Victory whisked away from the Geoducks
Evergreen returned home hoping to bounce back from their two league defeats last weekend with a win against the Northwest Eagles.
The matched started with both teams struggling to find any rhythm to their play. Evergreen found themselves losing the ball easily in the midfield and the Eagles could not put together any meaningful attack on Evergreen’s goal.
The Eagles blasted a shot from long range, which bounced off the cross bar, shocking the fans and players because it was completely out of the blue. That was the closest the Eagles came to scoring in the first half.
After that effort on goal, the Eagles maintained a firm control of the match, holding onto the ball while Evergreen was forced onto their heels. The Evergreen defense remained strong, doing just enough to keep the Eagles from taking the lead.
Evergreen’s defense held their own, but the Geoducks couldn’t put together a successful attack towards goal. Any attempts made going forward were usually put to an end by a poor pass or by the effective Eagles' defense who were just as determined to keep a clean sheet.
A few moves forward did result in a shot at goal, but unfortunately the shots were right at the Eagles' goalkeeper who didn’t have to do much to make the save.
With the first half coming to a close, the Evergreen goalkeeper almost gifted the Eagles with a goal. A cross came in that she took well, but upon catching it she started to lose control of the ball, which popped out of her hands, almost bouncing into the goal. Luckily, she recovered well and saved the embarrassment of conceding the opponents' goal.
The first half ended with the scoring line at 0-0. Both teams were evenly matched; Evergreen’s defense kept the Eagles from taking the lead, and the Eagles did not find any openings in the Evergreen’s defense.
When play resumed it was not much different from the first half. The Geoducks' defense remained well organized, but the Eagles were gaining momentum with each attack.
Evergreen's goalkeeper almost gave the Eagles the lead when she fumbled another cross, but, like the first time, she regained possession and keep the ball out.
After almost giving up the lead, the Geoducks took the lead. The goal resulted from a free kick delivered in by #8 Briana Speed, which was easily cleared, but ended up right back in Evergreen’s possession. The ball swung back to the left side and Speed crossed it again, finding an unmarked #17 Anastasia Daniels who headed past the Eagles' Goalkeeper.
With 14 minutes left, Evergreen simply had to keep the Eagles from scoring and they would collect their first conference victory.
Each Eagles attempt to equalize was stubbornly brushed aside and Evergreen's confidence grew as the minutes slowly passed. With each failed attempt to tie the match, the Eagles were becoming more and more frustrated with their inability to crack Evergreen’s defense.
Yet, with 1:44 shown on the game clock, Evergreen’s defense buckled. The Eagles finally broke down the Evergreen’s back line and grabbed the equalizer to force extra time.
Extra time, in which the first to score would win, was no different from how regular time ended. Evergreen was still devastated that they had conceded a goal with 104 seconds left, and the Eagles went on the offensive in extra time.
Evergreen found themselves on their heels again and were forced to deal with endless pressure being applied by the Eagles. The pressure the Eagles put on the Geoducks finally paid off in extra time as the scored the winning goal with 2:17 minutes left in the first half of extra time.
The loss was harsh for Evergreen, who defended very well from the Eagles onslaught and took the lead through patient play. In the final minutes they displayed coolness under pressure, but were ultimately unlucky to let the Eagles level the score.