NEW MARKET – Intensity of play was on the coaches minds after Greencastle and Southmont played to a 1-1 girls soccer draw.
“I’m really proud of the ladies,” Mounties coach Roger Azar said. “They played hard the entire match, played with intensity, we had crisp passes. Against a good team like Greencastle, a tie is as good as a win, based on how hard we played. We matched them step for step.”
South moves to 5-4-1 with the tie, while Greencastle moves to 4-1-2.
Tiger Cubs coach Scott Monnett saw his team give up a first half goal but came back to tie things up with an early mark in the second half.
“We came out flat,” Monnett said, “extremely flat. We can have the best plans, but you can’t coach energy. We dug deep in the second half, did the things we do well, and at least got the goal to tie the match.”
The first half was played almost entirely in the Mounties offensive end of the pitch.
Putting seven shots on goal, they got one in, as Jada Graves scored off a Elle Gray corner kick. The goal came with 13:28 left in the half.
The Tiger Cubs evened the score quickly in the second half, as Aleeyah Johnson took a pass from Zoey Doan and found the net with 32:35 left on the clock.
The Mounties didn’t get the looks in the second half they got in the first.
“We changed our formation,” Monnett said. We are a team that is successful when we string four or five passes together. We did a better job of passing, we got to open spaces.”
Azar was pleased with how the Mounties moved the ball offensively, having made two position changes.
We moved Jessica Hale to right wing,” the South boss noted. “It will capitalize on her strong right leg, and we moved Lillie Odum to center/forward. This will give her opportunities to use both feet, which is a strength. I thought we did well with them in the new positions, and as I said, the intensity of the team never wavered.”
Tiger Cubs goalkeeper Bella Monnett faced 11 shots, and turned away 10.
Mounties keeper Olivia Snapp only faced three shots. She turned away a point-blank blast in the first half, and the goal was just over her outstretched arms.
“Our defense was great tonight,” Azar noted. “We played (Greencastle) step for step. Our defense and our midfield efforts were great tonight. We missed a couple scoring chances, but what this team does best is bring that intensity, working to get better and better. This is a smart team, and an athletic team. Tonight was a good match ahead of a tough one next against Tri-West. We need to come with our top game against them.”
The road match with the Bruins is next Monday.
The Tiger Cubs have a road match on Saturday with Cascade.
