Cultivating Christian Minds and Character
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Fall 2008 Season
Wildcats Suffer Tough Loss to Kennedy
Westminster lost a tough one to the Kennedy Celts in the championship game of the Holly Goodman Tournament. The 2-1 loss was not the result of a poor effort. This game featured 80 minutes of hard working, body banging soccer and despite the loss, serves as a great warm-up game as the team prepares for district playoffs. Additionally, this game exhibited one of the best overall team efforts of the season.
Westminster took the field looking to win the tournament for the 3rd year in a row. Kennedy saw an opportunity to beat the #3 ranked team and the defending champions at the same time. As play got underway Westminster went on the early attack. The team moved the ball well but the Celts solid defense prevented any decent changes. Despite the fact that the Wildcats controlled the play for the first 20+ minutes, they were only able to get 2 decent shots on goal. Defensively, Westminster continued their solid play as they kept Kennedy from getting into the attacking 1/3 of the field for most of the half. The lone exception came at 27:05 when a Kennedy throw in found its way across the field to the tiny Gina Grassi. Gina sliced to her right and hit a high floater from 25 yds into the left corner of the net. Kennedy carried the precarious 1-0 lead into halftime.
The 2nd half began with Kennedy playing with the wind at their back. They utilized the apparent advantage by sending the ball deep into the attacking end with the hopes that one of their speedy forwards could break free. Their first attempt at this tactic proved counter productive. At 3:18, the Wildcat defense picked up a long serve from a Celt player and returned it to midfield where Liz Crowell collected the ball. Liz carried the ball to the edge of the box and got a weak shot off that bounced into a cluster of Kennedy defenders. Kenzie Pfitzinger and Lauren Probst plowed through the defense and Lauren tipped the ball to Kenzie who then hit a waist high shot into the left corner to tie the score at 1-1. Throughout the half the intensity increased as well as the physical play. With the balance of the fouls called in favor of Kennedy, the Celts pressed hard. At 29:32, a Kennedy free kick was knocked around midfield until a Celt player sent a long serve into the middle to leading scorer Erin Kilian who put a shot high over keeper Calvin and into the net for a 2-1 lead. The remainder of the half had Westminster desperately attacking every ball and throwing everything they could toward the net. Unfortunately, the valiant effort fell short as the game came to a close. This game was a good example of the better team doesn’t always win. While the Wildcats had the better team organization and possessed the ball more, Kennedy took advantage of the very few opportunities they were given which led to their victory.
The Wildcats look to get back in the win column on Monday 5/5 when they travel to powerhouse Nerinx Hall for a 4:30pm match.
Game Stats:
Goals: Pfitzinger Assists: Probst Shots: Crowell (2), Ehrmann, Moore, Pfitzinger, Probst, Vanderheide Effort: Everybody (100%)