AUBURN – The result was no surprise to Tom Grossman. Instead, it was deja vu all over again.
Despite a disparity in win-loss records, Oxford Hills and Edward Little battled each other for 90 minutes and came away with a 1-1 tie in a KVAC girls’ soccer match Tuesday.
“Over the last three years it’s always been an evenly matched game,” said the Red Eddies coach. “They play us tough.”
The Red Eddies left the field with a 7-3-1 record while the Vikings are now 3-5-3, but there wasn’t much of a difference in the two between the lines.
“It’s high school soccer,” said Grossman. “You control for 10 minutes and then you’re dead for 10 minutes. We’ve been stressing to the kids they have to play the full 80 minutes. If you can get your team to play hard for the full 80, you’ll win some games.”
The teams traded scores in the first half, with the Red Eddies breaking the ice.
Halfback Alice Read hopped through an opening with the ball near midfield and sent a through ball ahead to Lyndsey St. Hilaire. The senior forward passed the ball to Katelyn St. Hilaire at the top of the 18, who then fired a shot into the open net. Viking keeper Samantha Rivers (10 saves) never had a chance.
Edward Little rode a momentum wave for the next six minutes before a Viking scoring chance came out of nowhere in the closing minutes of the half.
Forward Jill Rich outraced a defender to the corner for a loose ball. She then fired a crossing pass to an open spot in the crease area. With both Viking forward Whitney Linindoll and EL keeper Brittney French closing on the ball, Linindoll muscled a shot toward the goal. French partially blocked it, but Linindoll got to the rebound and escorted the ball into the net.
“The goalie was coming out,” said Linindoll. “I knocked it with my left foot and then pushed it in with my hip. It took a funny bounce and I wanted to follow it in.”
The teams frustrated each other throughout the second half and overtime sessions, with neither squad getting much of an advantage.
The best scoring chance perhaps belonged to the visitors. With 13:10 left in regulation, Oxford Hills midfielder Caitlin Stauder came up and blasted a shot on goal from the top of the 18. The ball was heading just inside the right post before a leaping French deflected the shot wide with an outstretched hand.
“She finally got off her feet,” said Grossman. “We’ve been working on that with her. That was a huge save. I thought that was going in.”
“Today I felt we got the better of the play,” said Oxford Hills coach Kyle Morey. “Our will to win is getting better. We’re playing tougher and fell just a little short today.”
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