|
Lady Canners Soccer Team Wins Messiah College Tourney |
|
Feb 23, 2010 at 08:51 PM |
Canners Win High School Indoor Soccer Tournament Championship
The Lady Canners Girl’s Soccer team won the championship match by defeating Boiling Springs 2-1 in the 9th Annual Messiah College’s Girl’s High School Indoor Soccer Tournament (Friday Night Event Bracket) on February 19, 2010.
With the Lady Canners already down 1-0 in the championship match, a Lady Bubbler player hit the crossbar with a blistering shot. However, the B-ville girls quickly counterattacked and Ann Dolly scored within a minute later to tie the match. With about five minutes left in the championship game, Shelby Grubesky scored the game winning goal off a beautiful cross by Steph Crouse after Steph received a quick pass from Amanda Bailey. Shelby’s strike went just under the crossbar and over the outstretched hands of the Boiling Springs keeper. The Lady Canners played tough defense the rest of the match and Heather Wilkinson made several important saves to preserve the win.
The Biglerville girls had advanced through the round robin tournament by winning four preliminary round matches, including an earlier match-up with the Lady Bubblers, without conceding a goal.
The Lady Canner’s played very good team defense that was led by senior Holly Wilkinson and junior Beth Belcher. Sophomore goalkeeper Heather Wilkinson recorded three shutouts and Kayla Fouchie was in goal for a clean sheet in the first match against Boiling Springs. According to Biglerville Head Coach Les Heggan, “I was impressed with the defense and the efforts put in by Heather and Kayla in goal and Beth, Holly, Jessica, and Steph at the defender positions. Since the ladies only gave up one goal that was an outstanding effort on their part.”
The Lady Canners had goals scored by eight different players, including three by Ann Dolly and two each by Jessica Allen and Emma Walde. Amanda Bailey, Kayla Fouchie, Ivy Gantz, Shelby Grubesky and Tayler Serro also scored key goals in the tournament. Coach Heggan told the team that he liked their movement off the ball, the passing combinations and excellent teamwork that led to our scoring opportunities.
The Lady Canner midfielders led by Michaela Bailey played an important role supporting the Lady Canner attack and in overall defending in the very competitive 8 v. 8 tournament environment. Coach Heggan also said that he was very pleased with the midfield play of freshmen Gina Aguirre, Kelsey Crum, and Samantha Orner.
Assistant Coach Danielle Cramer added, “I was very impressed by the level of play from all the players 9th through 12th who participated. Everyone had a hand in the play and did quite well. There were some preseason mistakes, but the team quickly solved the problems and made corrections. I believe the coaching staff was able to get a great idea for what to expect from this very talented group this year. Many of the girls played in different positions and did well in each. I'm very excited to see what happens in regular season this year.”
The Biglerville girls received a morale boost when injured striker Kelsey Showers stopped by to cheer the team on. In an attempt to encourage Kelsey during her rehab, Messiah College’s three-time NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer National Championship team gave Kelsey a 2009 NCAA championship t-shirt signed by the Lady Falcon players.
The Lady Canners also supported a community service project sponsored by the Messiah Women’s Soccer Team. According to an e-mail from their team, they were “collecting old soccer gear to send over to a missionary couple in Mali, Africa. One of the main outreaches this couple has to the people of Mali is soccer. The children of this country play soccer without any cleats or soccer apparel.” The Biglerville players and coaching staff donated cleats, shin guards, goalie gloves, balls, socks, and soccer related T-shirts, including four boxes of gear provided by Coach Heggan and his boy’s team from New Jersey.
Coach Scott Frey, head coach of Messiah College’s 2005, 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer National Championship teams commented to all of the high school teams participating in this year’s event, there was “some really good play to watch and I am excited for all of you as you look forward to starting your season in two weeks…”
Submitted by JV Coach Rudy Grubesky
###
|
Girls' Soccer 
