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Lady Pats improve in losses  | Photo by Barry Burleson
Offensive push
Claire
Liddy (right) of Marshall controls the ball and moves toward the goal
for a shot versus Manchester Academy last week. At left is teammate
M.C. Hutchens. |
The Marshall Academy Lady Patriots dropped a pair of soccer games last week, but coach Lance McGregor saw plenty of improvement. Marshall-Immanuel MA hit the road to Columbus Tuesday, Aug. 24, and dropped a 6-1 decision to Immanuel. McGregor
said the defense started out giving up some easy shots. Immanuel
connected on three straight and four in the first 25 minutes of the
game. “The first 20 minutes of the second half we
played them about even and I felt we really outplayed them the last 20
minutes of the game,” he said. “They wound up outscoring us 2-1 for the
half, but we just missed a few opportunities.” Lauralee Fant scored Marshall’s only goal. He said three Lady Pats played their best games of the season – Lori Simpson, Claire Liddy and Reagan Elliott. “Others improved but those three stuck out,” McGregor said. “We outshot Immanuel seven to five in the second half and really started to control the flow of the game,” he said. Marshall-Manchester What a difference a week makes. On
August 17 Manchester had spanked Marshall 13-0. Last Thursday, on their
home field, the Lady Patriots kept it much closer – falling 5-1. “The
first half again was the story,” McGregor said. “We made three critical
mistakes on defense that led to three of their goals. The other two
were well placed passes and shots.” The Lady Patriots were down 5-0 at the halfway point. “That’s
when we decided to show up and play as we outscored them 1-0 in the
second to win our first half of the season,” he said. “Now we just have
to build on that and turn it into a win. “The first time we played them we did not even have a shot on goal. This time we had seven.” Marshall outshot Manchester six to three in the second half and McGregor said his team’s defense “looked amazing.” “The second half was just a lot of fun and had a lot of excitement,” he said. The
highlight was when Megan Anderson, back from an injury, passed the ball
ahead to Liddy, who crossed it over to Fant, who finished with the goal. A few moments later Fant created some space and made a pass to M.C. Hutchens, whose shot deflected off the goal. McGregor said Lane Cunningham and Reanne Stanley had their best games so far. “Really,
our whole defensive group is doing a super job,” he said. “We’ve gone
from giving up 27 shots on goal early in the year to only allowing
around 12.” He said Emma Elgin and Chrissy Farris are becoming really good defenders. “Really though, this is just a totally different team than the one that started the year,” McGregor said. The Lady Pats (0-6) visited Magnolia Heights Monday. They host Immanuel Thursday at 4 p.m. |
