For the past five years, Starr’s Mill and McIntosh have traded victories, with Starr’s Mill losing 3-0 last year. This year, both teams managed equal possession in an aggressive, quick-paced Battle for the Troops, but in the end the Lady Panthers lost 4-2 in penalty kicks.

“It was everything you’d expect. It was tough, you’ve got to fight for every tackle, every pass, every shot,” head coach John Bowen said. “You know we’re throwing our bodies around blocking shots, and we’re doing everything we can do.”

Although the Mill was eventually defeated, throughout the first half both teams managed to handle the ball well and play a balanced game on both ends of the pitch.

Neither team could gain advantage despite Starr’s Mill having an attempt at goal within the first two minutes of the game.

As the half continued, both teams challenged one another, testing their limits. McIntosh came out on top first in the 28th minute from within the box off of a corner kick when a Chief shot the ball past freshman keeper Zoey Stellman.

However, the Lady Panthers did not stop relent and in the 26th minute freshman Chloe Thompson scored the first goal for the Mill. The goal, her 12th of the season, moved her into the top spot on the team’s scoring list. Thompson passed two defenders and kicked the ball into the goal from within the box. This goal tied the two teams at one going into halftime.

“We knew McIntosh would be a hard game so we came into it with some energy and excitement and you know they’re our rival,” senior Sara Biddle said. “Everybody was really pumped to be here, but it’s really hard to maintain that for 80 straight minutes so we hit some lulls.”

The second half did not bring any goals for either side, but the aggression did not fade. Both teams had multiple runs to the goal but were stopped. The equal aggression on both sides showed that both teams were willing to let it be a battle until the end.

When the buzzer to end the game sounded, the score was 1-1, and both teams prepared to go into overtime.

The game continued into two overtime periods where the same trend as the 80 minutes of regulation held. The teams shared the ball equally with both making moves past defenders. However, neither team could net a goal.

“I thought the game went better than most of our others because of the whole rivalry thing which increased our intensity a lot,” senior Makira Walton said. “So I think we started off really strong in the first ten minutes we pretty much dominated possession but I think the heat of the day and that sort of stuff got to us.”

Despite the extra ten minutes, neither team scored and the game had to go into penalty kicks where McIntosh would get the better of the Lady Panthers 4-2.

The win gives the Lady Chiefs the No. 1 seed in Region 3-AAAAA and drops the Lady Panthers to the No. 2 spot.

Starr’s Mill plays again tomorrow night against Fayette County. The boys’ team will play the first game of the varsity double header starting at 5:55 p.m. Senior night activities will take place between the games.