Eagles blank Wolves

By Andrew Soong, September 19th, 2012

The JP1 Bantam girls Eagles shutout the LCCHS Wolves 2-0 in GMAA soccer action at Riverside Park in LaSalle Thursday.
“We played well and the dominated our first game,” said Wolves' forward Ida Coppola about her team's opening match of the season. “We know our limits and we knew how to control the ball on the soccer field.”
Both teams were deadlocked and ended the opening half scoreless. The Eagles' dominance, at times deep in the Wolves crease, was unable to break the home team's solid defense. The Wolves maintained pressure on the visiting team, but seemed to fall short in their attempts into the Eagles' red zone.
“Our defence is ready, but they still have to get the ball to the forwards to score,” said Wolves head coach Marie-Josee Gibeau her team's home opener. “The first half was great and it looked we were heading for a tie.”
The Eagles screamed into the second half opening with a point by Vanessa Diadelfo setting the pace for the Eagles dominance of the pitch. The Wolves remained undaunted stopping further attempts by the Eagles into to their crease, but were still not able to take the ball into striking range of the visiting team's net. Gibeau conceded “we lost concentration and they took advantage.”
“We should have communicated more in the first half and we weren't always first on the ball,” said Coppola about the opening half of the game. “However, we stayed together in the second half and communicated more with passes in the second.”
Both teams continued their struggle into the closing minutes of the afternoon match-up, but the Wolves seemed to waiver under the weight of the Eagles lead and renewed push. It was only in the final minutes the Eagles were able to break through the Wolves' defence with a final point by Coppola securing a 2-0 lead and final score. Despite the loss Gibeau asserted that “there were lots of positive things that we will build on for the coming games.”