The Manual Lady Crimsons tied with Male’s Lady Bulldogs with a score of 1-1 Wednesday night at Manual Memorial Stadium.
Manual started out with possession of the ball and was able to keep offensive pressure on Male, all while maintaining a good defense.
About half way through the first half, Manual’s offense started to weaken and Male began to hold the offensive edge in the game.
Due to this, Male was able to get a goal in with 17 minutes left in the half. The ball slid past Manual’s goalkeeper, despite her efforts to stop it.
Manual’s offense and defense really strengthened after Male scored the goal, especially into the second half of the game.
“I think that we are doing really well this season, our team chemistry is very good right now,” said Jolene Ballard (#2, 11). “We could work on our consistency, sometimes we will play well in one half and bad in the other.”
Despite numerous efforts from Male to try to score in the second half, Manual’s goalkeeper and defenders prevented it.
Manual seemed to have trouble keeping possession of the ball in the second half, especially after throw-ins and free kicks.
“We could’ve done some things a little better, but I liked the effort they put in, especially in the second half,” said Manual Coach Sheri Kiser. “We came out and we weren’t gonna lose.”
Towards the end of the second half, Manuals Isabella Zamborini (#7, 12) scored a goal, making the score 1-1.
“In the second half, we were performing a lot quicker and better than the first half, but we still should’ve put more goals in the net,” said Adrienne Sato (#47, 10).
After Manual’s goal, both teams had a lot of motivation. Both Manual and Male were eager to score the game winning goal.
With seconds left in the game, both Manual and Male came very close to scoring goals but with each shot, the ball went just wide of the box on both sides.
The Lady Crimsons will face Dixie Heights at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Manual Memorial Stadium.
