The scoring
started at the thirty-third-minute mark as Elise Jones of MBBC put the
finishing touches on an indirect free kick from just outside the Northland box.
Four minutes later, Crusader’s Linda Edmondson deposited the ball in the back
of the Northland net, giving the home team a 2–0 lead going into halftime.
After
seventeen minutes of even soccer at the start of the second half, Maranatha’s
Elise Jones again capitalized on a Northland foul just outside the box, this
time scoring on a penalized hand ball. Miranda Smith then drew the Lady
Pioneers to within 2, finishing a shot off a rebound at the seventieth-minute mark.
That was as close as the Pioneers would get as the final eleven minutes of the
game went the way of the home team, with Carry Seiger coming off the bench and
scoring two goals in three minutes before Karis Rogers wrapped up the affair in
the eighty-sixth minute.
“With a couple of
calls resulting in free kicks twenty yards out and a defensive mistake, we were
down 3-0. That’s a tough way to start a game if you want to win,” remarked
Coach Casteel. “There were good things happening on the field, and the game was
definitely closer than the scoreboard indicated.”
The Pioneers
next game is their home opener against Mount Mary, October 14.