'Even when we were up 3-1, I didn’t feel like we were up 3-1,' Red Lion's Hailey Johnson on Lions attack mentality

There’s no denying it; Red Lion is a threat. 

Its attack mentality is a blend of toughness and continuously being unsatisfied.

Its defense - stingy and disciplined.

But, even within each of its lines powered up to pounce, it is possible to defeat them. 

That was recently proven when New Oxford flipped the script snapping Red Lion's 11-game winning streak. It was the two team's second meeting of the 2023 PIAA Fall season.

The first meeting, Red Lion won 4-1.

The Colonials wisely spent the time in-between games preparing, adjusting, and improving. Strategically, New Oxford figured out what they needed to do, winning the second meeting this past Thursday 4-1.

The score was identical to the first game but it went the other way. The YAIAA regularly sees a handful of teams make it to Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 3 playoffs.

Red Lion looks like they’re on a path to possibly making it to a sweet seeding if they rebound quickly from its recent loss and continue to unapologetically win. 

Take for instance another school that could stop them. Dallastown and Red Lion is a rivalry as old as time. 

So, when the original matchup was postponed due to thunderstorms, it was obvious the first meeting more than halfway through the season was going to be a strong power clash (as the tension between them built). Going 1-1 with each other last year gave both teams extra motivation. 

“Always feels nice,” Red Lion senior captain Hailey Johnson said.

Red Lion defeated Dallastown on September 25. 

Johnson is one of five seniors who “keeps hustling and plays every minute out,” Red Lion head coach Carol Gillmen said. But, when it comes to the team’s over-arching goals, it’s relatively simple. 

“Generate as many shots and opportunities as possible and make sure that if we’re not finishing, just keep going,” Gillmen said. “And the girls believe that eventually we’ll put the ball in, given opportunity.” 

That mentality powered the Lions during the third quarter against Dallastown and finally inevitably swung the game’s momentum in their favor. The final score was 3-1, Red Lion. 

“It felt really close the whole game,” Johnson said. “Even when we were up 3-1, I didn’t feel like we were up 3-1. I think that was a big thing. We just all had the energy that we just weren’t settling, and we wanted another goal.” 

New Oxford came back stronger the second time. And, Dallastown left everything they had on the field.

But, they are both examples of how things can change in an instant in this sport. The Wildcats played with intensity and forced Red Lion to earn the dub.

Five girls had “their best individual game of the season,” Dallastown head coach Emily Taylor said after the contest. 

“Passing-wise, hustle-to-the-ball-wise, I think they crushed it,” she said. 

The game was a back-and-forth battle, despite the teams’ records being drastically different. Before the game, Red Lion was 11-1 and Dallastown was 2-9. 

“You can’t really determine how good a team’s going to be based on their wins and losses,” Johnson said. “You just have to come out as if this is going be the hardest team we’re going to play all season and give it everything.” 

Especially since Division I of the YAIAA conference is made up of quality competitors: Red Lion, Spring Grove, New Oxford, South Western, Central York, and Dallastown. 

“I did not think the division would be as good as it is overall,” Taylor said. “I would not say we’re a bad team either. We just sometimes struggle to score goals, and other than that I think we play hard every game.” 

Both teams have had strong out-of-conference lineups, including Palmyra, Lower Dauphin, Red Land, and Greenwood. 

“From one game to the next, we aren’t even looking at records or anything like that,” Gillmen said. “We’re just trying to know our opponent, make plays, and be disciplined out there.” 

Discipline was something Gillmen said her girls could have done “a little bit more,” but overall, she was proud of the effort to “persevere and keep battling.” 

“I think the pieces of the puzzle have come together, and we have freshman and underclassmen playing some key roles,” she said. “Every game is, just we need that grit and determination, to be relentless and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.” 

Taylor said she was impressed with her young team. 

“Coming into the season, we had four senior starters, guaranteed,” she said. “Two senior starters who had played before fully on Varsity because we had some that quit.” 

Several Wildcat seniors quit earlier in the season for varying reasons. And after losing four key field players and two goalies, there were big shoes to be filled in the Wildcat roster, Taylor said. 

“When the senior class leaves, it’s always going to be different than it was the year before,” she said. “I think we deserve to have a better record than we do, but our record is not depictive of how good we are as a team and how much we fight every single game.”

Photo: Bob Benscoter, Red Lion vs Dallastown