Girls Soccer Drops Heartbreaker to Morris Catholic

Leading Morris Catholic 2-0 with 21 minutes remaining at Madison High School on Monday, it looked like the Dodgers girls soccer team was primed for an enormous upset. But confusion around three set pieces left the Dodgers and head coach Kevin Lynott wondering, what could have been?

"That's an opportunity that we've thrown away," a frustrated Lynott said after a 3-2 loss to the Crusaders. "You get to make a statement against one of the best teams in the county and we let it slip through our fingers."

But from the start Madison looked strong showing loads of confidence, especially remarkable because they were facing the defending conference champions.

In the first half with Madison dominating the time of possession and playing a much more physical brand of soccer than its counterpart, Catherine Zimmerman–Madison's leading goal scorer this season–gave the Dodgers the lead as she drilled a shot past the Morris Catholic goaltender.

Madison continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the first half and into the second half, while also showing more finesse and awareness as it executed crosses and through passes, baffling the Morris Catholic defense.

"I said to the girls at halftime, this is the best that we've played," Lynott said.

In the beginning of the second half Madison added to its lead.

This time, they came down the field with an odd man rush that forced the Morris Catholic goalie out of net. With space open on the left side, Madison's Melissa Joubert perfectly placed a shot that went to the back of the net, putting Madison up 2-0.

With a two-goal lead and just over 20 minutes remaining, it looked like Madison was in good position for an upset.

But tentativeness with the ball and sloppy defense led to three determining set pieces for the Crusaders. Sloppy execution from the Dodgers on the set pieces allowed Morris Catholic opportunities to score.

"The disappointing thing is that it's conceded from a throw in, it's conceded from a corner and it's conceded from a free kick," Lynotts said. "That's the frustrating thing because there are breaks in play where you get an opportunity to organize and to get yourself set to defend properly, and we didn't."

Senior team leader Samantha Cicconi understands what mistakes the Dodgers made, but that doesn't make the loss any easier to accept.

"I think everyone just got a little tired," she said. "It's frustrating. I saw the win and then we just let it go on the set pieces. Second ball, we weren't getting there. It's so frustrating."

But even with a tough loss like the one they suffered Monday, Cicconi is ready to get back on the field.

"We're just going to bounce back and go against Hanover Park. We lost a bad one against them last year going into states, so we're just going to take our anger out on them," she said.

"(Morris Catholic is) a good side and they're always going to keep coming at you. But you've got to stand up to it if you can," Lynott said. "The biggest thing in these games and at this level is the mental concentration. Physically you get tired, as do all players, but mentally you've got to know what you do, you concentrate and very often that can see you through."

The Dodgers will look to rebound on Wednesday as they face Hanover Park at 4 p.m.