Leopards Weather Firestone for Opening Day Victory 4-3

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Louisville 4, Firestone 3

Rachel Baughman scored a pair of goals in the second half to give the Lady Leopards the cushion they would need to survive a furious Firestone comeback.  Louisville won the opening game contest 4-3 at Louisville Leopards Stadium Monday evening.  Kayla Shankel and Lizz Stefanik also had goals for the Lady Leps.

Firestone took an early lead when Megan Zanin stole a pass inside the Leopards own penalty box.  Zanin then passed the ball over to Jayme Bryson who slipped it into the goal to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

Louisville struck back though with two goals of their own before the half ended.  The first Beatty's Sports Grey Louisville Athletics T-Shirtcame when Sarah Jaroszyk stole a pass away from a Falcon player and then propelled the ball off the same player and down to Shankel who was hustling towards the goal.  Shankel then snuck the ball in the small gap behind the goalie who had come up to make a play. 1-1.

After close calls near the goal were saved by Baughman and goalie Becca Springman in the penalty box, Louisville pursed their second goal on the offensive end.  Stefanik intercepted a Firestone pass, found an opening, and then got a kind bounce off the crossbar for the score.  Louisville would take their 2-1 lead into the half.

Stefanik also helped the Leopards build a cushion in the second half when she delivered a perfectly placed pass to Bachman in the penalty area.  Bachman dribbled to left from the charging goalie and then booted it home for the score.  Bachman would again score on a fast break a little over four minutes later to give the Lady Leps a 4-1 lead with 26:16 left to play.

Then the Falcons began to mount their comeback.  Meghan Oberlin assisted Reilly Dougherty  in her breakaway cross field goal with 17:47 left.  Then she scored again off of a deflection by fellow teammate Olivia Doria with 9:40 left in the contest to trim the Leopard lead to 4-3.

But Louisvilleā€™s defense held firm.  Great defensive plays by Springman who had 5 saves in the net, Jaroszyk, Jessica Hamsher, Sami KeefeKelly Miller, Cindy Skolosh, Sarah Wyss, and a host of others helped secure the Lady Leopards edge.  Time melted away and the 2012 Louisville Lady Leopards moved to 1-0 in the games that count!

LEOPARDS 4, FALCONS 3

Halftime: L, 2-1 Goals: (F) Bryson, (L) Shankel, (L) Stefanik, (L) Baughman, (L) Baughman, (F) Dougherty, (F) Dougherty Assists: N/A
Shots on Goal: L, 13-12. Corner Kicks: F, 7-2,Saves: F Cooke (6); L Springman (5)

UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will travel to Lake to take on the Blue Streaks on Wednesday, August 22.  JV starts at 5:00 PM and Varsity follows at 7:00 PM.  The Lady Leps are 1-7 against Lake all-time and lost the Streaks last year 11-0 on October 15, 2011.  Louisville has lost seven straight to Lake and hasn’t won at Lake since a 3-1 victory on October 11, 2004.  Here’s a look at the series:

Game Year Location W-L-T Louisville Lake
1 10/11/2004 Away W 3 1
2 9/10/2005 Home L 0 2
3 9/9/2006 Away L 3 5
4 9/8/2007 Home L 1 2
5 9/15/2008 Away L 1 4
6 9/28/2009 Home L 0 6
7 9/27/2010 Away L 1 3
8 10/15/2011 Home L 0 11

 

VARSITY PICTURES

JV Recap: Louisville 1, Firestone 1

Brooke Johnson Scores Game-Tying Goal with 18 Seconds Left

Brooke Johnson scored the game-tying goal with 18 seconds remaining to force a 1-1 tie with the Firestone Falcons in JV Girls Soccer action Monday at the Louisville Soccer Stadium.

JV PICTURES

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