Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Strong second half powers Phil-mont
Phil-Mont Christian’s 4-1 victory over Chichester is a great example of how persistence on offense pays off.
Despite being down by a goal less than five minutes into the match, the Falcons scored an equalizer before halftime and went on to bag three more in the second stanza to win the match in dominating fashion. Most of the game was played in Chichester ’s half and after knocking on the door for a solid 45 minutes, the Phil-Mont attack broke through.
“It was a good game, but we started out really slow with heavy touch and not playing our game,” PhilMont coach Dave Askey said. “But then we started to settle down and get some better pass work. We have a lot of young players starting, but they are coming around.”
Before the Falcons could blink, they were down 1-0 on Alyssa Blair’s goal off of a corner kick. From that point on, however, PhilMont held the ball in the midfield and got forward when possible. As the first half progressed, the Falcons gained more and more possession and it seemed a goal was imminent.
After numerous missed shot attempts, the Falcons’ front line caught a break when Chichester’s goalkeeper mishit a clearance and the ball went right to Rebecca Hawkins. The Phil-Mont midfielder took one touch around a defender and shot the ball into the empty net to tie the game with five minutes left in the half.
The offense exploded after halftime. PhilMont’s Carly Johnson had a penalty kick stopped by the keeper, but that did not stop the Falcons’ momentum. Not too long after, Rebecca Hormann found a loose ball rolling across the six-yard-box and smashed it home to give her side a lead they would not relinquish.
“It’s true that we were rewarded for putting pressure on,” Askey said. “One thing that I liked was that we were never known for our ability in the air, but we started winning a lot of header which is good. The girls are working hard.”
Johnson made up for her missed PK with a free kick goal from just outside the 18 that got over the head of the keeper. The fourth and final goal belonged to Katie Siebert, who poked the ball home during a scrum in front of net.
Askley was most happy with him team’s ability to fight back after being down a goal early.
“It was good for us,” Askey said. “Sometimes when you have a young team and you give up a goal early you start to get down, so this is good for us to be forced into this situation and have to come back. I thought they played better and better as the game went along. It was important for them to realize they can do that.”