Northview Titans Junior Varsity Girls Game Summaries
Northview v Lassiter - 0-1
February 27th, 2007
A warm and sunny late February afternoon in the friendly confines of Northview Stadium was the setting for the Lady Titans JV soccer home opener for the 2007 season. But there was little joy to be had at the end of this contest as the girls dropped a disappointing decision to the Lassiter Trojans, 0-1.
Once again led by captains Kellie Aarons in the midfield and defender Michelle DiPietro, the rest of the starting line up consisted of forwards Carly Martini, Daria Gound and Shelby Apps; midfielders Anna Kornmayer, and Samantha Howard; defenders Lisa Johnson, Mara Hamilton, and Kylie Janusek; and goalkeeper Hannah Riddle.
Lassiter set the tempo early by attacking early and often, forcing a corner kick in the first few minutes of the game. And the Trojans nearly capitalized on the opportunity as they sent a beautiful, arcing kick that was bending in towards the Northview goal. But Riddle slapped the ball away and the defense cleared it safely out of harms way. Just a minute or so later, another Trojan corner kick resulted in a beautifully timed header, but luckily it sailed over the crossbar.
On the other end of the field, Northview’s best opportunity was off of a corner as well, with the ball bounding freely after the kick. The Lassiter keeper, however, recovered quickly and smothered the shot. Defensively, Mara Hamilton came up with a nice stop to prevent a one on one opportunity for Lassiter. And so the game continued to see saw back and forth as moments later the Trojans were awarded a free kick about 25 yards from the goal. A nice kick over the Titan wall found the head of a Lassiter forward, but the ball went straight into Riddles hands.
Forward Shelby Apps then brought the ball down the near sideline and sent a nice cross to fellow forward Daria Gound, but the Lassiter goalie reached the ball at the same moment for the save. Again back on the other end, The Lady Titans committed a foul just outside the box. The Trojan shot was tipped straight up by Riddle off the crossbar, and the Northview goalie quickly smothered the ball.
Another run down the left side by Apps looked to be a scoring opportunity as she sent a laser cross to Hillary Millard in front of the Lassiter goal – but the pass proved to be too hard to handle and the ball squirted safely over the end line for a Trojan goal kick. With time running out, Lassiter began to put enormous pressure on the Northview defense, with several shots coming within a few seconds span, but all handled by the Titan defenders. Finally, it looked as if Northview had safely cleared the ball out – but the Trojans took one last long shot from way outside the box, and the ball somehow found the back of the net as it sailed over the Riddle’s outstretched hands. With just 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Lassiter had taken the lead, 0-1.
The second half was much the same, with both teams having ample opportunities to score. But both squads also played well defensively. In the early going, Carly Martini started the action off with a nice run down the right sideline, only to see her shot handled by the opposing keeper.
At the 31:00 mark, a Trojan forward came right down the middle of the field unmarked, and only a last second tackle by Kylie Janusek prevented an easy shot on goal. Offensively, the Titans refused to concede – one of Anna Kornmayer’s patented long throw-ins resulted in a header by Millard, but again the Lassiter keeper made the play.
Kellie Aarons continued to be a force in the middle of the field, thwarting the Trojans offensively and sending balls out to the Northview forwards. But the clock was starting to be a factor as Lassiter continually frustrated the scoring efforts of the Lady Titans. With 13:00 minutes remaining, it looked as if the equalizing goal was going to happen as forward Millard streaked towards a rebounded shot with Lassiter’s goalie finally way out of position. But the ball had just enough spin on it so that what looked to be a Northview goal in fact went just wide of the net. It was turning out to be one of those nights!
Two more scoring opportunities came up short. With the clock showing 3:35 Martini sent a nice cross that landed in front of the Trojans goal – but their goalie won the race to the ball. And finally with just over a minute to play, a long lead out pass to Martini resulted in a tough angled shot by the forward that was handled by the keeper.
A tough loss for sure, but the girls played with spirit and battled to the end. It was good to see them at nearly full strength. Caitlin Swindall played extremely well as she was seeing her first action of the season after an illness had kept her out of the first two games of the season. And Kelley Hoehn looked to be 100% as well after being sick early in the season. Next up for the Lady Titans is another home match against the 2-1 Pope Greyhounds on Thursday, March 1.
