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ERSL
Cup Final
Cobras
U14 regional girls team falls to Seaway Valley in penalty
kicks
By
Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
After
40 minutes of play and nine penalty kicks, a goal post
was all that separated the Cumberland Cobras and Seaway
Valley in the girls U14 ERSL Cup final on Sunday.
Having
battled to a 3-3 draw in regulation, the game had to be
settled by the dreaded penalty kicks.
Seaway
Valley had the honour of shooting first and successfully
converted both attempts. The Cobras weren`t as fortunate,
missing on their second attempt after scoring on their
first shot.
The
pressure was now on Rhys Davies who was called up from
Cumberland`s Division 1 team to replace the Cobras regular
keeper.
Davies
coolly stopped Seaway`s third shooter and then scored
on the Cobras third attempt to tie the game. After both
keepers stopped the next two shots, the Seaway Valley
goalie beat Davies to set up the dramatic result.
The
Cobras did well to even force the game to penalty kicks.
They could have easily folded up like a cheap suit when
Seaway Valley took a 2-0 lead after Cumberland got called
for a hand ball in the box, but they battled back aided
by a hand ball call in the penalty area against Seaway.
Veronique
Landriault missed on her first attempt, but the Seaway
keeper was called for moving early giving, Landriault
a second chance which she drilled into the back of the
net.
The
Cobras tied the game eight minutes later on a bizarre
play in which the Seaway keeper reached up and grabbed
Sydney Switzer's shot, but her momentum carried her across
the goal line.
With
the score knotted up at two goals apiece, a revitalized
Cobras squad came out in the second half intent on scoring
the go ahead goal. They came close 10 minutes in, but
Madison Foley-O'Brien's shot from the right side curled
just past the far post.
The
speedy winger made several long runs during the game and
slowly wore down Seaway's right back. In the 18th minutes
she went shoulder to shoulder with the girl all the way
to the end line before crossing the ball to a waiting
Rachel McCallan who merely had to tap it in.
Two
minutes later Seaway's Melissa Gilligan made an excellent
turn on the ball inside the penalty box and fired a perfectly
placed shot high under the crossbar to even the score
at 3-3.
The
game remained tied through the rest of the half and into
injury time when Seaway Valley scored what appeared to
be the game winning goal. Fortunately for Cumberland and
unfortunately for Seaway, the play was whistled offside
much to the relief of the Cobras and their fans. Their
good fortune was short-lived, however, thanks to a goal
post.
Despite
the heartbreaking loss, Cobras head coach Marcel Chbat
was thrilled with his team's performance, especially in
how they responded to falling behind early.
"It's
a sign of their character. They fought back to tie the
game and we eventually took the lead. They showed the
type of resolve they've been building up throughout the
season. We just kept getting better and better,"
said Chbat. "Unfortunately the game went into penalty
kicks and you longer have your destiny in your own hands."
The
Cobras finished the regular season in fourth place which
is a major improvement over their seventh place finish
a year ago.
They
came into the ERSL Final on a high note, having knocked
off the regular season champions from West Ottawa in the
final of the "Kickin' in the Capital" tournament.
Ironically, Seaway Valley had beaten West Ottawa two weeks
previously in the ERSL Cup semi-finals. Those are the
only two games they lost all season.
(Posted
10:30 p.m., Sept. 18)
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