MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West boys Chris Sauer has to be a bit of a sports psychologist during Thursday night’s Heartland Conference-Division I opener with Lewisburg.

The Mustangs generated opportunity after opportunity against the Green Dragons, but only managed a penalty kick goal by Colton Moyer early in the first half, as Lewisburg freshman goalie Christian Gallagher turned in spectacular save after spectacular save.

“It’s one of those things where you hope to get an insurance goal, but it does get frustrating,” Sauer said. “You just have to remember that it’s a good thing you keep getting those good scoring chances. One of them is bound to go in.”

That’s exactly what happened as Moyer finally punched home an insurance goal with 4:12 left in the game as the Mustangs notched a 2-0 win over the Green Dragons at Sports Boosters Athletic Park.

The early part of the first half of the game was all Mustangs. Midd-West (3-0, 1-0 HC-I) put pressure on the Lewisburg defense from the opening kickoff, generating a corner kick and shot less than two minutes into the game. Just over three minutes into the game, Moyer was pulled down in the box and awarded a penalty kick. He chose to go back left corner and got it by a diving Gallagher for a 1-0 advantage.

The Mustangs continued to get scoring chances. Matt Hauck got in alone with Gallagher, but the freshman punched away the shot and the rebound shot went over the goal. Later with 10:09 left in the first half, Moyer broke through the defense and got a shot off which Gallagher stopped, but the rebound went to Moyer. He tried the other side of the net, but Gallagher was there with a diving save.

“I’ve seen Christian for two years. When he was in seventh grade, he was the only seventh grader on the junior team with all of the eighth graders,” Lewisburg coach Justin Dively said. “He’s very athletic and very vocal back there, I haven’t had to do much coaching. He’s been huge for us back there this season already. That’s a tough position to have a freshman play.”

Lewisburg (1-1 overall and HAC-I) couldn’t generate many scoring chances of its own until late in the first half, getting four of their five first half shots in the final five minutes of the half.

“We couldn’t get it past their last four or five defenders. Our most dangerous scoring chances came off direct kicks rather than in the flow of play,” Dively said.

Both of those chances came early in the second half on direct kicks by Eric Barrett. On the first, with 36:15 left in the game, Lewisburg’s front line couldn’t chase the ball down before it went out of bounds just left of the goal. The second, with 19:29 left, Midd-West goalie Colby Gaugler beat two Lewisburg players to the ball.

After Gallagher thwarted several more chances, including a corner kick which saw him punch away a header attempt out of the middle of a pack of defenders and then recover in time to make a leaping stop of the rebound, Moyer finally got Midd-West its insurance goal on a breakaway with 4:12 left. Gallagher rushed him and Moyer timed it perfectly and floated a shot over his head that nestled in the back of the net.

Midd-West led in shots (16-6) and corners (7-3). Gallagher finished with seven saves, Gaugler had three stops.