SOLON — Eight goals combined, the lead swaying back and forth, and suspense until the last minute. Last Thursday night at the Solon High School Spartan Stadium had it all.
In a pivotal, early-season, women’s varsity soccer clash, the class 1A Solon Lady Spartans looked to keep their two game win streak alive, while the class 3A Iowa City Little Hawks were in search of their first victory of the season.
The result? A goal-scoring frenzy.
Whenever a goal was scored, you’d barely have any time to catch your breath before the ball found its way into the back of the opposing net. With neither team ever leading by more than one goal, tensions were about as high as they could get for all 80 minutes of play.
The tone of the match was set in the first six minutes. Iowa City High took the lead at 5:07 into the match. It took the Lady Spartans just 32 seconds to respond with a goal of their own, as freshman Kinley Mai followed through on a loose ball inside the box to even the score at 1-1.
The offensive onslaught continued throughout the first half. Senior Elena Swan grabbed the Spartan’s second with a close range shot that was next to impossible to save for the City High keeper. With the score tied 2-2, sophomore Laeni Hinkle intercepted a City High pass at midfield and outran the Little Hawks’ entire back line, slotting it past the keeper to regain the lead for the Lady Spartans 3-2.
The drama didn’t stop there.
Only 90 seconds into the second half, the Little Hawks drew things level again with a perfectly placed shot from inside the box into the bottom right corner. With the score now 3-3, each team had their focus set on finding a winner.
With 25 minutes remaining, the ball bounced loose inside the City High box after a miscommunication between the Little Hawks’ keeper and defenders. Taking notice of this, Solon freshman Ellie Durr sprang into action and kicked it right past the confused Little Hawk keeper and into the back of the net.
With a 4-3 lead, it was looking like Solon might be able to hold onto the win. City High, however, wasn’t ready to quit just yet. Only two minutes after Solon’s fourth goal, the Little Hawks were on the attack once more. A jaw-dropping shot from the top of the box from City High freshman Elsa Gray curled its way into the top right corner beyond the outstretched hands of keeper Gable Knight into the back of the net.
The score was level for the fifth time this match, now at 4-4.
With a few solid chances from both sides here and there, neither team was able to find a winner in the final 20 minutes. A few strong saves from Solon’s Knight kept City High from stealing a win late.
The final whistle blew, and everyone at the stadium could now catch their breath. With a final tally of 4-4, a draw was a rather fitting result. While both teams may have felt that they deserved to win, it was certain that neither team deserved to lose.
Lady Spartans’ head coach Amanda Paulson was optimistic following her team’s performance.
“We used our speed to our advantage,” said Paulson. “We did a good job of getting numbers up quickly in transition for a lot of support up top.”
Solon’s attack was lethal, continuing an impressive run of games. They’ve now scored 13 goals in their last three games. The spark that they get from their speed is scary for any opposing defense. Junior Sofia Ortega is a force to be reckoned with, as her ability to blow past defenders and fly down the wing to create chances was put on display against the Little Hawks.
Having given up four goals after not surrendering a single goal in their previous two games, Paulson mentioned some takeaways for her Lady Spartans to work at defensively as the season continues to get underway.
“The biggest thing we talked about after the game was transition,” said Paulson. “We need to be able to transition quickly when we lose the ball to slow down the other team’s attack.”
Before going back to her team, Coach Paulson gave her team major kudos.
“With a 1A school playing a 3A school, this result is good for us,” said Paulson. “The energy was there, the fight was there. It was a nice, physical game.”
The Lady Spartans have been on a roll as the season has continued to get underway. Their result against Iowa City High proves that this is a team that has the capability to compete with just about anybody.