Attleboro High School Girls' Soccer Team Struggles in the Blue-Red Cup

It has been a very difficult rebuilding season for the girls’ soccer team under first year head coach Steve Santos and the struggles continued as the shorthanded Bombardiers lost in the Blue-Red Cup game against North Attleboro 2-0 at William L. Kelly Field. First half goals from Natasha Gavilanez and Hope Crawley were enough for a comfortable victory for the Rocketeers and more silverware in the trophy cabinet.

The Bombardier girls were coming off a big upset of New Bedford in their last game and they played confidently  for the opening 20 minutes despite missing four players to injury, including leading scorer Erin Woodhead and star midfielder Makayla Medeiros.

The game turned on a corner kick as Gavilanez, the senior midlfielder, rose highest to power home a header from Jenny Dowling’s solid delivery. After the goal Attleboro seemed deflated and North (5-7-1) began to dominate especially through forward/midfielder Jamie Grinavic. The Lady Rocketeers scored again on a rebound tap in by Crawley after a good save by Attleboro keeper Elizabeth Clifton and the game was essentially over.

Coach Santos was clearly disappointed following the game and pointed to the goal as the turning point in his team’s performance, “It’s kind of been the story of our season. It’s like confidence when things are tied up but as soon as we start trailing it’s our own worst enemy, we get in our own heads. We’re our own worst enemies.”

The Bombardiers (2-9-1) were never able to sustain the passing needed to create offensive chances and, despite solid play defensively by Most Outstanding Player Abigail Oliver and some impressive work in the midfield by Captain Jennifer Peck, looked outmatched for most of a slow-paced second half. Other than several corner kicks and a half chance for striker Amelia Lacourse, the North goal was largely untroubled.

Coach Santos placed emphasis on the Lady Rocketeers desire for the win, “Today the ball was bouncing North’s way and they seemed to want it more. Credit to them and their effort. I’m proud of my girls for battling to the end but North wanted it more and you could see it on the scoreboard.”

North Attleboro head coach Bill Wallace was pleased to see his team end a four game winless streak and pick up a valuable two points to move closer to a playoff berth, “It was good to get back and, you know, get in the win column if we have any aspirations of going to the tournament. It was a big win, plus for the girls this is their big highlight game.” He also praised the battling spirit of the Lady Bombardiers, “I give Steve credit. They had a lot of girls injured and they play hard. He’s a good coach, he’s going to do a good job over there.”

The AHS Bombardiers will hope to rebound on Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Franklin to take on the Lady Panthers.