Lady Leopards open season with a tie, Wolves too much for Leopards
Back in action on a cool, damp night, the Malvern Leopards and Lady Leopards soccer teams were at home in Claude Mann Stadium hosting the Lake Hamilton Wolves and Lady Wolves Friday.
For the Lady Leopards it was their first taste of action since the cancellation of the 2020 season. The Lady Leopards played hard and held the lead for over 26 minutes before allowing the Lady Wolves to score. The Lady Leopards went for a game winning shot with less than a minute remaining but the kick was blocked by the Lady Wolves goalie to end the game in a 1-1 tie.
Friday’s game was the second for the Leopards this season. The Leopards opened the 2021 season with a tie against Central Arkansas Christian. The Leopards struggled against the Wolves Friday night allowing three goals in the first half and two goals in the second half to fall 5-0.
The Leopards and Lady Leopards are back in action against Little Rock Southwest tonight at Claude Mann Stadium. The Lady Leopards take the field first at 5 p.m. and the Leopards follow at 7 p.m.
Lady Leopards 1, Lady Wolves 1
In the first game on Friday, both the Lady Leopards and Lady Wolves played tough defense. The Lady Wolves had scoring opportunities in the early part of the first half but missed or were blocked. Later in the half, the Lady Leopards started coming up with chances to score and did at the 13:56 mark. Malvern’s Jessica Cunningham was able to drive the ball past the Lake Hamilton goalie to score the first point of the game.
The Lady Leopards then held the lead through halftime and for almost 13 minutes of the second half. At the 27:10 mark the Lady Wolves made a goal to tie the game. Despite many opportunities throughout the next 27 minutes of the game, neither team was able to set up a game winning goal. With less than a minute remaining, the Lady Leopards were able to get in position to score, but the ball was blocked by the goalie.
Wolves 5, Leopards 0
The Leopards played hard against the Wolves in Friday’s game, but the Wolves proved to be too much. Only 2:12 had expired in the first half as the Wolves scored the opening goal of the game to take the lead 1-0. The Leopards then held the Wolves for the next 24 minutes, but the Wolves found a way to score at the 13:42 mark to extend their lead to 2-0. With 8:06 remaining in the first half, the Wolves made their third goal of the game to lead 3-0 over the Leopards.
In the second half, the Leopards productively held the Wolves to no points for over 32 minutes. The Wolves then scored their fourth goal at the 7:48 mark then came back with another goal at the 6:16 mark to lead 5-0. For the next six minutes, neither team was able to score and the Wolves came away victorious.