The Lady Bears took on the Potsdam Sandstoners on their home field. Every year this matchup is a battle and this game didn’t disappoint. The weather conditions were not up to par and the Bears had to learn how to adjust to the weird skipping of the ball. With the Bears first home game in a while the Bears eager perform well for their community who were there to support.
In the first half the Bears worked well to control the ball and keep it in the Sandstoner half of the field. The Bears were faced yet again with adversity losing starting center midfielder and playmaker Quinn Woodward. The Bears have been on the go non stop and haven’t had a full team in about 2 weeks as girls have been out sick or injured. The Lady Bears haven’t let the adversity or tiredness stop them as they keep grinding everyday to keep looking to improve. With the return of Sophomore Emily Estrabrooks the Bears were hopeful for some more scoring opportunities to be created. With the combination of aggressiveness and determination, Junior Allison Kiah ran through a 50/50 ball which placed the ball at Emily Estabrooks feet allowing for her to dribble around the last Sandstoner defender and placing a perfect shot in the corner of the net. The Bears fought for the remainder of the first half and walked into halftime up 1-0 over the Sandstroner.
The Bears looked to keep up their instenty that was created in the first half. The Bears came out looking very tired and had many miss kicks that led to them struggling to possess the ball. The half backs and defense did a great job chipping the ball over the Sandstroner defense allowing for the forwards to have some good shots on net. The Sandstoners controlled the middle of the field and were able to capilozie when the Bears had a few missed communications back on defense and the halfbacks weren’t able to get back on time. The Sandstoners were able to slide a pass on the 6 yard line having a wide open shot on net. Regular time finished up and the score was 1-1, with the game headed to overtime.
The Bears knew they were going to have to work hard for another 20 minute. The score remained 1-1 at the end of the first overtime. The 2nd overtime provided many near chances for the Bears to seal the win. Potsdam scored on a direct kick with 6 minutes remaining in the game. The Bears fought hard for the remainder of the overtime but weren’t able to put one in.
The Bears look to keep improving and bring home a win on Thursday over the Norwood Norforks at home.
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