Senior Girls Soccer

SG Soccer White: Keeping the Dream Alive

By Erik Van Dyke
Going into this game @ Massey, we knew we were the masters of our own destiny. We held our fate firmly in our hands. We knew that if we could win (not lose, and NOT tie) our last three games of the season, that we would bring the coveted ETIAC regular season banner back home to SC for the second year in a row.
 
But we did not start well. Maybe it was the cold, rainy conditions. Maybe it was the weird goalposts that Maddie could touch the top of(!) just by reaching up. Maybe it was a field so huge and so soft it felt like we were playing on a giant Spongebob Squarepants. But we were sluggish and passive, especially on offense. Instead of aggressively attacking the Vikings defenders, we kept bailing them out with weak crosses and ill-advised east-west passing. We needed to put them on their heels with more north-south attacking. Get in their grill, make them stop us, instead of stopping ourselves by being too cute.

The first half ended 0-0, with MVR creating the better chances. We now had only 40 min left to change our mindset and Keep the Dream Alive. The S.A.K. Line was solid enough, and Maddie was a rock – how she can be so sure-handed in such slick, muddy conditions I’ll never understand! But we needed a damn goal.

Thankfully, 5 minutes into the second half, Bernadette von Breakaway took a Camryn pass, punched right through the teeth of the Massey defense and clinically finished right corner to break the ice. From that point on, your Spartans were the better team. Bernie did it again ten minutes later, launching herself full force into the Vikings back line and drawing a foul just outside the top of the box. Avah took the direct kick, and thanks to a little deflection off the Massey wall, notched her first goal of the season – always fun when a defender gets on the score sheet!

Charlotte Hughes – who dug hard all game – finished off the scoring with a tough breakaway of her own with ten minutes left in the game. Final score 3-0 for the Red & White – a nice improvement compared to tying the same team 1-1 a month ago! – and The Dream is Still Alive. 

Quote Of The Day #1: “If Charlotte Dubé doesn’t get Player Of The Game, something is seriously wrong.”  – Bernadette von Campenhausen

Far be it from me to disagree with Bernie(!), as Charlotte Dubé was definitely one of the Players Of The Game. Calm and purposeful on the ball, she dug nonstop for 80 minutes, and her positioning was PERFECT. As Valentina noted after the game, “She’s improved SO MUCH from the start of the season!”

Memorable Moment:  Charlotte H scoring at the exact same time that our bantam boys won their game on the next field over – 40 Spartans all celebrating at the same time, gotta love it!

Player Of The Game #2  goes to Siena Webster, who played with confident abandon. Quick to the ball, everything she did had purpose. Siena seems to have turned a corner the past two games – keep it up!

Quote Of The Day #2:  Starting midfielder Mariana Coronel injured her ankle early on and had to sit out the rest of the game. When asked if she needed anything from the med kit, she replied: “Med kit? No. That’s for wimps.” (translated from the Spanish and edited for content).

On that note…!

- Coaches VD & K
 
The year so far…
7 wins 1 loss 1 tie   ETIAC Record (aka The Dream Is Alive):  4-0-1
Goals for: 20    Goals against:  8
S.I.T. Silver Medalists
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