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Sarnia Spirit Vs. Wallaceburg
July 17, 2008
This was Sarnia and
Wallaceburg’s second match-up of the regular season.
Sarnia was fresh off of a 2 week
break which may have given them the slight edge going into
the game. Due to the heat and humidity both teams agreed to
take scheduled water breaks during each half to keep the
girls hydrated. This ended up being a very good decision as
the play throughout the match was certainly at a slower pace
than normal, and the heat was clearly the main factor.
The Spirit continued to mix
things up a bit moving several players around into different
positions to help the squad better understand how each
player contributes to success on the field. During the
opening half, Sarnia moved the ball very well and with an
increased awareness on the pitch, moving back on numerous
occasions to better position themselves for an attack.
Sarnia opened the scoring in the 15th minute on a
beautiful cross from #5 Kadin Siopidou-D’Andrea that was
picked up nicely by #7 Shae Colman who promptly blasted the
ball into the Wallaceburg goal from just outside the box.
The Spirit kept up the pressure, moving the ball well up
both sides of the field and making crosses into the 18, but
were unable to capitalize as Wallaceburg moved several
players back to stem the tide. As the half drew to a close
the Wallaceburg team made some good attempts at net, but 1st
half Sarnia Goal-Keeper #16 Emily Peckham would have no part
of it, keeping herself in perfect position to ward off any
attacks. The half ended with Sarnia leading 1-0.
The 2nd half was
similar to the first with Sarnia maintaining most of the
possession, continuing to move the ball around very well,
and consistently providing support to allow movement through
the back of the field to gain advantage and space moving up
the pitch. Wallaceburg seemed content to wait for
opportunities to send long through balls up the field in
order to make attempts at the Sarnia net. 2nd
half Sarnia Goal Keeper #1 Kayla Griffiths also played a
great match coming up strong when needed and aggressively
coming out to secure any balls that came inside Sarnia’s
18. The Spirit eventually scored their 2nd goal
of the game about 75 minutes in on a fantastic solo effort
from #8 Emily Sparham who beat two Wallaceburg defenders to
open up a chance at goal, and then finished in excellent
fashion potting the ball into the left side of the net.
Both sides played well to finish out the match, and when it
was all said and done, Sarnia had won by a score of 2-0.
Sarnia and Wallaceburg will meet
again in 1 week’s time on July 23rd at Veteran’s
field. |
