Announcement
What an improvement. The first meeting against Gladwin served as a foreboding omen of things to come. However, under the watchful eye and tactical adjustments of Coach Z, the trend of weekly improvement was highlighted no better than in Thursday's rematch.
Intricate passing and unselfish movement of the ball kept Gladwin off-balance much of the first half. Clare scored first on a picture-perfect finish to the side netting by Miranda "Mir" Smith. Gladwin's scoring leader leveled the match at one apiece minutes later with a hard driven shot that Liz Fancon got a hand on and almost stopped. The first half ended tied 1-1.
The second half was similar to the first. We had some good looks at the goal and nearly pulled off the upset. "Mir" nearly had a second goal when she broke clear of the defense and went one-on-one with Gladwin's goalie. Kelly Staten came inches from a goal when she struck a great ball from distance. Allison Britting nearly had a goal or two. Katie Eberhart was great at distributing the ball through the midfield and changing the point of attack. The back line was a well-oiled machine, moving in unison. It was the same Gladwin player who scored two more goals to lead her team to the 3-1 win; she is a quality player, no doubt.
And as I am prone to do, I dedicate some time to the goalkeeper. Liz did an excellent job. She controlled her penalty area. She made some excellent parrying saves. There was one shot she saved and smothered on the line. Her distributions from saves and goalkicks were smart. She was vocal and helped her team. She has a great future in front of her.
Some of the Gladwin girls were very complimentary about the improvement since the first meeting. You should all be very proud of how you have responded to the season's challenges. The family is strong.
