Northview Titans Junior Varsity Girls Game Summaries
Northview v Chattahoochee - 3-0
March 13th
The Northview JV girls’ soccer team (3-0-1) returned to action on Thursday, March 23 against arch-rival Chattahoochee on a cold, rainy evening and came away with a solid 3-0 victory. The Lady Titans had not played a game in 10 days due to rainouts, and it showed in the early going as it took a while to shake off the rust from the long layoff.
With neither team able to find an offensive groove, the first big play of the game was a defensive one for Northview as Caitlin Swindall shut down a Chattahoochee scoring opportunity by running down the Cougar forward and clearing the ball from in front of the goal before the shot could be taken. This got the Lady Titans going. More and more the momentum swung in favor of Northview, although shots by Stephanie Andino, Hillary Millard and Anna Kornmayer failed to find their mark. But the midfielders were now consistently maintaining possession, led by the play of Kellie Aarons and Tara Holland.
At the 16:16 mark, center mid Rae Mueller sent a free kick over the Cougar wall to the Chattahoochee goalie, who misplayed the ball and allowed it to roll back out into play. The ever-opportunistic Andino stepped forward to take the shot and blasted the ball into goal for a 1-0 Northview lead. The Lady Titans were seizing control of the game and continued the offensive pressure. With slightly less than 11 minutes remaining in the half, a series of passes put the ball in front of the Chattahoochee net and Kornmayer tapped it lightly past the keeper for the score and the 2-0 lead.
The Chattahoochee girls suddenly came alive however and became much more aggressive on both sides of the ball. At 9:40, a Cougar forward broke free in the middle of the field and ran unobstructed towards the Northview goal. She fired a point blank shot on goal, only to be denied by a sure-handed stop by keeper Olivia Alonso. Several minutes later, Alonso had to make another sensational save to keep the Cougars at bay. The half came to an end with the Lady Titans maintaining their 2-0 lead.
During the break, the rain came down heavier as the temperature dropped and the field conditions became a little more precarious. And because this game was played prior to the JV boys contest, the stands began to fill with more and more of the Northview faithful, who lent boisterous vocal support. But if Chattahoochee was intimidated to be trailing by two goals on their home field, it did not show as they came out in the second half with a very physical style of play. Perhaps complacent with the lead and ready for the contest to end, Northview allowed the Cougars to control the flow for the opening minutes.
But the physical play caught up with Chattahoochee as foul after foul was called on them (including one Yellow Card), setting up many free kicks for the Lady Titans. And although Northview was unable to convert any of the kicks for scores, it certainly disrupted the flow of the game and prevented Chattahoochee from sustaining any serious shift in momentum away from the Lady Titans. The Northview defense tightened up as well, as Sweeper Kate Dixon and goalie Gracie Kessenich shut the Cougars down.
The final goal of the game came at the 15:30 mark when Mueller sent a beautiful pass to Andino who overcame the tight angle and shot the ball to the far post for the score and the 3-0 lead. From then on out it was a game of perseverance, and the Lady Titans held on to secure their fourth victory of the season for coach Julie Conner, and an impressive fourth shut out for the defense.
