By Chris LaClair
Eagle Times Sports Editor
NEWPORT, NH — The physical battle between the Newport Tigers and Monadnock Huskies girls’ varsity soccer matchup Friday, Sept. 22, in Newport ended in a 1-1 tie after completing two 10-minute halves of overtime.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams pushing the limits of physical play with a lot of players hitting the ground after hard contact. Both teams had limited scoring opportunities as the defensive backs weren’t budging.
“It was a fast-paced half as both teams battled back and forth, up and down the pitch, as neither team gave up an inch,” said Newport Head Coach Garry McCall. “We had a few scoring chances early on but came up empty in the half.”
The second half started off with more of the same style of play with the whistle being blown often. A direct kick spotted from 30 yards out near the right sideline resulted in a beautiful goal from sophomore Brooklyn Ranney. She put it over the goalie’s reach to the left side of the net for a 1-0 Newport lead.
Monadnock would come back with a goal of their own with 10 minutes remaining to tie the game at 1-1 after the ball slipped past junior Skylar Nelson’s reach to the left corner of the goal.
The Huskies would get a great chance to take the lead with a penalty kick with 1 minute remaining in the game. With the game on the line, Nelson made a diving save to her right for a spectacular, big-time save.
“The score was 1-1 with less than a minute left and if I had missed the ball, I would have let myself down and felt that I would have let my team down,” said Skylar Nelson. “I know it isn’t just on me as it is a team effort, but with everyone on the sidelines and my team cheering me on, I felt good about it and just went for it.”
The game went into overtime with the fast pace continuing from both sides. Junior Tiger Cassie Sanborn had a break that was stopped just before she was able to get her shot off. Ranny would also have a few chances, but nothing was close to getting past the Huskie goaltender.
“Our defense was solid all day and we had some strong play from our midfield, as well as creating opportunities for our forwards,” McCall said. “It was a fun game as I thought our girls gave it everything they had on the day, and we will get back to it on Monday when we host Sunapee at 4:30 p.m.”
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