Two teams that are very stingy at giving up goals and score plenty of them squared off Saturday night at Northside soccer pitch in the finals of the Mechanicsburg Soccer Booster Club Tournament. The fans were treated to a tight, exciting contest.
The only goal came with just over three minutes left in the second overtime, and it propelled Mechanicsburg’s Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over the Trinity Shamrocks.
Ali Matisse popped a ball over Shamrock keeper Nicole Aponick, and the ball barely cleared the underside of the crossbar, setting off a raucous celebration on the Wildcats team. It was the fourth consecutive championship for the Wildcats in their own tournament and the third loss in overtime for the Shamrocks in the last four years of the tourney.
“Watching their keeper in warmups, we felt she struggled with high balls,” said Matisse. “It was amazing. The only thing I knew was that I had time to make a play. I just kind of played it to the goal, and fortunately it went in and found the back of the net.
“I am glad we won when we did and did not have to go into penalty kicks. Soccer is a crazy sport when you have to decide a game on penalty kicks.
“This team is so unselfish,” she said. “We have depth and a lot of good freshmen and good senior leadership, and each one of these girls has a good head on their shoulders. It is a great group of girls, and we are enjoying every minute of it. Even if we make a mistake, Nicki (Keiser) is back there. She is our brick wall.”
Trinity, coming off a 4-1 opening game victory over Susquehannock, entered the contest as the top-scoring team in the Sentinel area but ran into a very stingy Wildcat defense.
Each team managed only a few shots. There were only 11 in the contest, but the Wildcats had the one that counted most.
Trinity ( 12-1 overall) has its 12-game winning streak ended but actually had the better chances to win the game. Katie Lenz and Alicia Mirando each had a chance, but each launched a shot that rolled across the crease and past the far post.
Matisse had a good look in the early parts of the second half, but her shot rang off the crossbar and bounded past the offense and defense.
Mechancisburg’s defense, anchored by Jodi Zelenky and flanked by Kristin Fisher, Rose White and Emma Galinksi, bent a couple of times but never broke. Lenz and Mirando both flashed some speed to get around defenders and into a bit of open space, but the space closed quickly, and Fisher deflected at least one shot by Lenz. Ariel Arnold did a great job of backtracking to force Lenz to get rid of the ball.
Trinity threw a blanket on freshman Natalie Zelenky, and Maggie McLaughlin drew the task of keeping Zelenky in front of her and keeping her from turning with the ball. This tactic allowed Arnold and Matisse room to flow to the ball and see the field in front of them before ripping a shot at the net.
It was a good effort,” said Shamrock coach Terry Mull. “I wanted to see the game end in our favor, but Maggie McLaughlin did a nice job on Zelenky. I am very proud of our kids. The immediate reaction was disappointment but I think the kids will see the effort and respond to it the rest of the season.”
“That was a fun game,” said Wildcat coach Tony Lougee. “I thought our defense played great and Trinity kept working their tails off and coming at us. Our kids will adjust to what teams give us. If they wanted to take out Natalie, it opened up some room for Ari (Arnold) and Ali (Matisse) coming into the goal area. I thought we could get something playing wide and back in, but defensively they played very well too.”
Each of the teams in the tournament return to league action this week.
By Jeffrey Kauffman, Sentinel Reporter, April 25, 2010
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