After a week of continuous rain, the Bruins’ girls soccer team was now focused on getting its second win of the season. But in order to accomplish its task, the team would have to defeat its archrival South County Friday night.
Unfortunately, the Stallions (3-2) outshot and outplayed Lake Braddock (1-4) for the majority of the 90-minute match and dealt the Bruins a home loss, 4-1.
With the game knotted up at one, South County was given a direct kick with 1:50 left in the first half after one of its players was fouled outside the 18-yard-box. Senior midfielder Summer Peterson stepped up and kicked an amazing 30-foot draw inside the far post to score what would prove to be the winning goal before halftime.
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Bruins goalkeeper Taylor Riley performed well in the first half, saving a handful of hard driven shots, but aggravated a nagging injury during her attempted save on Peterson’s goal. Sarah Davidow relieved Riley in the second half.
Lake Braddock Coach Adam Soos said it was unfortunate Riley had to come out of the game. He added that it has been tough for her to play at her usual high level because of injuries this season.
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“[Riley] was caught one or two steps in the wrong direction,” Soos said. “She has been battling through some injuries and it has hurt her in terms of her athleticism particularly for things she has to get off the ground for. Hopefully she will work herself into better health.”
The Bruins stepped it up in the second half and showed more enthusiasm taking the momentum away from the Stallions. Amanda So passed the ball perfectly upfield to her forwards near the box. But instead of taking one touch and shooting at opportune times, several Burins tried to dribble closer to the goal, which resulted in a loss of possession on several occasions.
Mary Doering scored the Bruins’ only goal on a high-sweeping strike from 20 yards out. She said the team must take its shots when the time is right.
“We tried really hard and they are a really good team,” Doering said. “We just have to work on connecting passes and finishing the shots we do have.”
The Stallions played the majority of the game in a 3-4-3 formation, forcing Lake Braddock defenders to lob the ball high over midfield. However, the Bruins took to short give-and-go passes and were stymied by the dominant play of South County’s midfielders as they bottled up the Bruin attackers and intercepted the ball.
Still, the Lake Braddock defense held its own for the most part as So led the backfield with aggressive tackling and shut down several Stallion shots before they could reach the keeper.
“Overall they had some lucky chances and we had some chances too but we didn’t bury them,” So said. “We will look forward and have plenty of district matches to show ourselves and compete better.”
South County would go on to score twice in the half and defeat its rival by three.
“The most important thing is to assess where we are individually and collectively and you try and figure out which phases of the game need the most work,” Soos said. “You have to be committed as a group to getting everything done the right way. If you do that, progress is going to come.”
Lake Braddock plays at Annandale on April 5 at 7 p.m.
