JV TEAMS FALL TO NORTH GWINNETT
Girl's Fall 2-0
Boy's Lose 2-1
March 5, 2012: On a cold and windy Monday evening the JV girls lost their first soccer game of the season against the North Gwinnett Bulldogs. The Lady Lions fought hard for 70 minutes with stretches of ball possession and fast breakaways by forwards Briana Bagnasco, Makeda Pyles and Alice Yoon. However, no matter what they tried, the lions could not get the ball in the back of the net. The Bulldogs were strong opponents ending the Lady Lions winning streak at 4-0.
The Lady Lions defense was tested repeatedly in the first half. Defenders Ashley Turner, Kayla Thomas, Erica Misener, Casey Mason and Breanna Watson played well tonight against a strong Bulldog offense. “Our defense continues to get better each week” said Coach Lisa York. “Defender Erica played one of her best games of the season---size does not matter when it comes to players like Misener” stated Lion Coach Lisa York. Goalkeeper Nichole Lane saw heavy action in the box after a very slow start to the season with only 2 shots on goal in the past 4 games. Lane blocked 4 shots on goal before suffering a direct kick to the face leaving her with a bloody nose and lip. Freshman goalkeeper Renita Patel entered the game with 10:48 minutes left in the first half due to Lane’s injury. The Lady Lions midfielders Samantha Stamey, Becca Owens, Katie Lane, and Taylor McMillan put pressure on the bulldogs and kept the team’s spirit alive leading into halftime. The bulldogs scored on the Lady Lions with less than 2 minutes to go in the first half.
In the second half, the Lady Lions came out strong putting pressure on the Bulldogs. Although there were more than 5 shots on goal in the second half, the Lady Lions were not able to score. The defense continued to play tough with goalkeeper Lane returning to the game for the entire second half. “Nichole played very aggressive tonight and showed leadership on the field” added Coach York.
The final score was 2-0 with the Bulldogs winning over the Lady Lions. The game was very aggressive and no doubt the most physical team the girls played thus far.
In the hotly contested JV Boy's match, the Lions lost 2-1 after taking the early lead. The fans were treated to a lot of action on a very cold, frigid evening.
The Lions started the first half with great ball movement but were not able to penetrate past the North Gwinnett defense. Then at 15 minutes in to the first half, the Lions got their first break when Lions forward Ceaser Adrianzen ran the ball deep into the North gwinnett territory and gave up the pass to Juanghyun Nam who displayed some dazzling foot work to beat North Gwinnett’s defenders and goal keeper to put the ball in the net giving the Lions the early lead at 1-0.
North Gwinnett stepped up and started making some plays of their own and got a few shots at Lions goal. Lion's keeper Nick Gagne was relentless in turning those shots at goal into saves. North Gwinnett got their first break when they were awarded a direct kick on a foul by lions with 9 minutes left in the first half. The North Gwinnett kicker was able to place the ball directly in the front of the goal and their forward came out of the huddle and was able to finish on a point blank shot - tieing the game 1-1.
Later in the half, Lion forward Ben Scott was able to get two shots at the goal with only a couple minutes to spare but the North Gwinnett keeper denied Lions the goal scoring opportunities. With the score tied 1-1 at half, the game was up for grabs. "Gagne did an excellent job, he had 8 saves in the first half and kept us in it," commented Lion Coach Tyler LaFleur.
The Lion defense and midfielders came back strong in the second half and played very well, winning the majority of the 50/50 balls a sparking the Lions in the second half.
Lions defender's Michael Flynn and Kevin Kang did an awesome job holding back North Gwinnett, while Sujay Kalathor, Giovani Rodriguez and Edgar Rico worked very hard in the middle of the field to earn multiple chances for the Lions.
Just as it looked like the Lions would capitalize on the effort they were putting in, the North Gwinnett left midfielder was crossing a ball into the box when it took a funny bounce off a couple of Lion players and ended up in the back of the net. "That was unfortunate," said Coach LaFleur, "our guys didn't deserve that type of goal given the level effort we were showing. I guess that's just soccer. Hopefully we will get one of those to go our way as the season progresses."
The lions bounced right back and with great a effort by Nam when North Gwinnett keeper aggressively stepped out and broke up the play but dropped the ball. The North Gwinnett defenders were able to guard the ball and saved the goal - robbing the Lions of an opportunity to tie the game with just 9 minutes to go. The Lions hung in tough for the reminder of the game and finished the game with a final score of 2-1.
The JV teams play again on Thursday, when the girls will take their lessons learned and play Collins Hill at 5:55 p.m. and the boy's will try to rebound in the later contest at 7:30 p.m.
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