``We just weren’t ready to play,’’ said Milford head coach Lorin Campbell, who saw his team drop into a first place tie with Cherry Valley-Springfield in the Tri-Valley East. ``Edmeston deserved to win. They were more aggressive and took it to us.’’

Milford entered the game with a 7-0 record and were fresh off a 2-1 victory over Class C Cooperstown on Saturday.

``It’s baffling that we go to Cooperstown and beat a team like that and follow it up with a lackluster effort,’’ Campbell said. ``But that happens sometimes, and now we have to pick up the pieces.’’

Conversely, Cooperstown bounced back from the loss with a 3-1 home win over Herkimer, avenging an earlier season loss to the Magicians in the championship game of the Lowville Tournament.

``We played an excellent game today,’’ Cooperstown head coach Jennifer Pindar said. ``We played our game and played a great passing game.’’

CCS’s Anna Kieler assisted all three goals, including a pass that Sarah Polus headed in for a 1-0 halftime lead. After Herkimer’s Brooke Nasypany tied the score at 1-1 early in the second half, Kieler set up teammates Jen Potrikus and Laura Rowley 10 minutes apart for the winning margin. Rowley’s goal was also headed in. Cooperstown hosts league rival Sauquoit on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and then host Edmeston at 11 a.m. Saturday for a non-league contest.

Edmeston’s win over Milford may have helped ease the pain of losing to the Lady Wildcats in the last three Tri-Valley Championship Games. Milford is now 3-1 in league play, as is CV-S. The teams meet again in Cherry Valley on Monday, Oct. 1.

``We were in the driver’s seat, but now we could be in a dog fight for the league,’’ Campbell said. ``We host Morris on Thursday and hopefully can start to get back on track.’’

Against Cooperstown, Arnot scored the winning goal with 50 seconds remaining after a foul was called, resulting in a direct kick. On the direct kick, Campbell lined a low shot that Cooperstown goalie Jen Wehner blocked back into the field of play, and Arnot was there to put in the deflection.

``It was an excellent game,’’ Campbell said. ``They took us out of what we normally do offensively by playing six in the box, but we managed to persevere.’’

Milford, who entered the game with close to 40 goals in six wins, dominated play in the first half but failed to score. The score remained 0-0 midway through the second half, when Arnot was fouled in the goalie box, resulting in a penalty kick.

Campbell took the penalty kick, but missed wide left. Less than 20 seconds later, Cooperstown junior Laura Rowley scored an unassisted goal, and the Redskins suddenly had a 1-0 lead with 23 minutes remaining.

``I think we let our guard down a little after Brenna missed,’’ Lorin Campbell said.

But Brenna atoned for her miss three minutes later, putting a move on a Cooperstown defender and blasting a shot in the upper left-hand corner of the net to tie the score at 1-1.

Lorin Campbell had words of praise for his defensive unit, which was missing starting sweeper Emily Brennan because of a knee injury.

``We moved Chandler Prouty to sweeper, and Morgan Dutcher marked (Cooperstown leading scorer Anna) Kieler,’’ Campbell said. ``Morgan did a magnificent job on Kieler, and Chandler looked right at home at sweeper.’’