Millbrook vs. Northfield Mt. Herman

Suffering from a good case of bus-itis (2 hour, fifteen minute ride to Williston) it's great to know that the lady Mustangs can recover from a flat, rather discombobulated first half to surge back, get their game heads on, and score two good goals to defeat a competent Northfield Mount Herman team. In the first half, Millbrook's play was sluggish, disjointed; we couldn't find any rhythm on the slick and bouncy turf field, a surface we are obviously not accustomed to. We did, however, have several good offensive opportunities, one coming from Alex Fresne who pounded the NHM goalie, but was denied. We had multiple free hits from the top of the circle, but couldn't produce. Offenisve and defensive corners were basically even. The half ended scoreless.

For the first ten minutes of the second half, NMH dominated but Millbrook's steady defense, lead by two goal line saves, one from Allie Ehrenreich, the other from Molly Chapman who deflected a dangerous cross that was clearly headed towards an umarked attacker ready to pounce, kept MIllbrook in the game. Throughout, goalie Morrison awed the fans with her aggressive pursuit of the ball. About fifteen minutes into the second half, things started to change. Junior newcomer Valentina Von Klencke's incredible speed at right wing gave us the offensive punch we needed. HIllary Kane took a penalty stroke, and although NMH's goalie guessed right and made a good save, the Mustangs were on fire. Molly Zimnoch made a fine defensive play, would not be denied, recovered the ball, centered it, touched by Kane then Anthony netted it. Goal for Anthony; assist Kane and Zimnoch. A few minutes later, Kane rebounded her own shot and scored Millbrook's second goal. But really what saved the game was the fact that the team started moving the ball, using back passes and other short smart passes to move through NMH's defense giving us a very strong finish.

Molly Chapman earned the game ball for her steady, intelligent play at left midfield. She was always in perfect position to attack or defend.