United
Quest Blue
'85 Athena (U-14)
- Fall 1999 Game 8 -
Won 1-0 vs. Roswell Santos Blue
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United
Quest Blue |
This page was last updated on October 24, 1999.
Game 8 vs. Roswell Santos Blue:
The Quest and Santos were both in the Athena U-13 "C" division last year. The Quest won the fall 1998 game 1-0, then lost 1-0 in the spring 1999 game (the Quest's only loss of the spring season). Both teams were promoted to the Athena "B" division for the U-14 fall season.
The Quest had the wind at their backs in the first half. The wind was strong and had a definite impact on the flight of air balls.
The Quest got off to another good start and controlled the opening stages of play. For the 2nd straight week, the Quest scored an early goal.
In the fifth minute, Amanda beat her defender on the right side and played a ground ball cross to Elisa in the center of the penalty area. A Santos defender came in to put tight pressure on Elisa. Elisa faked a right footed shot to freeze the defender, then she pulled the ball back to her left foot to create some space. Elisa shot quickly with her left foot and blasted it past the keeper into the top center of the goal. From the build-up to the final shot, this was a high quality play all around! Goal Quest and a 1-0 lead!
The Quest continued to pressure the Santos. But the Quest seemed reluctant to take advantage of the wind and take more outside shots. The Quest kept possession in the Santos end and won the loose balls when the Santos tried to clear, but the Quest couldn't (or wouldn't) find shots.
The Quest came close again later in the half when Kaelen out-jumped the Santos goalie for a high ball in the middle of the penalty area (about 10 yards out from goal). Kaelen got a head on the ball, but a Santos defender was able to scramble over and clear the loose ball before the Quest could put it away.
The Santos had a few attacks during the first half, but the Quest defense never let them get into shooting position. The Quest defense only allowed one corner kick in the half, and they cleared it quickly and strongly.
Halftime came with the Quest outplaying the Santos, but only holding a 1-0 lead. This was a precarious lead because of the strong wind. The Santos would have the wind at their backs in the second half. With such a strong tailwind, anyone with a good leg can shoot from 40 yards out and have a chance.
As expected, the strong wind helped the Santos. They had the ball in the Quest end much more often than they did during the first half. But the Quest defense consistently stopped the Santos attacks well away from the penalty area.
Midway through the half, the Santos had two excellent chances:
- A Santos player had the ball on her foot just outside the Quest penalty area. But instead of shooting, she passed the ball to the outside of the field, and the Quest thwarted the attack. (Maybe this spot had a "don't shoot" spell on it, because a Quest player had done something similar from this same spot in the first half.)
- A few minutes later, a Santos player had an open shot from the right side of the penalty area, but she shot weakly to the near post, and Quest keeper Big J only had to make a routine save.
The second half wasn't totally one-sided, though. The Quest had a lot of possession in the midfield area and built some attacks in the Santos end. But the Quest never really created a clear-cut scoring opportunity. It looked like the Quest was going to have to win this game through defense, not offense.
The Quest defense got stronger as the half continued. More and more Santos attacks were thwarted by Quest midfielders well away from the goal. If the Santos got past the Quest midfielders, the Quest defenders were quick to cover and never let the Santos forwards have any time on the ball. The Quest defenders were also alert to clear a couple of potential corner kick balls out the side, only allowing throw-ins instead.
Note: After several games in a row where the Quest allowed tons of corner kicks, the team only surrendered one corner kick all game. That's progress!
After the two chances mentioned earlier, the Santos never really threatened again. Credit goes to the Quest midfielders and defenders for their hustle and determination. They consistently won the loose balls, and they pressured the Santos players whenever they had the ball. In a word, they frustrated the Santos.
The final whistle came and the Quest celebrated a well-earned 1-0 win.
Goalies: Sally (1st half), Big J (2nd half). Thanks to the strong Quest defense, neither Sally nor Big J had to make any difficult saves. Big J faced the strong wind, which can wreak havoc on punts. But she did an excellent job on her punts and consistently sent them 25-30 yards upfield.
With today's win, the Quest's fall regular season record is now 3 wins, 2 ties and 3 1osses. The Quest earns another 5 points for the win, and now has 19 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: 10/24/99 |