by Stephanie Goldberg
It was Sunday, September 23, 2007, and the teams were starting to arrive at the Lehigh County Fields in
Allentown, PA. The wind was blowing and the sun was shining, as the U15 Grifos stepped onto the field to face one of their league rivals, the Lehigh Valley Golden Lions. This was expected to be a real grudge match, and every player would give all they got.
At kickoff, the play seemed to be even although the Lions started with the wind, and the Grifos had to overcome the force of the wind. Around the 3rd minute, a beautiful ball was sent into space, where Alyssa “Mini Me” Finelli ran onto it and beat a defender and sent a ball flying past the keeper. The Grifos were up one nothing but they weren’t satisfied with that.
The Grifos were still working hard, and there was a head to head battle when a foul occurred right around midway of the field. A free kick was awarded to the Grifos, and the ball was given to Kristin Hart, who launched the ball up the field, all the way over the goalie’s head and landed in perfect position for Taylor Milheim to finish the job. The score was now 2-0,
Perugia with the lead.
The Lions were still struggling, but they were hungry for a goal, a ball was sent by their team, and caught our defense off balance, and the team was able to score a goal against the Grifos’ goalie, Sara Beth, who was doing a fabulous job in goal. The score was now 2-1, with
Perugia still holding the lead.
With around 15 minutes left in the first half, both teams were working hard, and the Grifos were working there passing sequences. The ball was sent out wide to the right, where right midfielder, Brittany Dunay, picked it up, and was able to cross the ball past two defenders and right into the body of Stephanie Goldberg, who had an easy volley into the goal right past their keeper. Shortly after, another ball was sent out wide, and
Brittany again went for the cross, but the ball was picked up by the wind, and curved right by their keeper. Finally the whistle was blown for the half, with a score of 4-1, AC Perugia with the lead.
The start of the second half came quickly, each team psyched up by their respective coach and ready for another half of great soccer. Both teams were working hard, but the Grifos were able to get the ball to center, Taylor Milheim who blasted the ball right past the keeper and into the corner of the net. It was now 5-1 Grifos.
The Golden Lions were angered, and soon sent a through ball that got past the Grifo four, and was finished by one of the Golden Lions. The score was now 5-2, with
Perugia holding the lead.
The Grifos back four played a tight and organized game with Samy,
Kristin, Brittany , Jess and
Dee communicating and repelling calmly any Lion attacks, while midfield lead by Louie and Michelle controlled the middle and the flanks manned by Christiana,
Quantera, Brittany Dunay.
As another great half of soccer ended, the final score came out to be 5-2, the Grifos coming off with a big win.
Congratulations U15 Grifos! Great job, and also Happy Birthday Christiana Neilsen!
