|
|
|
Lady Saints and Pendleton County battle to 1-1 standoff
|
By TONY BOYD For The Ledger Independent
|
After displaying some impressive play in the first week of their soccer season, the St. Patrick Lady Saints were looking to continue their strong play against tough district foe Pendleton County on Monday at The Tom Browning Boys' and Girls' Club.
After scoring the match's first goal in the 17th minute and holding the Ladycats scoreless for the majority of the match, it looked as if St. Patrick was on its way to its third win of the season. However, Pendleton County was able to find the net in the 68th minute and the two teams went on to fight to a 1-1 tie.
The defenses of the two squads dominated play as neither team was able to string together scoring opportunities. The Lady Saints managed only 10 shots on goal in the entire match and Pendleton County only fared a little better with 13 attempts.
“The girls stepped up against this team,” said St. Patrick coach Sally Parker. “Last year they beat us, 3-2, and the year before, they beat us also. Our defense was excellent. I had a strong defense. I'm proud of them. We have to keep working.”
The first part of the match was a feeling-out process as the offenses struggled to mount any serious scoring threats. Finally, St. Patrick's Morgan Swolsky took advantage of a nice pass from a teammate and beat Pendleton County's keeper, Hope Gibson, with a shot that landed in the right side of the net.
Late in the first half, St. Patrick threatened to increase its lead when Molly Parker broke free and booted a shot toward the goal. Gibson, however, made a diving stop on the ball and the score stayed the same at the halftime break.
Early in the second half, it was the Lady Saints' keeper, Ashley Walters, who turned in a nice defensive stop on a Pendleton County shot that seemed headed for the net. After that, the teams went back and forth, up and down the field and it looked as if the one St. Patrick goal was going to stand up.
But, late in the match, Pendleton County advanced the ball to the front of the St. Patrick goal. Walters was able to stop a shot by the Ladycats' Emily Valentine, but Valentine made good on a second attempt to tie the score.
In the 70th minute, Swolsky again was able to generate a scoring opportunity but Gibson denied her with another diving stop and as it turned out, that was the last serious scoring attempt by either team.
“We have grown a lot and learned a lot since our first game,” Parker said. “We are coming along. We have a lot of work to do, but the girls have a lot of spirit.”
The Lady Saints next take the field on Thursday at home against East Carter.
ST. PATRICK 1, PENDLETON COUNTY 1
Halftime: St. Patrick, 1-0. Goals: SP--Swolsky. PC--Valentine. Records: St. Patrick 2-1-1, Pendleton County 1-1-2. |
|
|
Reader Comments
Comments are limited to 200 words or less.
SPS FAN wrote on Aug 26, 2008 5:14 AM: " WAY TO GO GIRLS!
Great job Morgan and Ashley! Freshman ROCK! "
Add your own comments:
|
|
|
Jobs
Homes
Cars
Print Ads