Good news from Conway Arkansas where the Branson Pirates were participating in the Wampus Cat Invitational. I’ll let Coach Brenner offer the play-by-play:
The Lady Pirates broke through in the second match of the inaugural season winning 3-1 over Van Buren, Arkansas. Playing in the opening round of the Wampus Cat Invitational in Conway, AR the Lady Pirates scored early and controlled play throughout the match. Neva Raschel, #13, scored her team-leading 4th goal 2 minutes into the match and then assisted on the eventual game winner 4 minutes later. Her cross in the 7th minute found Emily Joplin, #10, open in front of the goal and the senior captain made the most of the opportunity. That ended the first half scoring but not the dominate play. Coming out of half time the Pirates gave up a goal in the 44th minute after the defense allowed a Van Buren forward to stand in the area unmarked. That woke the Pirate offense and they moved the ball well feeding a ball through to Raschel in the 50th minute for the final tally. The Ladies have little time to celebrate with two matches tomorrow (vs host Conway and a team from Oklahoma). “I am very proud of these ladies, everyone had a part in this win and they continue to improve everyday.”
The second day of the Wampus Cat Invitational was not as kind to the Lady Pirates. Playing in the cold they fell to the host Conway 0-4 in their first match. The second match against PC North from Oklahoma was just as hard as the Lady Pirates lost 1-7. There were several bright spots in the young season as Kate Fulton slotted home a loose ball mid way through the second half against PC North to tally her second goal of the season. What we saw this weekend really will help us prepare to play the other COC big schools and gave us valuable insight into what it will take to be successful this season. Although the ladies were cold by the end of the day they were upbeat and came away with a new respect for themselves as soccer players. The future of Branson soccer is definitely brighter after these three matches.
