LINDEN — Coming off of a 4-1 win over International on Monday, the North Montgomery girls soccer team looked to make it two in a row as they hosted the Sheridan Blackhawks. Normally the Chargers can rely on their offense, however Tuesday night they were only able to score a single goal as Sheridan came away with a 2-1 win.
Cecilia Timme scored both Blackhawk goals, the first coming seven minutes into the game. Sheridan would take a 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Chargers finally were able to break through at 15 minutes into the second half with a goal by Teegan Bacon off an assist from goalkeeper Sydnee Turner. Eight minutes later Timme put the Blackhawks back in the lead and that would be enough as a few late shots by the Chargers fell short.
“I thought that we showed signs of being tired again tonight,” Charger coach Julie Hodges said. “That’s no excuse though because we’re going to be playing a lot of games in a short amount of days. Unfotunatley we’re going to have to get used to this because this will be a recurring theme the rest of the season. We have to find a way to mentally play with purpose despite that we may be tired.”
The Charger offense totaled 19 shots compared to just 13 for the Blackhawks. Despite the loss Hodges has her team looking at the bigger picture with some key conference games coming up on the schedule.
“We kept some of our girls on a minutes restriction because they had some knicks and bruises, and we know what lies ahead,” she said. “We have three conference games in the next six days so obviously we want to win every game, but with a jam-packed schedule like we have I also have to be smart as a coach. Some girls got valuable playing time tonight off the bench and that will pay off in the long run.”
Those key conference games include Frankfort on Thursday, Western Boone on Saturday, and then a tough challenge with the top team ranked in the SAC, the Tri-West Bruins.
Prior to the Frankfort game on Thursday, North Montgomery and Southmont will finish a game that was incomplete from last Saturday. In a shootout — the Mounties lead the Chargers 2-1 with two shots remaining for Southmont and one for North Montgomery.
