SUNBURY -- Playing a wounded team on the road, Montoursville girls soccer coach Erin Bennett wanted nothing more on a hot, steamy Wednesday afternoon than for her team to jump on top early.

And the Warriors did exactly what they were told.

Brianna Spitler scored just 2:31 into the game as Montoursville controlled the offensive play in a 3-0 victory over Shikellamy in a Heartland Athletic Conference Division I game.

"Asking the girls to run around in this heat, it's a lot to ask," Bennett said. "We really controlled the ball in the first half. We kept possession in our end of the field and made some nice passes to set up some scoring opportunities."

The Warriors (3-0 overall, 1-0 HAC-I) didn't waste any time generating chances early and got on the board when Marissa Spitler played a ball through the box to her sister, Brianna, who scored the goal.

Montoursville made it 2-0 later in the first half. Tessa McKibben scored a pretty head goal off an indirect kick from near midfield with 26:58 left in the first half.

The Braves (0-2, 0-1) were missing two starters completely and have three others just coming back from injury. That forced coach Megan Feese to alter her game plan for the Warriors.

"I decided that we would play more of a defensive game because we knew they had a lot of speed and firepower up front," Feese said. "We wanted to play a game where we gave up five or six shots and lost by one or two goals rather than give up 48 shots and lose 8-0. I'm really proud of the girls. They hung in there. We had only 15 players, so we couldn't do much substitution in the heat."

That lack of depth began to show on the Braves late in the first half and though they defended well after their only problems, Shikellamy managed only four shots in the game.

Montoursville ran into some problems early in the second half when McKibben left the field with an injury. Bennett was unhappy with the Warriors' play for most of the second half.

"We didn't execute as well in the second half," Bennett said. "We got a little lackadaisical. Our passes weren't as crisp and we didn't have as many chances."

The Warriors did add a third goal late in the game, thanks to the Spitler sisters. Once again Marissa played a ball into the box and this time Brianna converted with her head with 7:17 left in the game.

"I'm real happy we were able to bounce back later in the second half. We had lost our composure for a little bit," Bennett said. "We got it back and were able to finish the game on a strong note."

Montoursville led in shots (9-4) and corners (3-1). Shikellamy goalie Danielle Erdley finished with four saves, while Montoursville goalie Audra Larson stopped two shots.