By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– It came down to, in Amity’s 2-0 victory over Blanchet in 3A/2A/1A Special District 2 action on Tuesday afternoon, executing those opportunities that they created.
Both squads did create their opportunities, and for much of the game, those opportunities were just left at that: Just opportunities. And that was because of how well both defense’s played in the game on this day at Blanchet Catholic and the intensity that both of them played with. As a matter of fact, it was quite a physical game with how aggressive the two squads were to one another.
But it was a mental test. A good tune-up for the home stretch of the regular season, a good tune-up of the caliber of teams that they may both face going forward beyond the regular season and league playoffs when the brackets are announced
To rise to the occasion of the physicality of the game, to mentally stay with it and to set up and finish those chances given to you.
Amity struck first in the 55th minute. A corner-kick that turned into an Eliza Nisly goal that put the Warriors ahead, breaking the then 0-0 stalemate up to that point.
Blanchet had their chances.
Pressuring Kylie Wilson, the Cavaliers just kept challenging the Amity Goalkeeper working to keep them off the board. Wilson made a save in the 59th minute and another in the 72nd, while Blanchet had two free kick chances go off-target. Emma Northrop scored in the 70th minute to give Wilson some breathing room, but both Wilson and her Warrior teammates knew that the Cavs were just gonna keep coming.
“I was definitely thinking about, ‘not let them tie. Don’t let them tie’ the whole entire time. But once we got that second goal, I rolled back just a little bit,” said Wilson. “Our defense did amazing. They really stepped up compared to last time. They stepped up to the ball, and they didn’t let the ball through very much, so I didn’t have too many hard shots to block, I thought we did pretty good.”
And that’s what the game came down to. Just finishing those opportunities.
“With a quality team like this, when you have opportunities, you have to finish them. That’s what the difference was in the play: they did, they finished, and we didn’t,” said Cavs Head Coach Tina Pearson. “As far of the level, I thought it was pretty competitive on both sides. And aggressive play is what helps, especially with our young players. To get that experience of play at this level, it only gets us ready for Playoffs and gets us ready for State.”
Blanchet heads to play Gervais/Kennedy on Thursday while Amity is at Salem Academy on Thursday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
