Chelmsford Suffers Home Shutout to Westford Academy

The stage was set for a competitive, well-attended match under the lights Tuesday night but the Chelmsford Lady Lions were unable to live up to the task in the 5-0 shutout loss to the Westford Academy Grey Ghosts.

The game was out of hand almost from the very beginning, as Westford scored in the opening minutes on an untouched drive up the middle. Chelmsford nearly gave up a second goal immediately following this on two separate breakaways. Luckily the Lions challenged hard and managed to stave off the attack.

Later on in the half, the Grey Ghosts did start to pull away, as a nice shot in the box managed to scurry past the goalkeeper. The majority of the first half was played in Chelmsford territory, allowing many scoring opportunities for Westford.

The Lions did start to fight back, however, as a breakaway nearly resulted in a goal midway through the first. The ball was held too long unfortunately, and the shot went right into the goalie's grasp. There weren't many more chances like this, as Westford Academy played stingy defense all game.

After a close sliding save by Westford with about eight minutes remaining, the rest of the half was back and forth highlighted by the play of both goalkeepers.

Westford turned on the jets in the second half, scoring two goals within the first seven minutes of play. At this point, not much was going in favor of Chelmsford, especially not on a play where a Lions player was tripped on a breakaway in the box with no whistles to be heard, much to the crowd's displeasure.

With five minutes left, Westford bounced another goal in to take the 5-0 lead and the win.

Chelmsford next plays on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Swampscott High School.

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