LISBON – Lisbon keeper Sam Purcell didn’t get many save opportunities Friday, but she came up with some clutch ones.
Not bad for a freshman.
Purcell’s play, along with a strong defensive game from the fullbacks in front of her, helped a first-half goal by Saige Purser stand up as the Lisbon Greyhounds defeated the Hall-Dale Bulldogs 1-0 in an MVC girls’ soccer match.
After a quiet first half, the Bulldog offense got rolling. Midway through the second half, Lyndsey Nyitray carried the ball into the corner to the right of the Lisbon goal. Her shot to the short side was initially stopped by Purcell (seven saves), but the ball squirted loose and came to rest on the crease. In from the wing came Michelle Severance for a follow-up bid, but Purcell quickly recovered to cover the ball.
“It slipped through,” said Purcell. “I needed to cover. I knew people were coming at me.”
A few minutes later, Amanda Ellis popped a high shot toward the goal that Purcell charged toward and plucked out of the air amid heavy traffic just as Bulldog forward Julia Nyitray collided with her.
“We’ve played 10 games this season and she’s been in goal for all of them,” said Lisbon coach Claude Rioux. “At the beginning of the season all she was missing was experience. Now she knows when to stay in and when to come out.”
Hall-Dale (4-5-1) was thwarted by the Lisbon (6-3-1) defense numerous times in the second half. On one opportunity, Hall-Dale’s Heather St. Pierre rushed up from her position of center halfback to blister a shot toward the net, but Lisbon’s Soleil Mathieu charged her and blocked the shot with her shins.
Fullbacks Siobhan Riordan and Vickery Rendall also came up with clutch defensive plays. Riordan had tight coverage on Julia Nyitray and didn’t allow the Bulldog forward many openings to the middle. Rendall used her strong leg to continually boom the ball out of harm’s way.
“Vickery’s my hero,” said Purcell. “She stops me sometimes from having heart attacks. She comes up and bangs it out of there.”
Purser’s goal came as the result of a flip throw-in by Ashley Mason. As Mason’s throw bounded into the crease area Purser battled a Bulldog defender for the ball as keeper Chelsey Dionne (13 saves) came out to play it. Purser got just enough of the ball to redirect it past Dionne.
“You have to play the ball before it bounces,” said Hall-Dale coach Guy Cousins of his keeper’s decision to come out.
The Greyhounds nearly made it 2-0 moments later when Mathieu fired a shot off a corner kick that Dionne stopped. A rebound shot by Colleen Weddle ricocheted hard off the cross bar and the ball was cleared by the Bulldogs defense.
Comments are no longer available on this story