A Game of Inches

It is hard enough to defeat a soccer team when you have to worry about 11 players on the other side of the field. As both teams found out on Tuesday, fighting against the elements, referees, and bad luck can make the job next to impossible.

The JV team lost 1-0 on a game called 5 minutes into the second half due to lightning. Michelle Armstrong played particularly well, and has come a long way in a very short amount of time. The KG goal was scored early on, but Livelsberger settled down to stop 8 out of the 9 shots she faced, and the defense definitely picked up its intensity after the goal was scored. Most of the team felt that a few more minutes was all they needed to get a goal on the board, but alas, mother nature wouldn't cooperate.

The Varsity game was started on time following the delay, in which the team decided to participate in some team-building exercises. The game started with a lot of intensity on both sides, and a couple of questionable foul calls (a yellow card against Gibson, and a PK awarded on a foul in the box by Hare) gave KG scoring opportunities, but each time the defense stepped up to deny the Foxes. A series of unlucky bounces and touches left SHS with plenty of possessions in the KG area but with no goals to show for their efforts. The second half continued much in the same way, but another questionable card on Gibson led to a quick possession in the SHS goal area, and with a fortunate (for KG) bounce a dribbling goal was placed in the corner by the Foxes. A furious charge late netted no goals, and SHS left with a heart-breaking loss. The team played well enough to win, deserved to win, but unfortunately the score didn't reflect this.

Kudos to Stidham for stopping 9 of 10 shots, the entire defense who played hard minutes with very few subs, Aldinger for a sweet flick off of a cross that almost led to a goal, and to the entire midfield for working the ball into the offensive set often and effectively.