Despite controlling the ball and the flow of the game, the Chatham High School women's soccer team fell to a resilient Pequannock team 3-2 in overtime Monday night in Pequannock.
"Pequannock wanted it really bad and played great. They capitalized on their opportunities and we didn't," Chatham head coach Tracey Blanchard said.
Chatham outshot Pequannock 15-12, but failed on a number of scoring chances, including three shots that bounced off the crossbar.
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The game's eventual winning play came when Pequannock's Traci Yackulic cut through traffic to put a shot past Chatham goalie Morgan Maltby in overtime.
Chatham played a strong game, controlling the ball and keeping Pequannock on its heels defensively. Junior Kate Murphy fought through a wall of defenders to drive a loose ball home and gave the Cougars the early lead with 33:48 to go in the first half.
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Pequannock's Natalie Valdiva and Kendall Machak scored the tying and go-ahead goals, respectively, later in the first half. The Cougars fired back with three minutes left before halftime when junior Jaclyn Leto scored off a corner kick from teammate Ellie Goepel, tying the game at 2.
Goaltender Morgan Maltby was superb in her effort to keep the Panthers off the board, making a total of 11 saves.
"I think she's doing a great job because she's just learning the position and she's embracing it," Blanchard said.
"If she sticks with it, she's going to be a great goalie one day."
Chatham, which drops to 1-2 on the season, will next face Parsippany Wednesday at home.
"We're doing a lot of things right, we just need to find the last piece of the puzzle and put the ball in the net," Blanchard said.
