York Catholic junior striker Kathleen Johnson pocketed a goal just past the midway point of the first half.

The Fighting Irish made it stand up over the last 59 minutes for a 1-0 victory over Littlestown for their first win of the season in YAIAA Division III girls' soccer action Wednesday afternoon at Alloway Creek Intermediate School in Littlestown.

The Lady Irish withstood three late scoring chances by the Lady Bolts. The first, a shot by Brianne Valentine with 4:02 left, was denied by keeper Emily Ryan. Then Ryan raced off her line to challenge Valentine two minutes later and forced a shot wide to the right of the net.

Littlestown (0-4, 0-3 YAIAA III) had one more shot, but Ryan snuffed Gabby Chrisley's try from the top of the box with 1:53 to play. The Lady Bolts' attack did generate a corner kick opportunity with less than 30 seconds to play, but that was cleared away by the York Catholic defense, and time expired.

"I thought we dominated after halftime," Littlestown head coach Jennifer Yutzy said. "We had good touches, made some good crosses and had a couple of good chances that we didn't finish."

Johnson had the first chance of the match to score, but was denied by Littlestown keeper Sam Henrie with 34:18 to go in the opening half.

Then just over two minutes later, Valentine fired a shot at the short post from the left side, only to be shut down by Ryan with 32:04 to play.

York Catholic (1-4-1, 1-1-1) had the next two chances, both

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on shots by Kendal Klair. Klair's first shot was knocked out of bounds for a corner on a diving deflection by Henrie. The ensuing corner found Klair and she tried again, only to be denied again with 26:04 left in the opening half.

Johnson broke the deadlock when she scored off an assist from Natasha Vadas with 19:13 left in the first half. On the goal, Vadas passed from the middle to the right and Johnson's laser rip from 15 yards out got past Henrie into the left side of the net.

Early in the second half, Sarah Bentajar had a chance to even the match, but was denied by Ryan with 35:43 to play.

The only serious scoring opportunity until Littlestown's late flurry came for the Lady Irish when Vadas fired over the net with 22:31 to go.

"We had some very nice possession at times," York Catholic head coach Ryan Luckman said. "We made quick passes, created chances, but didn't score on them.

"Our defense was solid today and Emily played well in net. She made good decisions on when to come out to challenge and when to stay in net."

York Catholic held a 7-3 edge in shots on goal and a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.

"I'm proud of the way our girls played today," Yutzy said. "They played hard and they've shown definite improvement this season.

"We're still an inexperienced team, but we're much improved from last year when we were regularly getting blown out."

With the Easter holiday this weekend, the Lady Bolts don't return to the pitch until Monday, when they face Hanover in a road match at 7 p.m.

  
YORK CATHOLIC 1, LITTLESTOWN 0
York Catholic -- 1   0 -- 1
Littlestown -- 0   0 -- 0

   First Half -- 1. YC, Kathleen Johnson (Natasha Vadas), 19:13.
   Shots On Goal -- YC 7, Lt 3.
   Corners -- YC 3, Lt 1.
   Goalies -- YC, Emily Ryan (3 saves); Lt, Samantha Henrie (6 saves).
   JV Score -- No game.