The Riders, back at cownie, prepared extremely well in the warm up and looked immediately dangerous with continued pressure and possession in the Winterset half. Still struggling to find a final cuttine pass, shots were limited to the edge of the box and most were comfortable for the Winterset number 1. Roosevelt was able to find passing lanes to the feet of number 9 Brynna Shaffer, but had little luck holding the ball up for players to run beyond. Celia Delury again impressed by receiving the ball short from goal kicks, driving and committing players before finding cutting passes to the feet of the Roosevelt midfield. Roosevelt conceded late in the first half to a well placed shot outside the box down low to the keepers left. Half way through the first half E saunders collected the ball from a winterset clearance and charged forward driving into the midfield. The freshman then found a perfectly weighted pass to another freshman Liv Hope who slipped Anna Gilbreath behind the back four to score the riders first goal of the season. 1-1.
At half time the call was to show more character and competitiveness and to use the adversity of losing Lin as motivation. Early in the second half Ellie Duong was connecting the dots with the ball really well opening and moving off it giving the Winterset players a real problem as she became increasingly harder to mark. With 15 minutes to go in the second half, Emma Lin picked up the ball around halfway and drove forward going by two players with ease. She went to strike the ball at full stretch but was blocked by a strong but fair tackle and stayed down. Later to find out she has a high ankle sprain and will likely miss the whole season. Devastated! The Riders continued to battle but missed the composure, quality and athleticism of Lin.
Extra time continued as the game ended with Winterset having more of the chances and Roosevelt again struggling to effectively utilize the space available in the final third. Into the second half of over time and a long range shot just got the better of Libby Israel in the goal and marked an otherwise perfect performance with her 10 needed saves. A tough way for the game to end. Roosevelt deserved more.
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