The Lancaster Bible women's soccer team opened the home portion of its schedule on Saturday as the Chargers lost to Houghton, 2-0 at Charger Field. With the humidity and sun wearing down both teams, it was the Highlanders who struck midway through the second half to take a 1-0 advantage and then cushion it with a goal in the 85th minute.

Houghton held a larger part of the possession in the first half, but it was the Chargers who had two golden scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes. Off a corner kick, junior Alyssa Wesner headed a ball that was destined for the back of the net, only to have Houghton goalkeeper Shawna Sprout appear seemingly out of nowhere to make an incredible diving save. 

Just moments later, freshman Alexa Evans found herself alone in the box and struck the ball that was again heading towards the back of the net. Once again, Sprout was there to make an incredible diving stop to keep the game scoreless.

"We had two great chances and their goalkeeper simply made two unbelievable saves," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Leah Sipe said. "It was nice to go into halftime scoreless, but clearly with those types of chances, we thought we could have had an advantage."

In the second half, Houghton's ability to sub nearly all of their players in the first half paid off as the Highlanders appeared to be the fresher team and scored with just over 30 minutes remaining. Sarah Gabriele collected the ball just outside of the box, dribbled once and scored into the lower right-hand corner to make it 1-0.

Houghton continued to hold possession for most of the second half and added to their lead with 5:26 remaining on a goal from Darlene Eckhardt. The Highlanders finished with 27 shots, 21 of which came in the second half, while Lancaster Bible had just four shots, with none coming in the second half.

"They switched the way they were set up in the second half and we didn't adjust to it as quickly as we should have," Sipe said. "We had some good chances in the first half, but need to sustain those chances and get more shots in the second half."

Sipe was proud of the team's play through the conditions and is excited that the team continues to make positive strides with each game.

"From the scrimmage to the first game we corrected mistakes and from the first game to today we corrected mistakes," Sipe said. "As we continue to put everything together, the team and our play is becoming stronger."

Senior Kaitlyn Scheuing made nine saves for the Chargers, who are back in action on Wednesday when they host Lycoming at 4 p.m.

Notes:
-Houghton defeated Lancaster Bible, 6-0 last season in Houghton, N.Y.

-Saturday was the first of 12 home games this season for the Chargers.