“Oh, the weather outside is frightful…” but so are our lady Dons!  On Wednesday night the Varsity Girls Soccer team traveled into Cougar territory to take on Campolindo.  It was a foggy night where parents in the stands couldn’t even see our team on the far sideline, but could clearly see the Dons in white dominating the game.

The first half was almost all played in the Aca offensive half of the field where our midfield and attackers kept the pressure on Campo.  Reese Tierney, Grace Eppinger, Tatum Keely, Danica Green, all had good shots on goal that just couldn’t find the net.  Credit to the Cougar goalie for making some nice saves.

The Cougars had a first half where they were quick on the counterattack, but the strong defensive line of Avery DeMent, Edie Berzansky, and Captains Tori Hiatt and Keely wouldn’t allow a Campo change on the scoreboard.  Alexa Bantique had another nice night in goal with some saves and plenty of use as an additional field player to clear any challenges.

While the midfield work of Lily Polkinhorn, Reese Tierney, Caroline Tumilty, and Evelyn Lee certainly won a lot of 50/50 balls and created a lot of strong feeds into the offensive line, including some strong runs by Michela Barbano, the half ended in a tie, 0-0.

The Campo coach must have had some inspiring words for his team at halftime, because the Cougars started the second half with a renewed energy.  The Dons midfield and defense was ready and held strong, including some diving saves by Bantique.

As the second half continued in a stalemate, some fresh legs came on the field through Grace Colaco, Cate McCormick, and Samantha Murdin.  Action switched back to the Dons offensive half where Tierney, Hiatt, Lee, Barbano, and Berzansky rattled off some nice shots on goal.

The sole goal of the match came from some fancy work by McCormick.  She was taken down from behind as a Cougar player stole the ball, but the referee waved off any call.  McCormick calmly got up, won the ball back, made a one-touch move past the Campo goalie and defender and cleanly put the ball in the net.

The Cougars managed to counter with some challenges, but the defense held strong like it always does and the Lady Dons came away with a well-earned 1-0 win!