ELDRED – On Thursday afternoon at Eldred High School, an exciting girls’ soccer game took place between the home team,  Yellowjackets, and the visiting Sullivan West Bulldogs. Eldred came away with a 2-1 win in a closely contested match. 

The game was physical and spirited. Both squads, did their schools proud by their efforts. Most of the first half was played in the mid-field with the girls battling for possession. When either team was able to break away, they were met by excellent goal keeping making scoring hard to come by. Eldred’s Victoria Ryman scored the first goal,  bouncing the ball off her shoulder and into the net following a corner kick.  Sullivan West’s first goal was scored off a mini rush by Jocelyn Doyle, who was able to get her shot beyond Eldred’s goalkeeper. 

At the half the score was tied at one. There were a few heated moments from visiting spectators, causing the referees to give a brief reminder of proper spectator conduct during high school sporting events.

The second half was just as intense as the first, with both sides getting more opportunities to move the ball into the other team’s zone. Defense was strong, and didn’t allow too many quality shots on net on either end. 

The game remained a tight, back and forth affair until later in the game, when Eldred’s Avery Moscatiello made a beautiful lead pass to Reese Morgan, who did a brilliant job of staying on sides and kicking the ball into the net before the keeper could get there. The Yellowjackets would hold that lead through the final minutes and take the win.

Both goalkeepers exhibited exceptional play; The Bulldogs’ Rowan Hubbert and Eldred’s Olivia Gonzalez were equally superb, making difficult saves and keeping their perspective teams in the game.

Sullivan West head coach Meghan Brockner’s comments after the game were, “We have some things we have to keep working on, like taking more good shots on goal, but I’m confident we’ll get there by the end of the season. They’re a great group of kids and they work really hard. It’s not the outcome we wanted for today, but we’re focused on the positive.”

Kevin Moscatiello, head coach of the Yellowjackets said, “It was a hard-fought game, they came out tough and took us to the brink. It was a super competitive game, physical, good speed on both sides, we were evenly matched. We’re happy to get the win.”