Sports can quickly become a secondary concern when something more serious occurs during a game.

That was the reality the girls from Pleasant Valley and Pocono Mountain East faced Monday evening in Brodheadsville.

What began as a tightly contested EPC soccer match was interrupted by an injury delay of more than 15 minutes midway through the second half. After the teams gathered themselves and play resumed, the Bears took the lead shortly afterward and held on for a 2-1 victory that didn’t quite carry the usual excitement.

“It’s really hard for them when they see something like that happening,” said Pleasant Valley coach Tara Hyland. “I’m proud of my girls for keeping it together and staying organized, not panicking, and not giving up when they were frustrated. A lot of them had a really good game tonight, so I hope they can be proud of themselves.”

The opening half featured an entertaining back-and-forth pace, with both teams pushing the tempo and trading scoring chances.

The Cardinals struck first just over nine minutes in when Addison Smith played a ball to Olivia Gonzalez, who fired it across the goal and inside the far post for a 1-0 advantage.

Pleasant Valley responded almost six minutes later after Maddieson Bizousky cleared the ball ahead to midfield, where Marta Perry outran the East defenders and scored on a breakaway to tie the game at 1-1, which remained the score at halftime.

The second half opened at a slightly slower pace with fewer scoring chances, though the match remained competitive.

About 15 minutes into the half, Pocono Mountain East sophomore Valentina Ocampo and Perry became tangled while battling for possession. Ocampo suffered a leg injury, stopping play for more than 15 minutes as she was attended to before being taken from the field by ambulance.

Both teams were visibly shaken.

“We talked to our teams, and Tara and I talked, and we decided that we would try to give it a go, and I think we saw a different tempo than what it was most of the night,” East coach Shaun Below said. “When a player gets injured like that, there’s a lot more than soccer on people’s minds.”

When play resumed, Pleasant Valley eventually found the go-ahead goal.

Perry took the ball to the end line and attacked the post before laying it off for Jordan Fleming, who finished to give the Bears their first lead of the game.

“Obviously, the whole situation in itself is a bad experience that nobody wants to experience, but at the end of the day, we do have a game that we wanted to win,” Perry said. “We just went back out there and kept doing what we knew how to do.”

Over the final 22 minutes, the tempo gradually picked up again. Pleasant Valley maintained its pressure while limiting Pocono Mountain East’s opportunities to preserve the victory.

Considering the circumstances — and the youth of her team — Hyland was pleased with the growth she saw from her players.

“It was nice to see the girls doing what they’ve talked about doing,” she said. “They’re working really hard. They’re learning a lot about themselves. Our outside back ended up getting hurt, and it was next man up.

“I thought they did a great job with that. We’ve got a couple freshmen on the field, and they’ve never been in this environment. And it was good to see them step up and really not get nervous, not step back, not be afraid.”

MORE THAN A GAME ... The lengthy stoppage and concern surrounding Ocampo put the result into perspective for both teams.

“I think a situation like that reminds kids that they’re risking something when they come out to play any sport,” Below said. “When you have a situation like that, it’s a stark reminder of that could be anybody on the field at any time.

“I thought both teams had a lot of courage to go back out and try to crank it back up and go because after seeing something like that, you want to kind of go and find out if she’s OK, and they had to go play. Sports is a place where it’s a safe haven to learn life lessons, and in this particular case, it wasn’t. It was very real what happened, and I was super proud of the girls with the way they adjusted to it and were able to finish the game.”

Pleasant Valley 2, PM East 1

PM East 1 0 - 1

Pleasant Valley 1 1 - 2

Goals: PM East — Olivia Gonzalez 1; Pleasant Valley — Marta Perry 1, Jordan Fleming 1. Assists: PM East — Addison Smith 1; Pleasant Valley — Maddieson Bizousky 1, Marta Perry 1. Saves: PM East — Mia Scarpelli 15; Pleasant Valley — Haley Ott 6. Shots: PM East 6; Pleasant Valley 15. Corners: PM East 2; Pleasant Valley 2.

Records: PM East (2-7-1; 1-7); Pleasant Valley (4-5; 3-4).