ONE POINT, NO GOALS FOR LADY FISHERMEN
Astoria dominated Rainier on Monday, but could not find the back of the net, settling for a scoreless draw against the Columbians.
The Lady Fishermen outshot the Columbians 19-6, had six corner kicks to none for the Columbians, earned a direct free kick just outside the Rainier penalty box and played the majority of the game on Rainier's side of the field. In soccer, you gotta score to win and Astoria has just one goal to show for the last month of games.
"A complete uninspiring game by our players," said a frustrated Astoria coach Jim Flint, whose team had easily beaten Rainier 3-0 in an earlier non-district meeting at Rainier. "I have to give credit to the coaches and the players for Rainier because they were first to the ball. They came to play. They had a lot of enthusiasm and actually frustrated our players all afternoon."
The 58 goals that Rainier has given up this season actually obscures the fact that they have a darn good goalkeeper in senior Megan Benson. The fearless fireplug showed no hesitation to come out and sacrifice her body to smother the ball near the edge of the box and that's exactly what she did in the 68th minute, when the Fishermen put on a strong run up the field, resulting in a Katie Beck shot. Benson dove at Beck's feet as the foot met the ball, with the resulting deflection going to Melissa Law. Law's shot at an open goal was deflected off the foot of freshman Kayla Nagunst, who flew in to make a game-saving play.
Benson later took the ball off the foot of Charlene Harber in the box to save another goal opportunity, recording nine saves in the match.
"We had multiple opportunities," said Flint, "and that's been the story of our whole season. That's why we're now 2-8-and-2 because we can't find the back of the net. We're either unlucky or we get opportunities and simply cannot finish.
"We had opportunities tonight and couldn't finish in any case."
Rainier may have only had six shots, but the Columbians also had great scoring opportunities. Nagunst put a shot past Astoria goalkeeper Bug Coggins in the first half that hit the left post squarely, rebounding right back to the keeper. In the second half, Coggins made a spectacular diving deflection of a Nagunst shot from the left flank. Sophomore Michelle Brownlow was in position to put away the rebound from five yards out, but got under the ball, sending a shot off the crossbar that ricocheted straight up, bounced again off the bar and came back into play in front of the goal. Coggins was able to clear the ball and end the threat preserving the tie on her end.
To make matters worse, in the final minute of play, junior midfielder Kristina Wilson went down with an apparent ankle injury. Wilson has been one of Astoria's few legitimate scoring threats this season with her well-placed corner kicks. Prior to the injury, Wilson took six kicks, placing four of them right in front of the Rainier goal, but Astoria could get head, nor foot, nor eyelash on the ball.
"She's been struggling all season since she injured her Achilles tendon when we played at R.A. Long," said Flint. "It's just something she's been working through and playing through."
With Seaside falling to Scappoose 1-0 on a first half penalty kick last night, Wednesday's league meeting between the two teams will probably eliminate the loser from playoff contention.
Astoria and Rainier both pick up a point in the standings, improving to 0-4-1 in district with the tie, while Seaside drops to the basement at 0-5, still looking for its first goal in district competition. Wednesday's game kicks off at 6:00 p.m. at the Warrenton Soccer Complex.
The Lady Fishermen outshot the Columbians 19-6, had six corner kicks to none for the Columbians, earned a direct free kick just outside the Rainier penalty box and played the majority of the game on Rainier's side of the field. In soccer, you gotta score to win and Astoria has just one goal to show for the last month of games.
"A complete uninspiring game by our players," said a frustrated Astoria coach Jim Flint, whose team had easily beaten Rainier 3-0 in an earlier non-district meeting at Rainier. "I have to give credit to the coaches and the players for Rainier because they were first to the ball. They came to play. They had a lot of enthusiasm and actually frustrated our players all afternoon."
The 58 goals that Rainier has given up this season actually obscures the fact that they have a darn good goalkeeper in senior Megan Benson. The fearless fireplug showed no hesitation to come out and sacrifice her body to smother the ball near the edge of the box and that's exactly what she did in the 68th minute, when the Fishermen put on a strong run up the field, resulting in a Katie Beck shot. Benson dove at Beck's feet as the foot met the ball, with the resulting deflection going to Melissa Law. Law's shot at an open goal was deflected off the foot of freshman Kayla Nagunst, who flew in to make a game-saving play.
Benson later took the ball off the foot of Charlene Harber in the box to save another goal opportunity, recording nine saves in the match.
"We had multiple opportunities," said Flint, "and that's been the story of our whole season. That's why we're now 2-8-and-2 because we can't find the back of the net. We're either unlucky or we get opportunities and simply cannot finish.
"We had opportunities tonight and couldn't finish in any case."
Rainier may have only had six shots, but the Columbians also had great scoring opportunities. Nagunst put a shot past Astoria goalkeeper Bug Coggins in the first half that hit the left post squarely, rebounding right back to the keeper. In the second half, Coggins made a spectacular diving deflection of a Nagunst shot from the left flank. Sophomore Michelle Brownlow was in position to put away the rebound from five yards out, but got under the ball, sending a shot off the crossbar that ricocheted straight up, bounced again off the bar and came back into play in front of the goal. Coggins was able to clear the ball and end the threat preserving the tie on her end.
To make matters worse, in the final minute of play, junior midfielder Kristina Wilson went down with an apparent ankle injury. Wilson has been one of Astoria's few legitimate scoring threats this season with her well-placed corner kicks. Prior to the injury, Wilson took six kicks, placing four of them right in front of the Rainier goal, but Astoria could get head, nor foot, nor eyelash on the ball.
"She's been struggling all season since she injured her Achilles tendon when we played at R.A. Long," said Flint. "It's just something she's been working through and playing through."
With Seaside falling to Scappoose 1-0 on a first half penalty kick last night, Wednesday's league meeting between the two teams will probably eliminate the loser from playoff contention.
Astoria and Rainier both pick up a point in the standings, improving to 0-4-1 in district with the tie, while Seaside drops to the basement at 0-5, still looking for its first goal in district competition. Wednesday's game kicks off at 6:00 p.m. at the Warrenton Soccer Complex.
posted by Matt Richert at 10:03 AM
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