On another cold night for soccer, the Elizabethtown Lady Panthers leaped into to South Oldham Stadium early for their game, eager to show the tradition rich Lady Dragons that they did not intend to go home losers this night. The final score had SOHS winning 2-0 to advance to the Section 4 final, but E-Town played tough, earning the respect of the Dragons and are anything but losers as their program is definitely on the upswing.
The Lady Panthers fired the first shot, a slow roller picked up in the box by senior goalie Anna Simpson just 1:15 in and the battle was under way. South answered a couple of minutes later when super soph Stephanie Hay booted a nice cross that Jennifer Wilson attempted to "head" in only to miss wide right.
With 35:53 in the half, Jennifer Sibert advanced a long pass just in front of a charging Lauren Wilson who "nailed" her shot into the left side of the goal for a 1-0 lead. Lauren was fouled about 3 minutes later earning South a free-kick which Cobb tapped to Sibert who's shot was deflected by the E-Town wall.
Elizabethtown had some nice threats starting with a run down the right side at 31:20 but went too deep and the shot went wide right. The Panthers made another deep run a minute later, but goalie Anna Simpson sprinted to the ball to negate the attempt. Sophomore Katie Moore ran down and stopped another advance into Dragon territory with 27:13 left in the half.
South came back with a low Sibert corner kick at 22:20, but it was eventually cleared. Another free-kick for the Dragons missed high when Sibert tapped to Cobb who shot over the wall, and over the goal. Lauren Wilson fired a "rocket" of a shot with 11:47 left, but the E-Town goalie made a great stop. Beth Morris passed to an open Jennifer Sibert who missed wide right at 9:17 and Lauren Wilson missed high after receiving a pass from Sibert at 6:20. SOHS just couldn't find the net despite several good chances as Hay missed high off a pass from Katie Moore, Jennifer Wilson missed high off a pass from Ally Tucker and Emily Cobb just missed getting her head on a corner with 2:20 left in the half which ended with South Oldham up 1-0.
Elizabethtown got a corner early in the second half but failed to score and had a free-kick attempt with 36 minutes left that was eventually cleared by Cobber. Sibert took a free kick at 32:30 which was headed by Stephanie Hay then picked up by Lauren Wilson who fired missing wide left.
There was some good goalie play on both ends in this game evidenced by plays like the one at 29:42 when E-Town fired a bullett off a throw in, but Simpson positioned to make the catch. Simpson was under fire again as E-Town blasted a free kick which she chased down to deflect in front of her then pick up to end the threat. The Panther goalie likewise made a great stop when Emily Cobb slapped a shot on goal off a throw in with 26:55 left in the half.
Perhaps the Lady Panthers biggest threat came with 23 minutes left when they took a free-kick that bounced off the right post and was picked up for another shot that missed high. South Oldham came back a minute and a half later with a pretty play during which Lauren Wilson made a great cross to Stephanie Hay who kicked it back towards Sibert who managed to reach out with her right foot and tip it in past the unsuspecting goalie for a 2-0 lead.
The Dragons had several more scoring opportunities with Lauren Wilson missing high at 20:43, Sibert cheating Hay out of an assist missing wide right at 17:41, Lauren cheating Hay out of an assist missing wide right at 11:00, and the Panther goalie making another save as Cobb fired a shot on goal with 5:52 left.
Despite outshooting the Lady Panthers 15-3, SOHS only netted two goals making the storyline another strong effort by the Dragon defense who earned yet another shutout with Simpson in goal. Michelle Huber put in a fine effort on this night, not only reversing play, but starting some runs when she cleared her mark. The terrific trio of Hagan, Moore, and Nivens were solid again and Coach Tucker again took advantage of his deep bench getting nice efforts from Shana Bertetto, Beth Morris, Missy Rabold, Andrea Schott, Ally Tucker, and Claire Workinger.
