By Cort Reynolds

The Bluffton High School girls soccer team rallied to defeat Allen East 3-2 in a Northwest Conference first-place showdown Tuesday evening, September 19, at Goodwin Field in Harrod.

Pirate sophomore Aubrey Burkholder scored two goals and Blair Utendorf dished out three assists to pace the victors to the crucial victory.

The Pirate girls improved to 7-3-1 overall and 4-0 in the NWC with the win that propelled them into sole possession of first place.

AE fell to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the NWC after the tough loss.

Mustang Dylan Miller scored in the fourth minute to put AE ahead 1-0 early.

Burkholder tied it 1-1 in the 30th minute from Utendorf. The match stayed 1-1 into halftime.

AE regained the lead at 2-1 when junior scoring ace Rilynn Jones found the back of the net in the 47th minute.

But Burkholder tied it 2-2 about 12 minutes later.

Mya McDougle then netted the winning goal off a Utendorf feed in the 64th minute.

Bluffton directed seven of its 10 shots on goal, while AE put six of their seven shots on target. 

Pirate keeper Kynzie Ewing made four saves in goal, while Mustang keeper Madison Jackson also was credited with four stops.