Surging Sporting Down Cat I |
Cataraqui I 1 vs Sporting 3
July 2, Cat 1 faced off against a surging Sporting team who hadn't lost since the second game of the season (against Cat). The Cataraqui guys come out strong with some excellent passing early in the game, narrowly missing on a number of opportunites. This excellent start didn't last long however as it seemed to motivate Sporting while lulling Cataraqui into a false sense of confidence. The result was a Sporting goal off of some sloppy play by the Cataraqui players.
The goal seemed to bring Cat back into the game and the two teams battled evenley for the remainder of the first half. About 30 minutes into the first half Steve Stutzman tied the game with a well struck volley that richochetted off of a Sporting player and into the net (I think it was going in anyway). Not long after that however Sporting capitalized on a nice give and go play (their bread-and-butter) which saw the final shot squeak past the outstretched arms of Cat keeper Alex Fletcher. The unfortunate thing about this goal is that it appeard Fletcher managed to recover and pin the ball on the goal line, but the linesman (who was well behind the play) saw it differently and claimed the ball crossed the line. This was a tough pill for Cat to swallow.
The second half was dominated by Cataraqui as they pressed to tie the game. Numerous strikes from multiple players were turned away by the Sporting keeper (who made some excellent saves). As Cat pressed for the tying goal Sporting was constantly just clearing the ball out and hoping to spring their forwards on the counter-attack. The Cat defense was up to the task until Sweeper Vardy misjudegd a ball which bounced over his head and onto the feet of the Sporting striker who was in alone on Fletcher. Alex made a valiant attempt to challenge the shooter but the Sporting player made no mistake placing the ball in the bottom corner of the net and putting the game out of reach for Cataraqui. Credit should be given to the Cat guys however as they pressed for the remainder of the game but were just unable to beat the Sporting keeper.
It was a dissapointing loss, but one that will teach us a lesson that we can't take any games for granted.
Disclaimer: Sorry if some details are inaccurate and for the lack of mentioning names, my memory is horrible.
Steve Vardy
Back