SPORTS

Vikings’ last-minute goal forces tie with Lady Panthers

Freshman Chloe Thompson battles a Viking player for the ball. In a home game on Feb. 9, the Mill tied Northgate 2-2.

Jenna Sanders, Sports co-Editor
February 12, 2018

At their first game, the Lady Panthers defeated Carrollton 1-0. Last Friday, however, they met their match against the Northgate Vikings and tied 2-2.

“It’s just working on communication on the field, and off field making sure that were all positive and not negative about what happened,” senior captain Sara Biddle said.

The first half started with a defensive streak that lasted throughout the game. Northgate was able to make strong passes as the Mill struggled to chase the ball. The movement allowed the Vikings to score the first goal of the night in the 16th minute.

As sophomore Quin Nowicki entered the game, the Mill took over and dominated the ball. This allowed for junior Merritt Parker to score the first goal for Starr’s Mill. Parker dribbled into the box and as the keeper attempted to attack, she dribbled past and kicked the ball into the corner.

The Vikings had an attempt at goal in the 29th minute, but this made the Mill push harder and inspired freshman Chloe Thompson to score 40 seconds later. The last ten minutes of the half saw the Lady Panthers, once again, struggle for control of the ball. The half ended with Starr’s Mill maintaining a 2-1 lead.

“I think we need to work on communicating, because at the end we didn’t really know who was going to step off,” Nowicki said.

Coming out of halftime, both teams showed more aggression and Starr’s Mill managed more touches on the ball. However, Northgate managed to disrupt numerous Starr’s Mill passes and maintain possession in the attack zone.

As Northgate would run the ball down the field, Starr’s Mill would attempt to kick the ball out of bounds to slow them down. This approach resulted in many corner kicks and close shots all stopped by junior Abigail Weaver until the 35th minute where the Vikings finally hit a shot into the corner tying the game at 2-2.

“We played really well,” Biddle said. “They didn’t really have that many shots. It was jus they had two really lucky ones.”

The Lady Panthers will play next tomorrow at Riverdale for a varsity double header starting at 5:30 p.m.