The Lady Pioneers were able to find the net seven times as they soundly defeated Mt. Mary 7–0 today. It seemed as
if the Pioneers were in for a long day at the end of the first half. A team that Northland has defeated in the
past by large margins had held them to 0–0 after the first half of
play. “Our ladies had a difficult time
staying focused on the task at hand. We
would start the attack and, two to three passes later, it all fell apart over and
over again,” stated Coach Casteel.
But
the second half proved to be different.Coach Casteel said, “The second half our girls looked like an entirely
different team. “In the forty-seventh minute,
Kristy Maholic connected with Miranda Smith, allowing Smith to bury the first
goal of the day uncontested. This was
the spark that brought a fire that continued to burn for the remainder of the
match for the Pioneers. In the fifty-first
minute, freshmen Rebecca Newton was successful in placing the second goal on the
board. Again, in the fifty-third and
fifty-fifth minutes, the Smith/Maholic combination found the net with Smith
assisting Maholic and Maholic returning the favor. In the seventy-ninth minute, Smith completed
her second hat trick of the season, bringing the score to Pioneers 5 and Blue
Angels 0. At this point Maholic had
still not completed her day. In the eighty-first
and eight-fifth minutes, she brought the Pioneer total to seven on the day and three
due to her efforts. Casteel commented, “I
enjoyed watching the girls make a decision, as a team, to keep their focus and
to step it up.”
The Ladies
have a week to prepare for a long trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they will
take on Ohio Christian and Grace Bible on Saturday, September 25.