A goal down, two minutes into the game. No worries.

Falling behind quickly is something River Hill has become familiar with, but the Hawks have the internal wherewithal to engineer a comeback.

"We actually start most of our games with the other team scoring first," said Kelly McIntyre after her team rallied to beat Mt. Hebron, 3-1, Sept. 29.

"We don't start off well," River Hill coach Shelly Chamness admitted. "The first five minutes is nothing good. Hebron scored on us right away. Glenelg did, and Centennial did, too. Then we have to fight our way back. That (slow start) is one of the things that we have to overcome."

Ashley Bruns put Mt. Hebron on the scoreboard first two minutes into the game, but with 2:37 left in the first half, Kelsey Owens evened the score as the ball pinged around the circle during a penalty corner. Jenny Lancaster was credited with the assist.

In the second half, Lindsay McIntyre (assisted by Paige Decker during a corner play) and Nanci Collins (assisted by Kelly McIntyre) scored to tip the game in River Hill's favor.

"This team has more confidence to come back after a goal than any team I've coached," Chamness said.

River Hill used an effective back pass to help create space to move the ball forward.

"We've been really trying to swing the ball and get it to open space," Chamness said. Adding, "We have been working really hard on getting the ball in the goal."

River Hill, now 4-2 overall, was shut out four times last fall and scored just a single goal on five other occasions.

"We did not play like we could have," Mt. Hebron's Rachel Smith said.

"We struggled, but you've got to be able to struggle and still find a way to win," Mt. Hebron coach Jeannette Ireland said. "River Hill outplayed us. They were better than we were today."

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