LAKE HUNTINGTON – The Lady Bulldogs of Sullivan West suffered their second loss of the season at home on Thursday night. Seward, who defeated them in their only other loss of the season travelled to the home of the Bulldogs and eeked out a 2-0 win.

Although the Lady Bulldogs lost the game, they seemed to be in command of the pace the entire time. Sullivan West outshot Seward 29 to 8, but two of Seward’s shots found the back of the net. Of Sullivan West’s 29 shots, 18 of them were on goal, and they also had four corner kicks.

If not for Seward’s goalie, Kathryn Mulhare, it could have been a drastically different match. Mulhare seemed to be everywhere on Thursday, constantly charging an entry pass or a set-up shot and corralling it before Sullivan West could fire it into the net. She also did a great job of communicating with her defense, slowing Sullivan West’s advances enough to keep them from scoring.

Seward’s first goal found the net early in the first half, with less than 10 minutes spent on the game clock. Shannon Sgombick, who entered the game with 98 goals, drilled her 99th with a beautiful kick from outside the box. Sgombick was all over the field, assiting on Seward’s other first half goal, before earning a yellow card and having to spend a few minutes on the bench.

Throughout the second half, the two teams seemed to be in a stalemate, with neither team finding the goal. During the time of that stalemate, Seward did not take a single shot. Sullivan West’s midfielders and defense stifled their league opponent’s offense, keeping the ball on the Seward side for most of the second half.

Losing is never fun, but aside from the scoreboard, Sullivan West showed off their talent and progress as a team. Seward may have won the game, but Sullivan West seems poised to make some noise in the league, and face Seward in Sectionals for a rematch.

Sullivan West’s coach, Anthony Durkin, had nothing but praise for his Lady Bulldogs after the game. “I’m very proud of this group, they didn’t play scared at all. I would gladly pick any one of them on the field any day.”