Bulldogs Blog from parent Chris Countey
Mother’s Day , May 9, 2010 (Scarsdale, NY) - It was high noon and clear, unseasonably cool and very windy, when the Bulldogs took on the Scarsdale Shooters. The teams were well matched but the game went to the Bulldogs 1-0. You could see from the first touch at kick-off, a nicely coordinated back pass from Lili to Isabella, that the Bulldogs were in good form. After some skirmishing, with Katya and Isabelle battling up the sidelines, the Bulldogs earned a corner. Isabella took it and shot a perfect ball across the net which unfortunately no one was able to get to for a goal. Lili had a couple of shots on goal after that, one on a break away that would have gone in except for an excellent save by the Shooters goalie. The Shooters answered back with a shot to the Bulldogs far post that looked good but, lucky for the Bulldogs, deflected out.
Nice passes were accomplished by both Katya and Jillian to Sara working the mid-field. Sarah at one point had an excellent run up the left side eluding defenders all the way and was able to launch a shot on goal shortly thereafter. Jillian had a shot on goal in the first half as well. Iliana and Noa kept the pot boiling in mid-field with terrific ball control and passing. Iliana combined with Katya on a follow up on a shot on goal that the Shooters had to clear away for another Bulldogs corner. Rorie played a super aggressive defense and broke up every attack that came her way. Louisa, Maya, Jolee, and Nia combined to form an impregnable defensive line that prevented any serious Shooter attempts for the remainder of the game. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were able to get their fair share of shots. Noa had a shot early in the second half. Isabella made a perfect pass up to Lili who scored the only goal of the game on that assist. The Shooters had a penalty kick that came in above the Bulldogs defenders but was neatly caught by Jillian. As the second half progressed the Bulldogs showed great ball control and passing and the shots kept coming. Iliana had a shot on goal, followed by Isabella, followed by Gabby, followed by Isabelle, followed by Lili. Nia was terrific in mid-field with accurate passing and great defensive work and helped make the shooting possible. Emily did a good job in mid-field also, distributing the ball well. Emma was spectacular today and took her game to the next level with fast attacks up the right side and one particularly well played cross to goal. Particularly noteworthy also was Jolee’s pass to switch the ball across to Sara on the open side of the field. Kudos to Isabella and Nya for nice defensive headers, always good to see our players using all the available soccer tools. In goal, Jillian had the wind at her back and made full use of it with long punts to the opposite end.
I would gladly toss in my tickets to Wembley Stadium any day I know I will be able to watch the Bulldogs play as they did last Sunday.
After the game, walking back from the conveniently located bathrooms by the tennis courts, a Shooters player called across the parking lot to Jillian to say “nice job”. I felt like she was speaking for her whole team to all the Bulldogs at that moment and was impressed by the sportsmanship demonstrated.
