MONT ALTO -- Is soccer history happening in our own backyard?
Penn State Mont Alto has three women players on it men's team -- possibly a first in college sports.
"They treat (each of) us like a guy," joked junior Allison Shambaugh, of her male teammates.
Shambaugh, Emilie Hamrick and Laura Holtzinger are members of the men's soccer team.
"They're a whole lot faster," Shambaugh, who attended West Perry High School. The men are bigger and more aggressive, too.
Yet these ladies don't back down. In fact, some of their opponents don't know what to think of them.
"I actually heard one guy during a game say, 'I'm not going to push her; I'm really not -- she's a girl!'" recalled Holtzinger, a freshman from Millville, Pa.
Actually, they are young women -- and they show the same will to win.
Unfortunately, the Mont Alto men's team hasn't won a game all the season. The squad is 0-6; which has been tough on everyone.
But here's the bigger picture.
Without these three ladies?
"If we didn't have the women on the team, we wouldn't have a team," said head coach Ron McKinney, who is coaching his eleventh season.
Penn State Mont Alto, which has roughly 1200 students, is located near Gettysburg and Chambersburg, Pa. Mont Alto is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
Soccer historian Mickey Cochrane, a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association, based in Kansas City, Kansas, told CBS 21 News Sports Director Jason Bristol he is unaware of a men's college soccer team ever having three female players.
He added that most colleges and universities have women's programs, in addition to men's.
But Mont Alto does not. It had difficulty this season finding male players, according to McKinney.
The result?
Opportunity for Shambaugh, Hamrick and Holtzinger to do something they'll never forget.
Whether its been traveling, practicing or playing in games, they've fit in fine. "They have no problem telling me where I've gone wrong," said teammate Nick Rouse. "Which they tell me a lot."
The ladies are also saying this: the game is the same.
"We still play the game of soccer," added Hamrick, a sophomore from York. "And that's what it's really all about."
