CUMBERLAND — In a match that featured the area’s leading goal scorers Emma Hostetler and Avery Miller, the defenses won out.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between, and top-ranked Northern and No. 3 Allegany played to a scoreless draw after 100 minutes Monday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
“Allegany played a really good game. I don’t really think we played a good game,” Northern head coach Gregg Hostetler said. “I thought we were off all night. I’ll give my girls credit for stepping up and pulling out a tie when it could’ve went the other way.”
Northern (4-1-1) entered Monday as the area’s newly minted No. 1 team after upsetting then-No. 1 Mountain Ridge, 2-1, on Thursday for the program’s first victory over the Miners in 12 years.
But Northern’s biggest rival over the last three years has been Allegany (2-1-2), a team it hasn’t lost to in the regular season but is 0-3 in the playoffs against.
Since the start of the 2021 season, each team has won three times against one another and there have been four ties.
Monday was much of the the same, as the two sides combined for just 11 shots on goal, though dangerous chances were few and far between.
Northern had the better of play in the first overtime, nearly scoring in the 82nd minute when Kaylee Bowser delivered a 51-yard free kick to Ainsley McHenry-Sober in the box.
McHenry-Sorber headed a pass to the far post, but the open shot missed high.
Allegany’s best chance in the later stages was in the 97th minute when an Ella Shade cross nearly connected with Shelby Barclay but skidded through the box.
“In my opinion, the best of the best. We played the best team,” Allegany head coach Mat Schartiger said. “Hopefully they think they played the best team. It showed. Defense came out on top. It was hard on everybody to get through.”
Despite the final score, Northern and Allegany have been the area’s best offenses through the early stages.
Northern entered Monday averaging an area-high 6.6 goals per game, and Allegany was second at 4.75.
The Huskies’ Emma Hostetler leads the area in points (33) and goals (16), and Miller — who recently committed to Penn State for track and field — is second in points (22) and goals (10).
Allegany controlled the first half Monday with a 6-1 edge in shots, but Northern had the better of the chances the rest of the way.
Campers senior center back Sierra Campbell did well to prevent Hostetler from springing free.
“They do have some speed,” coach Hostetler said. “They seem to be where we were trying to build. Whether that’s a result of us not hitting the right pass or them being in the right spots. In all honesty, it’s probably a little bit of both.”
Allegany’s best scoring opportunities came on set pieces.
Myia Miller found Avery Miller’s head in the middle of the box in the 13th minute on a corner kick, but the shot went high.
Northern’s backline never allowed Avery Miller to find a breakaway chance.
“We’re very solid on our defense. We don’t make many mistakes,” coach Hostetler said. “They look for that long ball for Avery to run on, and we’re just solid. Not too many of those balls get by on us.”
Northern keeper Ada White made seven saves for the clean sheet, and Allegany’s Brilynn Beatty had four stops.
Allegany heads to No. 2 Mountain Ridge (4-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Northern is at Rockwood on Thursday at 4.
“We’re sitting at the one seed right now,” coach Hostetler said. “There’s a lot of soccer left to play. … We know us, Mountain Ridge, Allegany, we’re all going to be here in the end. It could literally come down to the last times we play each other in the regular season.”