LINDEN — After a disappointing and heart-breaking last two games last week, North Montgomery girls soccer wanted to end it’s three-game week on a good note as they hosted Bethesda Christian on Saturday morning. In the second half the Charger offense found its rhythm controlling the majority of the time of possession and that allowed Teegan Bacon to record a hat trick as she led her team to a 3-1 win.
The first half between the Patriots and Chargers was deadlocked at 0-0. 10 minutes into the second half Bacon put the Chargers ahead 1-0 before the Patriots were able to even up the score just a few minutes later. Bacon’s second goal of the game came with 13 minutes left and that put the Chargers up for good as she’d add a third just for good measure.
In a similar situation earlier this week against Sheridan, North Montgomery surrendered three goals in the final minutes after being tied. This time, in another close game the Chargers were able to come out on top.
“The win today doesn’t happen if our defense doesn’t keep the ball out of the back of the net,” Charger coach Julie Hodges said. “In a close game every touch, possession and run you make matters. For us to be able close out a tight game like this is a big step forward for where we need to be at as we get ready for the post-season.”
With her three goals, Bacon sits just five away from the illustrious 100 mark for her career. While the North Central commit can fire it from anywhere on the field she wants, Bacon showed great poise and patience around the net, even faking out the Patriot goalie for one of her goals. Hodges also gave credit to Bacon’s teammates as they were able to assist her on all three of her goals
“There’s many games where her goals go un-assisted,” Hodges said. “For all three of her goals to have an assist next to it is another big step because that’s something we’ve struggled with. Teegan’s outside shot wasn’t falling in the first half so she decided to slow things down and be more precise in the second half and it paid off well for us.”
This upcoming week is a big one for the Chargers as it will be another three-game week. On Monday they’ll travel to take on the ever-tough Tri-West Bruins before hosting county rival Crawfordsville on Thursday. Next Saturday they’ll host Covington for senior day.
“We’ll be facing two potential sectional opponents this week in Tri-West and Crawfordsville,” Hodges said. “We’re beginning to see glimpses of what we’re needing to see from this team but there’s a lot of work to be done these last couple of weeks. Our girls aren’t stopping with their fight. A lot of times if a team has a had a difficult year you see them fold going into the sectional. I’m glad I’m not seeing that from this group.”
