On Friday night the Bears travelled to SUNY Canton to face the Salmon River Shamrocks. The Bears were eager to play after seeing many glimpses of their A game against OFA the night before. The energy during warm-ups was unmatched and extremely contagious. The Bears knew it was going to be a long 80 minutes, but they were prepared to battle.
To start the first half, the Bears were communicating, listening and fighting to get one in early on. There were seconds of the Bears A-game but there were still areas that needed work and demonstrated the teams “B-game”. A majority of the action was on the sidelines of the field, with passes from center mids Quinn Woodward, Haley Stevenson and Ally Kiah to outside halfbacks Allison Shorette, Gabby Taylor , Hadley Alguire , and Camryn Sipher which allowed for many opportunities to score. With about 10 minutes left in the second half, the Shamrocks put the ball inside the 18 and while attempting to get the ball out, Canton cleared the ball off of a Salmon River player and it ricocheted back into the net. The Bears never let up and fought hard for the remaining 10 minutes of the first half. The Bears walked into half time down 1-0.
During half-time Coach Kiah stressed the importance of running their opponents legs off. The Bears knew they needed to start off strong and possess the ball. They were outshooting, and dominating the first half and just needed to put one in the back of the net.
The second-half started out well for the Bears as they scored just 5 minutes in. With aggressiveness from center mid Quinn Woodward, and determination from forward Emily “Estabon” Estabrooks, the Bears were able to sneak one in past the Salmon River goalie putting the score at 1-1. The Bears possessed the ball and kept the Shamrocks out of their half of the field. WIth a minimum of 15 shots on net within the first 20 minutes of the second half. The Bears were blasting shots at the net, and a Salmon River defender got called for a handball inside of the box which led to Canton taking their first penalty kick of the season. Center Half Quinn Woodward took the beautiful kick and placed it in the top right corner of the net. The Bears proceeded to see many glimpses of their A game as they controlled the field and center mid Amelia Rodee directed the teams east to west movement to allow for more opportunities to present themselves. With another Salmon River handball, the Bears took their second penalty kick of the season. Sweeper Megan Martin blasted the kick and it hit the goal post just inches away from the net. The Bears continued to play with intensity for the remainder of the game and ended with a 2-1 victory over the Salmon River Shamrocks
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