Oakridge edges Tillsonburg U14 girls 2-1
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The Oakridge goalie did not stop Tillsonburg Crompton Home Hardware Building Centre U14 girls’ two best chances late in the second half Thursday night.
“I think we beat them in effort, but we just got unlucky with our shots,” said Tillsonburg midfielder Lisa Richter, who had three shots on the night including a penalty shot.
“Yeah, I think we beat them in effort,” agreed Red Devils’ teammate Claudia VanLeeuwen, who scored for Tillsonburg late in the first half to make it 1-1.
“They (Tillsonburg) played strong overall, and in the second half they were definitely the better team,” said coach Tillsonburg Mark Boyle. “They’re implementing a lot of the stuff we’ve been practicing.”
Oakridge scored the eventual 2-1 LDYSL game-winner with about 15 minutes left to play.
With time running out, VanLeeuwen tagged the Oakridge crossbar with a shot from the left wing. Oakridge cleared the rebound.
“I just shot,” said VanLeeuwen, laughing. “I do that a lot – I just shoot the ball.”
“A couple people said it bounced off the crossbar and behind the line, then it bounced out,” said Richter. “A couple people saw that...”
With only a few minutes left in regulation time, Inga Hoogenboom was knocked down cutting through the top right corner of the Oakridge penalty box.
“She was in the box,” said Richter.
“And she rolled out,” said VanLeeuwen.
Tillsonburg was awarded a penalty shot and Richter was selected to shoot. Aiming for the right corner, she missed just wide of the post.
“I think I should have thought about it more… waited until a bit of pressure was lifted off,” said Richter. “I think I was feeling a bunch of pressure.”
“There were a LOT of people standing over there,” VanLeeuwen nodded.
Playing up in the London District Youth Soccer League L5 division, the Crompton Home Hardware Building Centre U14s have been competitive, but they are struggling for wins.
“More of a challenge this year,” said Richter.
“But we’ve learned more,” said VanLeeuwen.
“I think we’re doing way better since last year,” nodded Richter. “I can tell we’ve improved since the first game.”
“Because last year (in L6) we were used to winning all of our games,” said VanLeeuwen. “This year, it’s like we have to work harder to win them.”
“We have to try harder,” Richter said.
“It is a challenge,” said coach Boyle. “We’re competitive with all but maybe one or two of the teams, and I think that’s shown with the goals for and against. It’s been really good and they’ve been in every game. But putting the ball in the net’s been a challenge. The team we played last week, a 4-0 loss (to first-place North London), comparatively it was a low score. It’s just putting the ball in the net that’s been a little trouble.”
Challenge Cup is coming up next month, but both Richter and VanLeeuwen agreed it will be a ‘challenge.’
“Difficult,” said VanLeeuwen.
“But we have to try our hardest,” said Richter.
On their side is a dedicated group of fans.
“My oma’s a good cheerleader,” VanLeeuwen smiled, giving a shout out to superfans Aad Sr and Els VanLeeuwen.