JV Cougars slay Trojans 5-1

Debra Jones assisted on two goals and scored two more to help the JV Cougars defeat the Gaithersburg Trojans 5-1 Thursday, 16 October 2008.

Much like their game on Monday, the lady Cougars were in control throughout the game maintaining a strong, unyielding defense and executing a relentless offensive attack. The difference in this game against the Trojans was their ability to finish and get the ball into the net.

Eight minutes into the game Debra Jones hit a shot from about 20 yards that the Trojan keeper could not handle and Abby Moran easily nailed the deflection home for the Cougars first score of the game. Abbys' movement away from the ball and her effort to attack to the far post resulted in the goal.

Julie Neveleff stole the ball at half field and threaded a beautiful pass forward to Debra Jones who faked out a couple Trojan players and slammed in a shot 15 minutes into the game for a 2-0 lead. Julies' heads up play and ability to see the field contributed to an awesome goal scoring effort.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the half, the Cougars scored two goals in less than a minute. The first goal came when Allie Solomon dribbled down the left side of the penalty area, made the Trojan keeper commit to her and then pushed a beautiful pass to Debra who sent it into the open goal. A minute later Debra sent a nice pass forward to Allie who smashed a 15 yarder into the corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.

All of these great scoring opportunities started with our defense. Grace Toohey, Maddie Crow, Hannah Minkoff and Michaela Peterson shut down the Trojans offense and did not allow any shot on goal in the first half. The defense played extremely well together, communicated effectively and initiated a number of counterattacks.

Sara Whiteis also had a wonderful game playing in the right midfield position. She controlled her side of the field and helped to maintain pressure on our offensive side of the field throughout the game.

The Cougars were amazing in the second half as well. The ladies focus and ability to control the game continued. There were just as many shots on goal as the first half, but unfortunately we were unable to score as freely. The Trojans had most of their players in the penalty area and it was very hard to get any direct shots on goal.

The Trojans did get a goal 5 minutes into the second half off of a direct kick rebound. Jessie was able to deflect the direct kick, but the ball bounced to a Trojan player who was able to slip the ball into the net. With 5 minutes remaining in the game, the Cougars were awarded a penalty kick. Kayla sent the PK into the net for our final score and a 5-1 victory.

"WOW," Coach Alison exclaimed after the game, "our girls really pulled together today and demonstrated that they are a formidable team. Everyone had an exceptional game today and really made positive contributions to our win. I thought Debra was on fire. She really helped us get into a positive rhythm early in the game."

Coach Alison stated that "we have two tough opponents coming up next and I think our girls are prepared to give them a good game. Our defense is getting tougher with each game and our offense is starting to produce positive results and finishing on more of our scoring opportunities. I am so excited to work with the girls and look forward to our game against Wootton this Saturday."