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Tuesday evening's match against Walkersville High was the first in a week for the Tuscarora High boys soccer team.

After showing early rust, the host Titans came back to life after halftime for a 2-0 Monocacy Valley Athletic League Piedmont Conference victory.

"I think it was just intensity," Tuscarora senior midfielder Quinn Meehan said.

"We came out a little bit harder in the second half."

Meehan sparked Tuscarora's surge with a penalty kick goal approximately seven minutes in the second half. The Titans' captain drew the call when he was hauled down with possession of the ball just in front of the Walkersville net.

Lining up, Meehan picked where he'd shoot before the referee set the ball down. Firing his attempt off the outstretched hands off Lions' junior keeper Christopher Frederick into the lower left corner of the goal, his celebration was short-lived when the score was immediately waved off due to a teammate pre-maturely rushing into the penalty box.

Meehan would have to shoot again. Aiming left and low again, he deposited the ball into the net for a 1-0 Tuscarora lead.

Tuscarora (10-2 overall, 4-2 conference) added an insurance score with 20:26 left in the game when senior midfielder Oscar Medrano's shot was tucked just under the crossbar from nearly 30 yards out. Walkersville's best opportunity came during the second half, when Walkersville senior Mickey Wrisley's missile bounced off of the post.

Tuscarora goalkeepers Sean Best, a junior, and senior Mark Clementson combined for the shutout.

Frederick recorded five saves for the Lions (7-5-1, 3-2-1), who had six shots but no corner kicks.

Both sides have only one regular season contest remaining and are tuning up for their respective region playoffs, which begin next week.

In Thursday's respective regular season-ending games, Walkersville will visit South Carroll while the Titans host Liberty.

"We've been doing that [tuning up] for the last couple of weeks," Walkersville head coach Kevin Conley said. "We're right on the cusp."

As the reigning Class 3A state champions, the Titans know they're a targeted bunch. Still, they're eager to finish out the regular season and commence their title defense.

"We just want to play, that's the bottom line," Tuscarora head coach Martin Stiteler said.

"Having a week off was just itchy. We've been training against each other, but it's still not the same thing as putting the uniform on and going out there against someone else.

"We just want to play. We don't care who it is. We don't care where it is. We just want to play. That's the bottom line."