10/25 vs. John Carroll

On Saturday we travelled to John Carroll for a tough game that left us all feeling disheartened.

As we step onto the field for the first half the team had a great energy about them and within minutes we were set up with a corner kick. Claire Quinn placed the ball at the corner and hit it perfectly near post to Maura Fortino who was ready at the near post! Maura flicked the ball with her head past the keeper and into the goal! The girls were ecstatic as they took the lead. The energy stayed consistant through the first half as we fought for possession and to increase our lead. At the half we were up 1-0.

As the second half began both teams were struggling to gain the upper hand. We gave up a corner kick and John Carroll took advantage of their opportunity. The ball was played into the box where both teams fought to win the ball. As the box flooded with people the ball was kicked past our keeper tying up the game at 1s. For the rest of the half we went on the offensive and had countless opportunities to finish the game. Unfortunately however we were unable to sink our chance. At the end of regular time the game was still tied 1-1 so we went into overtime.

Going into overtime the girls came out fierce and created opportunities that we again were unable to capitalize on. After the first ten minutes the girls came off the field to recoop and prepare for the second overtime. We fought hard and both teams were exhausted as we tried to gain the upper hand. We held out strong until the last minute when their team played a ball over our backs heads. They tracked fast but were unable to stop the JCU forward as she placed the ball past our keeper and into the net. The game was over and a wave of defeat swept our team. We had many opportunities to put the game away but were unsuccessful in our attempts.

After the game however our parents were there to cheer the girls up and feed them with a wonderful meal! We thank you so much for all the effort and time you put into making our players feel at home and giving them a much needed emotional boost after a tough loss.

We have two days of hard work ahead of us in prepartation for our senior night Wednesday against Heidelberg. Kick off is at 4pm. Please come and cheer on your Crusaders and our one and only senior Jessica Cermelj! GO CRUSADERS!