United
Quest Blue
'85 Athena (U-14)
- Fall 1999 Game 4 -
Tied 4-4 vs. IAYMCA Eagles
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United
Quest Blue |
This page was last updated on May 03, 2000.
Game 4 vs. IAYMCA Eagles:
The Eagles are a good team. They have speed, power and plenty of dangerous attacking players. The Quest has played the Eagles twice before. Back in our U-12 days, the Eagles totally dominated us while winning 5-0. We played again in August during the Metro North Classic tournament, trailing 2-1 at halftime before falling 5-1.
The Quest got off to a good start in today's game, playing the Eagles on equal terms in the early minutes. The Eagles then started to control more of the play, but the Quest defense denied good chances, and the Quest pushed forward whenever they won possession.
Nine minutes into the game, the Quest took a 1-0 lead after a nice buildup. Christina won a ball in the defensive midfield and started a passing sequence that led to a pass to Elisa in the Eagles penalty area. Elisa pulled off a nice Cruyff move to open space for a left-footed shot. An Eagle defender blocked her shot, and the ball rebounded to Alex just outside the penalty area. Alex shot low toward the left corner of the goal. The Eagle keeper scrambled over, but Alex's shot was just too well-placed as it nicked the inside of the left goalpost and bounced into the goal. Goal Quest and a 1-0 Quest lead!
The Eagles evened the score at 1-1 just a few minutes later. An Eagle forward received a ball at the top of the Quest penalty area. Christina was in good position goal-side to deny space. It appeared that the Eagle forward reached out with a 2-handed shove to knock Christina to the ground. This resulted in plenty of open space for a shot, which she buried into the goal. The ref said "no foul," so the game was now tied 1-1.
The rest of the first half followed a pattern. The Eagles would attack, the Quest defense would find a way to stop them, then the Quest would launch a quick counter-attack. The Quest counter-attacks looked dangerous, as the Quest forwards were often able to get behind the first Eagles defenders.
The Quest scored again on a counter-attack in the 27th minute to retake the lead. Amanda beat her defender on the left side, drew the sweeper out of position, then hit a well-placed cross toward the back post. Rachael had held her position on the right side, and she ran unmarked onto the cross and finished easily into the right corner of the goal. Goal Quest and a 2-1 lead!
The pattern continued, and the Eagles kept attacking. With three minutes left in the half, they earned a corner kick. The Eagle player hit a very dangerous high ball just off the Quest goal line. Sally jumped high and got her fingertips on the ball, but it carried over her hands and head and landed on the goal line. An Eagle player was first to the ball and tapped it in. The score was once again tied, this time 2-2.
The Eagles turned it up in the early stages of the second half and started to dominate play. The Quest wasn't getting much possession at this point. The Eagles scored again early in the second half to take a 3-2 lead. They kept attacking. Midway through the half, the Eagles scored again on what was the defining moment of the game.
The Eagles centered the ball from the left side, a player got a foot on it, and the ball started rolling toward the right corner of the Quest goal. This was the goal with the very muddy goal-mouth mentioned earlier. Quest keeper Jessica ("Big J") dove on the ball in a mud pit and stopped it just off the goal line. She slid in the mud back toward the goal. Quest players later said that as she slid, she kept the ball in place out of the goal.
Big J got up and punted the ball, and everyone kept playing. But the referee's assistant (often called the linesman) pointed his flag toward the center of the field and started running back up his line toward the center line. This is standard protocol for a linesman when he calls a goal. The ref saw the linesman's signal and called it an Eagles goal. The Eagles now had a 4-2 lead with about 15 minutes left to play. (The linesman later said that he clearly saw the ball go over the goal line.)
We mentioned that this play was the defining moment of the game. The Quest could have very easily focused on Eagle goals #1 and #4 rather than focusing on the next 15 minutes. Or they could have given up hope because they were under constant pressure from the Eagles and weren't creating any attacks. But the girls refused to be sidetracked.
The Quest players turned their intensity knobs up to "max." They started winning loose balls and stringing passes together, and they created their first serious attacks of the half. But time was running out. As the clock ticked down to five minutes left, the Quest was now dominating play, but still trailing 4-2.
With five minutes left, the Quest created some magic. Jessica D stole the ball from an Eagle player, then passed to Amanda on the right wing. She used several moves to beat her defender deep on the right side, then she drew the sweeper out of the center. The Eagles didn't cover for the sweeper, so Elisa was wide open in the center of the penalty area. Amanda found her with a cross. Elisa stayed cool and hit a controlled first-time shot into the left corner to beat the Eagles keeper. Goal Quest, and the Eagles lead was now only 4-3.
This goal was fuel to the Quest's competitive fire, and the team continued attacking. Charlsey even got off a rare shot from her outside defender position! Soon afterwards, Jillian and Lindsey created a dangerous chance from close-in on the left side of the Eagles goal. An Eagle defender weakly cleared the ball, and it rolled directly to Alex just outside the penalty area. Sparky was ready and hit her patented high hard shot over the keeper's hands just under the crossbar. Goal Quest to tie the game 4-4!
By the time the Eagles kicked off, there was just one minute left. The Quest dropped extra players back on defense, but the momentum was so strong that the Quest created one final attack, and Alex narrowly missed what would have been a sensational shot from long range. The final whistle came soon afterwards, with the game ending in a 4-4 tie.
Goalies: Sally (1st half), Jessica B (2nd half). Both of them had plenty of action and they both came up with some good saves.
With today's spirited comeback tie, the Quest's fall regular season record is now 1 win, 2 ties and 1 1oss. This gives the team 9 points (5 for each win, 2 for each tie) in its quest to "stay in B."
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Created: 09/11/99 Revised: 05/03/00 |