Wow, what a battle!! It was a warm October evening at South Oldham stadium where the Lady Dragons and the Lady Rockets staged a "give it all you got for 100 minutes" contest under a full moon that ended with SOHS surviving 3-2 in overtime. Although South outshot Assumption 19-7, neither team could grasp control and dominate the field of play in this see-saw battle. What follows is a description of the ebb and flow of the game.
The Dragons missed several opportunities to strike first as Jennifer Wilson fed Jennifer Sibert for a shot that missed wide left early in. Lauren Wilson fired at 32:50 but missed high right, and sister Jennifer Wilson ripped a shot to the goalie 40 seconds later. Assumption came back to threaten with the first of "many" free kicks on the night at 28:50 which was deflected out earning them a corner. The corner was headed but missed high.
Both teams then traded break-a-ways as Lauren Wilson found herself free at 27:17 but missed high followed minutes later when Rocket leading scorer Mackenzie Johnson broke loose but missed wide right. South earned a corner at 24:40 but Sibert's kick was long. At 23 minutes, Sibert fouled Rocket #23 but the free-kick missed high. Lauren missed high again with 10:15 to go and two minutes later Assumption got their 3rd free-kick on an obstruction call, but again missed high. Sibert found Cobb with a free-kick with 5:14 left which went wide left.
Yet another free-kick for the Rockets, their 4th, would prove to be the difference in the first half as with under a minute to go, Emily Durbin placed an unstoppable "picture perfect" ball that arched just under the bar and over goalie Anna Simpson, giving Assumption a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Lady Rockets kept up the pressure in the second half. Stephanie Hay missed a header high off a pass by Sibert at 37:42, but then Assumption got their 5th free-kick at 33:20, followed by a miss high at 27:21 and a long shot missing wide left at 26:31. Then with 22:23 remaining in the second half, Lauren Wilson picked up an Emily DeYoung pass and fired a swift roller that Rocket defender Katie Binder tried to get, but in doing so shielded the ball from the goalie's view, allowing the ball to slip in just left of the right post to tie it at 1-1.
Johnson came right back for Assumption but missed wide right a minute later then Sibert missed wide left at 20:50. The rockets failed to score off a corner at 19:40 and a midfield battle ensued over the next several minutes, ending when Jennifer Sibert made a long cross to Andrea Schott who ripped it in for a 2-1 Lady Dragon lead with 14:17 left in the game. South had three more chances as Sibert hit a free-kick to the goalie at 12:55 and Lauren Wilson just missed getting to another Sibert cross at 11:58. Sibert had another shot on goal at 4:40, but then the Lady Rockets forced overtime when they scored off a pass from the left across the middle, that was knocked in with 4:06 left on the clock to tie it at 2-2 at the end of regulation.
In the first overtime, Emily Cobb advanced a free-kick picked up by Jennifer Wilson who passed to sister Lauren Wilson for the winning goal just 46 seconds in giving South Oldham a 3-2 lead. That would end the scoring for the evening as Assumption failed to connect on a couple of more free-kicks at 6:20 and 4:15 to end the first extra period. SOHS threatened with 7:34 left in the second extra period when Lauren Wilson headed a Sibert pass high. With time running out, the Lady Rockets got two more free-kick attempts, the first of which was deflected out and kicked again only to sail over the crossbar at 6:00 and their last (9th by my count) as the clock was winding down.
These two teams played their hearts out for 100 minutes of hard fought soccer and both had good reason to leave the field with their heads held high regardless of the outcome, as there were gritty performances by both squads throughout.
Michelle Huber and Emily Cobb were given the daunting task of slowing down Rocket senior Holly Minogue and Katie Moore had to mark leading scorer Mackenzie Johnson. Anna Simpson continued her winning ways in goal with help from Amanda Nivens and Lindsay Hagan who probably wore out her leg returning numerous Assumption advances the other way. Claire Workinger had a good game in the middle, winning balls and starting runs, and Ally Tucker provided valuable minutes off the bench. Stephanie Hay was a workhorse all night long and what courage & determination was shown by senior Emily DeYoung who played the full 100 minutes just a week after severely spraining her ankle.
