Kelsey Swartz, 9, of the Lady Dutch battles a Clearfield player for the ball during their match Monday afternoon at Clearfield.

The St. Marys Lady Dutch soccer team saw a tough match Monday afternoon against the Clearfield Lady Bisons, which concluded at a 3-2 loss.

The Bisons wasted no time putting a score on the board, when their strong and organized offense showed SMA that they needed to settle in to the game quickly.  

Clearfield’s first goal came at just over seven minutes into the start of play. They followed up with another at 14 minutes in, and ended their reign less than 15 minutes later. There was just 20 seconds left on the clock in the first half of play, when Brittany Orr took a direct kick from outside the penalty box, which was deflected by the Bison defense. Kayla Hoohuli capitalized on the deflection, placing the ball in the net to put the Lady Dutch on the board, and end the first period at a 3-1 score.

St. Marys hit the field the second half, ready to rid its deficit. A Hoohuli goal from an Orr assist, at 15 minutes into the start of play, showed Clearfield that the Lady Dutch don’t back down from a challenge. Though they kept the ball in the Bisons’ half of the field for the majority of the rest of the game, they were unable to find net again, and the clock ran down to see a 3-2 score.

“It took some time for the girls to play confidently today,” St. Marys coach Kelly Carr said.  “I really would have liked to see them start the game the way they played the second half. I think we would have seen a different result. But, as Coach (Nikki) Troupe told them at halftime, it doesn’t matter what the result of the game is, as long as it was played hard. I was happy to see them go out the second half playing their game. I think it was a learning experience for them. Stephanie Yetzer and Beth Lyons, as strikers, played a great, aggressive game today.”

The Lady Dutch, now 5-3 on the season, will be back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to DuBois for a 5 p.m. kickoff.