Season opening athletic events never are dull. As a new school year is upon us, athletes are ready to go.
Game photos click here.
Season opening athletic events never are dull. As a new school year is upon us, athletes are ready to go.
Two high-powered girls soccer programs matched up Aug. 16 when the West Geauga Wolverines visited the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions — and as if there was need for more excitement, the junior varsity game had come down to one Lions goal with only 53 seconds left to forge a 1-1 tie, which got everybody even more amped up.
The varsity contest was just as tightly contested.
The teams battled back and forth early on, with the Wolverines having a slight upper hand in attacking. Then, with 11:23 gone, NDCL sophomore forward Dria Duqum broke free down the left sideline near midfield, eluded two defenders, and put a shot home from close range to break the scoreless tie.
She repeated the action again with less than two minutes left before halftime. In a big display of speed, she got into very close range before being stopped by Wolverine keeper Michaela Platt, a junior. The ball instantly caromed right back on Duqum, though, and she got her foot between two defenders to tip the rebound back for her second goal, providing a 2-0 halftime lead.
By this time, the Lions, with nine senior starters on the pitch, had taken ball control of the game, and the lead looked better as the teams played into the second half.
“I’m really happy we won this game,” Duqum said. “It’s really great for the seniors that we were able to get this win in our first game.”
Duqum’s first score slowed the Wolverines’ fine ball control. With changed momentum, things stayed that way until the last 10 minutes of the contest.
That ball control happened in midfield action, which kept senior Hailey Pray involved most of the time. Closing in on loose balls just ahead of West G rushes, she got the ball either left or right with precision.
“This was our first day back in school,” Pray said. “The way the JV game ended, and then Dria’s goals, really had us pumped up in the game. The biggest thing for us is to build a good team bond in every practice and every game.”
Coach Rick Sirl, in his first game heading the Lions program, agreed.
“Everybody was really amped up today,” he said, recovering from an ice-water shower on the field after it was all over. “In a new system, playing a new style for our first game, we played well. Both teams are very good, and for a while we kind of lost the script on what we wanted to do, but it worked out well for us.”
West Geauga Head Coach Cassidy Lewis is also in her first year at the helm of her solid program, having taken over as head coach just a few days before the match. While disappointed, she saw many positives.
Early ball control was huge, but as things slowed for a while, it took a big moment with 31:09 gone in the second half to boost her team back up. Adison Cook drilled a corner kick from the left corner, and freshman forward Amelia Zaffiro drilled it home to create the final score.
“We had a good first 10 minutes or so, but you can’t go 0-for-6 shooting to keep momentum,” she said. “It happened again late in the game until we scored, but you have to find results more often when you get opportunities like we had.”
Zaffiro and fellow freshman Eva Borz had big games in their first varsity game.
“This is a lot faster than club soccer,” Zaffiro said. “It’s a lot more physical, a lot faster, and for me, I’m learning a new position on the field. But this was a lot of fun to play in. NDCL is a very good team.”
Borz also had a huge hand, or foot, in the game. One factor in NDCL’s favor was speed on the front line, but Borz will catch up in that manner as her game grows.
“As a team, we’re kind of young,” she said. “We’re coming together more as a team as we go along. We had a solid game, but we’re doing better.”
Season openers can’t get much better than this contest.
