Update – I’m back and I’ve got video, 8 min worth of action between Rolla and Nerinx Hall from the Quarterfinal match on Saturday. The outcome did not favor our Ozark Conference Champions but the Lady Bulldogs are holding their heads high as well they should. In the matchup against a team that is currently ranked either #1 or #2 in national polls (see the last two sites listed in the Links section) Rolla went after the Markers in the same straightforward fashion that has held them well all season.
The action started early as Rolla was able to get a throw in and then a corner kick in the first two minutes of the match, requiring the Markers GK to punch a ball out of the six yard box. The Markers possess a lot of team speed and they used it to their advantage, requiring Emily Moorkamp to make a couple of saves very soon afterwards. The game settled into a series of feints and thrusts with the Markers holding the advantage as the worked the ball across the width of the field and began what would become a familiar scene of diagonal through balls that a regularly changing core of forwards would run onto and attempt to wreak havoc in the Bulldogs defensive end. Of particular consequence were the throw-ins that Nerinx Hall was winning. Sophomores Christy End & Ashley Tapperson both have the ability to launch throws deep into the box using the flip technique and in the 15th minute, Christy’s throw had to be cleared out of the box. Freshman forward Julie King corraled the ball and sent in to senior Casey Kraft, the most dangerous of Nerinx’s many weapons. Casey’s shot was pushed out by Emily but Allison Dragues was able to run onto the ball and push it over the line before Emily was able to recover. The call was controversial but the referee was in the six yard box when he made the call and it was 1-0 Nerinx.
The second goal came in the 27th minute and was again set up by Casey Kraft when, after moving wide to collect a pass she reversed course and headed straight for the box. As the defense converged on her, she slipped a through ball toward the end line that junior Elaine Beck collected, turned toward goal and slotted a pass across the face of the goal. Emily didn’t have a chance as Mimi Pleban, jr midfielder, touched the ball into the net.
Nerinx continued to attack and the third goal came as a result of a corner kick, after Emily denied Erin Valenta on her shot from the right side. The corner was cleared by the Bulldog defense but stopper Carly Zurfluh came up for the loose ball and launched the ball goalward. It came down off the crossbar and as Rebecca Blum was pushing Brooke Schuppan to the ground in the scrum for the loose ball Brooke was able to push the ball into the far side of the goal. Nerinx Hall was now up 3-0 after 35 minutes and Coach Howard earned a yellow shortly afterwards for whatever thoughts he shared with the ref.
You never know if those things are motivational or the result of the competitive juices that are flowing but after seeing Rolla play four times this year they are a pretty focused group. They showed that when they came out strong in the 2nd half, earning an early corner kick and getting off their first shot of the match when Autumn McEachern put a header on goal, forcing the keeper to push the ball out. As we’d seen before however, Nerinx took Rolla’s corner kick and proceeded to send the ball down the field with three touches with jr Caitlin King running into the box unmarked at the end. Emily was prepared and threw herself at the ball to make the save while Calli Collier was able to deny Nerinx a shot on the rebound. Thus Rolla’s dominance of the first ten minutes was put to the test and Emily was forced to save another opportunity from Caitlin a few minutes later.
Rolla finally broke through in the 70th minute when following a handball outside the box by Caitlin, Autumn stepped up and put a ball on goal that the GK was unable to handle. Sophie Cox collected the ball on her run through the box and proceeded to turn on the ball and put it into the opposite end of the net. Four minutes later it was Autumn’s turn. Kate Spooner cleared a ball up the left side that Kelsey McFarland had to come back for to keep it from going out. She turned and as she has many times this season, found Autumn making the diagonal run into the left corner. Autumn was able to turn and get by the stopper, going into the box unmarked where she slotted the ball under the diving keeper’s outstretched body. Suddenly it was 3-2 and six minutes remaining.
Rolla continued to push forward and in the final minutes even Emily had come forward past the midfield line in an effort to earn the equalizer. The Nerinx Hall goalkeeper in fact had to make a final save and as she kicked it the final whistle sounded. It was a game that went quickly and featured two sides focused on earning their way to the Final Four. Nerinx, as they have many times this year, walked away with the victory and two more chances to defend their national ranking and capture the crown. Rolla comes away knowing how close they came and wondering what it might have been like if they had received a more favorable draw. With only one graduating senior we know this team will have another opportunity next year and after seeing the way they handled themselves in this match, Kickapoo and Glendale are going to be challenged to get beyond Districts yet again next year. Congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs. Enjoy the video folks!
Sunday’s note – I’ll have video highlights of the Rolla match late Monday. In the meantime the Post-Dispatch briefly mentions the match. We’ll see if I beat the Rolla Daily News getting something online. Congrats on the new online format, now if they only had a story…
