie Hamilton made sure Fort Hill wouldn’t be the 10th victim of the Campers’ shutout streak with an early goal, but Allegany scored four goals in the next 15 minutes.
Top-ranked Allegany ended the game with six unanswered goals, four by Madalyn Bucy, to down No. 5 Fort Hill, 6-1, in Homecoming on Thursday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“We always knew that we were going to get scored on this season,” Farrell said. “Being in the Homecoming game probably wasn’t our ideal choice, but I think it took a big weight off of our shoulders.
“I think that actually woke us up a little bit and lit a fire under us and we came out and were very offense heavy in the rest of the first half.”
Allegany upped its unbeaten record to 9-0-1 and improved to 5-0 in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference. The Campers, winners of nine in a row, have outscored their opponents 48-1.
Fort Hill fell to 4-6 overall and 0-5 in the WestMAC.
Hamilton’s goal came after Kylee Rice lofted a looping ball into the box that gave the Allegany keeper trouble, putting the Campers in a 1-0 deficit — their first of the season — with 31:47 to play in the first half.
An Ella Shade cross resulted in an own goal to equalize in the 10th minute, and Bucy scored the next four to make it 5-1 at the half. Two were unassisted (25:52, 3:25) and Rylie McCullough (23:42) and Harper Farrell (15:47) assisted the other two.
“Biggest takeaway is we did something no one else has done this season so far, put a goal on the board on them,” Fort Hill head coach Dave Neff said. “That was our primary goal of the game, and we got it a few minutes in.
“Brilynn (Beatty) came out and made some fantastic plays on the ball, kept us out of the net. I don’t know that anybody’s had that many chances on Allegany this year, so I feel good about that.”
Allegany, which finished with a 27-3 edge in shots and 10-1 margin in corner kicks, was so dominant the Campers’ coaching staff didn’t realize for three minutes in the first half they only had 10 girls on the field.
Allegany called off the dogs in the second half, subbing in its bench in line shifts. Ally Ricker closed the scoring with a goal off a Desi Hilton corner kick with 1:25 remaining.
Jemma Stafford was tasked with making 22 saves for Fort Hill. Beatty had two for Allegany.
Fort Hill turns to a matchup at No. 4 Northern (6-3) on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Allegany hosts Keyser (3-9-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We know that adversity actually makes teams better, and we haven’t had much of that this season,” coach Farrell said. “So to have that in a big game like this in Homecoming was actually a positive thing if you want to find the silver lining. It lit a fire.”