Teams Trade Late Goals to Draw

From the outset, the game was very much back and forth. For periods of time, each team was able to hold possession and generate some probing attacks. Our Angels adopted a new system designed to break down the Crofton overload pressure. As the first half wore on, LFA began to turn the ball over more and more frequently to the pressure. The result was a number of Crofton short corners, which were well defended by our back line. Helena McGee '22 was her reliable self in net and Evelyn Lee '23 came up big in the central defender role. 

At half time, LFA adjusted their structure and moved Alicia Lung '23 into the midfield. The new look seemed to buoy LFA and if there was a slight edge in play through the first half to Crofton, it probably moved to slight edge in play to the Angels in the second half.  Some simply fantastic wide-side play by Charlie Kan '22 and Jo Fitch '23 payed real dividends as the half played on. A beautiful pass across the mouth of goal by Josie Strik '22 found Christina Do '24 charging for the open side. She was inches away from collecting her first goal at this level. Minutes later, a hard shot from Alicia forced the Crofton keeper into a good save, but the rebound popped out to Jo on the left side of the net, which again was missed by the smallest of margins. Then, off a lovely swing and counter attack, Georgia Clay '22 was sent in on a partial break-away only to have the Crofton defender swat the ball away on a desperate last-ditch tackle. As if feeling the momentum, our passes became a little crisper and more searching. We again broke down the right side and crossed into the D. A good hard shot on net produced a rebound in traffic, when Josie pounced to push the ball into the empty net. 

Up 1-0 with only five minutes to go, Crofton showed resilience. They pressed forward. Feeling the pressure of the moment, some hesitant passes ended up on Crofton sticks and we were under the weight of their urgency. Where marking had been a hallmark of our game, we seemed to lose the coverage when Crofton pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. A long pass into the D went uncontested and while Helena made a good first save, she was unlucky to have the rebound go straight back to the shooter. Her second attempt was off-speed and snuck in with only 30 seconds left. 

In the moments after the game, it was one of those ties that initially felt like a loss. That said, there is so much positive in the LFA game as this teams comes together with just a single returning player (from 2019) having ever participated at this level of hockey before. We will shine a light on that continued progress when we get our rematch against Crofton on Monday after school. Go Angels!