WALES — The Oak Hill girls soccer team had Lisbon on its heels the entire second half, but Greyhounds goalie Sarah Moore kept coming up with big save after big save.
In the end, however, the Raiders still managed to pull out a 2-1 victory Wednesday afternoon.
“They have a really skilled goalie, and we also made it easier on her at times by shot selection,” Oak Hill coach Jeremy Young said. “We began to be more creative, which we usually are having trouble with, but we should have blew it away today.
“At halftime, we just were talking about (how) if we we play our game, regardless of our opponent, we do what we want to do, generally. When we start thinking about who are opponent is … and letting them get in our head, we have trouble escaping that.”
Fortunately for the Raiders, they punched in a pair of goals in the first half because the Greyhounds were on the hunt.
Junior forward Gabby Chessie scored the Raiders’ first goal four minutes into the first half. Junior Drew Madison had the assist.
“We ended up realizing that we have to step out our game and not play to a lower level,” Chessie said. “We ended up being a little more tenacious . . . and our shots (still) didn’t fall at all.”
Fifteen minutes later, Oak Hill struck again with a goal from senior Anna Beach off an assist from senior Audrey Bauer.
“I think we did good,” Oak Hill senior sweeper Audrey Dillman said. “We definitely need to work on some things like intensity, coming out and playing the whole 80 minutes, but overall we did good overall as a team. We improved as the game went on.
“I think from last year compared to this year, we are really doing well on shooting — just the finishing part that got us.”
The Greyhounds cut into the deficit with 6:46 left in the first half when Sophie Maloy converted at feed from teammate Destiny Deschaines.
The Raiders spent the second half in front of Lisbon’s net, but Moore put on a spectacular display of goaltending, stopping shot after shot for the Greyhounds.
“I think Sarah always comes out and gives me 100 percent,” Lisbon coach R.J. Card said. “She is the backbone of this team. She really is.”
Card looks at the score and sees remarkable improvement in the Greyhounds.
“I think the team has worked really hard together over the last three or four weeks we have been together,” he said. “We didn’t have a preseason. We played these guys two weeks out on in our first game. We lost (5-0). We came out today and lost, but it was 2-1. The improvement is insane.
“I think given more time, this team — half of them are freshmen — given time next year we are going to be a force to be reckoned with — guaranteed.”
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