Sarnia Spirit U12B Girls Soccer semi-final play-off game vs. Petrolia Aug.19/09.

submitted photo

The Sarnia girls came into the game on a long winning streak, having only 1 tie and no losses in their last 7 league games. They began very strong and quick, getting to all the loose balls first and putting Petrolia under pressure immediately. Samantha Eisenbraun scored on a beautiful run from the middle offensive zone with a hard kick up high, and Lipine Parsons followed up immediately afterwards on a bouncing ball in front of the Petrolia net. Lauren Wilson was all over the field, and had an outstanding cross to set up an attempt. Karleen Long kept things moving for Sarnia, scoring on a cross from Claudia Font, who had several great runs down the left side into the Petrolia zone. Abigail Zalewski fed her team-mates with many excellent passes, releasing them to streak down the sides. Petrolia showed a bit more pep towards the end of the first half, but were not able to break through, and the half ended 3-0.

The second half began with Lauren Adam taking control and having several nice attempts at the net, one of which Lauren Wilson followed up on, took a pass from Lipine Parsons and scored on a lovely little turn around.

Shelby Bigras displayed tremendous accuracy with a wonderful goal past the Petrolia keeper, and the game was beginning to get out of reach. With some players playing out of their normal positions, Sarnia showed the form that will be tough to beat in the championship game. Alyxandra Wilcox and Abigail Zalewski had great footwork on a give-and-go, and Elaine Larocque hit the post on a cross from a team-mate at the end of the game, giving Sarnia a 5-0 win and a date in the final on Monday, August 24/09.