The Varsity Lady Dons were on their home turf Thursday night and back in black uniforms for their match versus Clayton Valley, who were coming into the match undefeated. Captain Tori Hiatt gave her standard rally speech as co-captains Tatum Keely, Edie Berzansky, and Reese Tierney cheered her on. From the huddle the starters took their positions on the pitch and the match was on.
Clayton Valley started strong, spending the first five minutes on the offensive. The defensive line, including Claire Hawkins and the captains, were tested right away as they attempted to get the ball back up to the Aca midfield of Tierney, Evelyn Lee, and Grace Colaco. The attack of Michela Barbano, Stella Beuchotte, and Grace Eppinger came back to help, but had to remain patient before the Dons could gain some rhythm on offense. The fresh legs of subs Lily Polkinhorn and Averly Ammerman seemed to provide that rhythm as the Dons managed a couple of nice runs towards goal.
Unfortunately, this seemed to rally the Ugly Eagles aggression towards response. They got off a shot that forced goalie Brooke Lewis to make a nice diving save, but the ball ricocheted out for a follow-up shot that skimmed off the crossbar and bounced just over the goal line before bouncing back out for an Aca clear. The sideline ref was right there and signaled the goal; 0-1. Clayton Valley continued the pressure including a nice corner threat that Eppinger came all the way back to clear. The Dons managed only one shot on goal before halftime, by Keely, that was scooped up and saved by the goalie.
The Lady Dons have built a bit of a reputation for coming out of halftime with a renewed fire, and Thursday was no exception. The second half started with more aggression, more challenges won, and some very nice ball movement in the midfield and from the attacking line. Ammerman, Beuchotte, and Tierney managed some nice crosses and Ammerman had a shot sail just left of goal. As the Clayton Valley defense chased down a ball to possibly pass back to their goalie for a clear, Beuchotte was faster on the chase and ended up being fouled by the goalie who had no play on the ball. Aca was awarded a penalty shot, which Beuchotte skillfully placed into the lower right corner of the net; 1-1!
For the remainder of the half, it was a true back-and-forth battle as both teams equaled out their aggression and ball movement. Ella Culbertson and Casey Lerch subbed in as the battle continued. The Ugly Eagles managed a number of shots, one needing another save by Lewis, as Berzansky broke up a couple of other close challenges. Hiatt had a shot sail just wide left and Lerch had a nice pass back to Lee for a shot that was saved by the CV goalie. Unfortunately, Clayton Valley was awarded a corner kick that resulted in a header goal with less than a minute left of play. The whistle blew and the Dons had to accept a last-minute heartbreak; 1-2.
THE DONS HIT THE ROAD THIS WEEK TAKING ON BERKELEY AND MIRAMONTE!
