The Patriots won their second game in a row when they traveled to Poland and defeated the Knights 3-0. On a wet, off and on rainy Saturday afternoon, the Patriots dominate this game from start to finish.
The play was a little back and forth at the start of the game due to the wet conditions. Both teams took some time adjusting to the pace of the ball on the wet grass. After the first few minutes, the Patriots began to control possession. They would constantly be in their offensive end, passing the ball around at ease. Nearly ten minutes into the game, Eliza Hotham had the ball about twenty yards into the Patriots’ defensive half. She made a turnover, then quickly recovered the ball back from the Knights. She then proceeded to dribble past her defender, up the left side of the field. Past two more, then cut into the middle of the field. When she was about five yards outside the eighteen yard line, she fired a shot at goal. The ball skipped off the wet grass and went under the diving keeper. This was Eliza’s first varsity goal in her four seasons on the team.
Another twenty minute passed before the Patriots would find the back of the net again. This time the play began with Sarah Fecteau forcing a turnover near midfield, sending a pass forward to Izzy Brindley as she cut through the defense, then Izzy sent a pass that threaded a needle to split the defense for Jordan Grant to run onto. Jordan took one touch to setup the ball then pulled the trigger from the edge of the box, sending a powerful curling shot that curved away from the keeper and found the side netting, just inside the far post.
The Patriots continued to attack when the second half began. They were constantly getting into the offensive end, but were just struggling to find the final ball to earn another goal. Just over ten minutes into the half Eliza made a long throw-in into the box, over the defense, that West Duffy was able to run onto and slip it passed the keeper for the third goal of the game. The Patriots had many more opportunities but were unable to find that fourth goal of the game.
With the win the Patriots improve to 2-1 on the season, while the Knights drop to 0-3. The Patriots will look to continue this recent form when they host the York Wildcats on Tuesday September 17th. JV will play first at 4:15pm and Varsity will follow with a 6:00pm kickoff.