Girls Soccer: Dover ties Perry after National Anthem triumph
MASSILLON – The Dover girls soccer team tied Perry 1-1 Monday. The Tornadoes are now 6-2-1. Perry is 4-1-3.
Dover Coach James Kline
If you were at this game you were in for a treat. From the announcements this game was special and had a different feel. The announcer shared he was having technical issues playing the National Anthem which led junior Rachel Pfeiffer to act quickly. She began singing out loud which led to the entire stadium to follow suit. It was a very special and memorable moment especially when you consider that the date was Sept. 11.
After that, both teams were hyped up and ready to play.
Perry came out fast and physical like we knew they would, but our girls reacted like any coach would want them to. They bent a little at the beginning, but overall we met the physicality of Perry and showed them we weren’t backing down. After about 10 minutes or so, you could see how we were slowly wearing on them and settled into the game really nicely. We made some adjustments and for the rest of the first half it was a battle.
It was a really fun half of soccer to watch. Both teams played together and created their own opportunities, but you could feel Perry was starting to struggle with our pressure and attack.
There wasn’t much to say during halftime other than a few tactical things to help conserve our energy and the game plan on how we planned to keep the pressure on. The second half was much of the same with both teams playing very well and physical. It was just two tough and talented teams playing really well on the same night battling for a deciding goal.
Eighteen minutes into the second half, we earned a free kick just over the half. That’s where Bridget McCrate played a dangerous ball into the 18. Carley Noretto got a shot off after a bounce, but it was saved by the keeper. However, it deflected to the side where Cashlyn Harmon ran through, took a touch to settle the ball, and calmly finished it into an open net. It was a great play overall and the effort was great to see multiple players crashing the box.
Unfortunately, we did not hold the lead for long. If you have read previous articles I have mentioned about how in soccer the first and last minutes of each half and the five minutes directly after a goal are where teams typically give up goals. Well, it happened 1:37 after ours. Perry earned a free kick of their own, just outside of the 18 and were able to put a dangerous ball into the mix where a Perry player was able to touch it through our defense and keeper to tie the game up.
The last 20 minutes were very intense. A lot of good soccer was played on both sides, but no one was able to break the tie.
Dover’s next matchup is at home this Saturday against the 6-2-1 Weir Red Riders with a 10 a.m. kickoff.