The Patriots defeated the Waynflete Flyers 1-0 in overtime. This was their fourth win in their last five games for the Patriots. The Patriots controlled the game from the beginning to end. Some good goal keeping and a little bit of luck kept the score at 0-0 through regulation.
The Patriots were quickly on the attack when the game began. They had several opportunities to score early in the game, but were unable to get the ball past the Flyers’ defense and goalkeeper. One of the best shot attempts in the first half came on a play that began with Lydia Espling on defense. She got the ball near midfield, dribbled a little, saw an opening and shot it towards goal. it was a hard driven shot about four feet off the ground. Jordan Grant was in the path of the ball, stuck her foot up and nicked the ball to the direction of the shot. This looked like it was going to be a definite goal, but keeper Jesse Connors was able to adjust to the deflection and make the save.
The second half was similar to the first half. The Patriots controlled the game, passing the ball even better through the Flyers’ defense. Despite all the pressure and controlling the game, they still couldn’t find the back of the net. As the half continued, the Flyers were able to mount a few counter attacks of their own. One of which likely would have been a goal against most other teams. Devan Sherry broke through the Patriots’ defense for a one on one situation with Ivy Abrams in goal. Luckily for the Patriots stopping these situations is Ivy’s biggest strength. She came running off her goal line to intercept the attacker, Devan shot the ball right as Ivy was sliding to grab the ball. It deflected off of Ivy and the two collided. While the two were scrambling to get up, the Patriots defense recovered and cleared the ball away.
In the final few minutes of regulation, the Patriots went on a full out attack. They brought wave after wave of attacking pressure, taking several shots, but non were able to get by the keeper. The pressure continued into overtime. The Patriots quickly earned a corner kick. West Duffy sent a great ball into the box that looked like Jordan was destined to head into the goal like she has several times this season. That wasn’t the case though. One of the Flyers stuck her arm up as she was trying to get to the ball and hit the ball out of the air with her hand, earning the Patriots a penalty kick just forty seconds into overtime. Eliza Hotham stepped up to take the penalty kick and slotted it into the right side of the net.
The Patriots improve to 6-4 with the win, while the Flyers are now 2-7-2. The Patriots will look to win another when they travel to Traip Academy to take on the Rangers Monday October 7th. Varsity will play first at 3:30pm with JV following.