The Johnston girls’ soccer team is still looking for its first Division II victory, but if the Panthers continue playing like they did against unbeaten Pilgrim on Tuesday, it can’t be too far off.
Johnston played the Patriots even for 40 minutes before two corner kicks led to a pair of Pilgrim goals early in the second half. The Panthers got on the board late and though they couldn’t complete the comeback in a 2-1 loss, they came away feeling pretty good.
“This was the best game we’ve played this year,” said head coach Tim Sprouls. “The effort and intelligence this team played with was fantastic. I’m so proud of this group of girls.”
Sprouls has had high hopes for this team since the off-season, when his players took it upon themselves to work out and train. On the field, success still hasn’t come easily – Johnston is now 0-5-1 in league – but every score has been close and the Panthers still feel like they’re moving in the right direction.
Playing Pilgrim so tough and doing it with the right style of soccer was the biggest step yet. The game was perhaps the team’s best performance since it moved up to Division II last season.
“It’s been a big effort to teach them to be patient and not just kick the ball away, and it’s starting to pay off,” Sprouls said. “The hard work these girls put in – practice six days a week, running two miles every Saturday – they’re doing a great job. This is what I wanted to see – passing the ball, moving the ball, not just kicking the ball down the field and hoping for the best.”
Pilgrim, a Division II semifinalist last year, is unbeaten thus far this season but couldn’t pull away from the Panthers. The Johnston defense led by Elizabeth Monti, Renee DeAngelis, Jenna Pizzi and Lauren Tedesco limited chances as much as it could in the first half. In the midfield, with Rachelle Boehm and Leah Gravel leading the charge, Johnston won a lot of 50-50 balls to keep Pilgrim from dominating possession.
The Patriots still had a flurry of shots but came up empty each time. Johnston goalie Amber Dion made several big saves, including a diving stop on a rocket by Haley McCusker.
“We were able to hang in there,” Sprouls said.
Johnston generated little offense of its own but still went to the break locked in a scoreless draw.
Unfortunately for Johnston, Pilgrim didn’t waste any time in the second half. After getting just one corner kick in the first half, the Patriots took four in the first 13 minutes of the second half and turned two of them into carbon-copy goals.
In the 43rd minute, Clare Birney took a corner from the left and placed it into the middle of the box, where Katelyn Vieira headed it into the net. Ten minutes later, that duo connected again and Pilgrim went up 2-0.
“Corner kicks have given us trouble all year long and we’ll just keep working on them,” Sprouls said. “If it wasn’t for the corner kicks, we would have been even or maybe ahead. We don’t have the height like other teams do. They headed the two goals in. They got up in the air and put them in. We just have to keep working on marking the players.”
After the second goal, Johnston did some of its best work of the day, creating a handful of chances and forcing Pilgrim goalie Hannah Page into action. In the 69th minute, the Panthers broke through. A cross by Danielle DeAngelis was headed into the air by Zenobia Griffin. It came down and bounced around before Gravel volleyed it past Page and into the net.
“That was nice and it was a team effort down there,” Sprouls said. “We had three girls in the box and they all just kept hanging in there and hanging in there.”
The goal wasn’t just a positive sign – it also put Johnston right back into the game. Unfortunately for the Panthers, chances were hard to come by in the final 10 minutes. Gravel and Christina Hardman teamed up for a run with eight minutes left, but Birney – Pilgrim’s sweeper – cleared the ball before a scoring chance could develop. With four minutes left, Hardman got loose but was called for offsides.
That was all Johnston could muster, and Pilgrim held on for the victory. Still, it was a solid all-around effort for the Panthers, one they hope to build on.
“I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season because this is just terrific effort on everybody’s part,” Sprouls said.
Johnston will be back home tonight to host Mount St. Charles at 6 p.m.
“I think we say, ‘Let’s not have a letdown. Let’s keep always playing like this,’” Sprouls said. “Everything can get a little better. I think they’re seeing that things are clicking. It takes time. We only started August 19. We’ve come so far in a month. I think good things are going to still come for this team.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here