Last Thursday’s girls’ soccer match between rivals Atlee and Hanover got off to a late start because two officials were delayed in traffic. When the game finally going, it was the two soccer squads who found themselves unable to reach their destinations. The contest was one in which neither team scored until the final minutes of regulation. Then after two extra periods the contest ended in a 1-1 tie.

Though they did not win, Hanover pushed the Raiders limits throughout. “We were definitely the underdog coming in,” said Hawks’ head coach Whitney Harpold. “The (Hanover) girls just wanted it more. They played hard the whole way and that’s all I can ask.”

Nikki Glisson finally broke the scoring barrier and put the Hawks on top in the 75th minute, taking a feed from the corner and booting a shot past two Raider defenders and over the outstretched arm of Atlee keeper Taylor Hoy.

Agreeing with Harpold’s evaluation of the Raiders’ effort, Atlee senior Jordan Roseboro said that she did not feel her team was playing strong enough. “Overall we played a little bit slow in the beginning,” she said. “Our intensity wasn’t high at all and theirs was high. And we held the ball a little too long.”
However, the Raiders suddenly found a sense of urgency trailing in the final minutes. “We’d been trying to get the ball in the net the whole game and I guess once they scored it put it in our heads that we had to,” Roseboro said. “Half our team is seniors and we didn’t want to go out like that in our last home game against Hanover.”

Harpold saw an immediate change come over the opposing team. “They definitely did get more aggressive and a lot more touches on the ball after that,” she said. “It was kind of a wake up call for them.”

Despite the more intense effort from Atlee, it appeared as if Hanover was going to walk away with the win. But starring a loss in the face, the University of Miami bound Roseboro stepped up strong for the Raiders. The senior forward set up for a free kick in the final minute of play and spun a high curve-ball into the net for a score past Hawks’ keeper Nicole Shelton. “In practice I work on placing the ball and curving it a certain way so the goalies can’t get to it,” Roseboro said. “Tonight, I saw where to place it and just placed it in there.”

Roseboro said she felt no pressure finding herself in a win/lose situation. “I practice every day after high school for an hour on just free kicks so it was kind of just like body repetition,” she said. “The more you take it the more your body is used to handling pressure like that in a big game.”

The goal against Shelton was the only thing that marred an exceptional night in the net as she deflected the Raiders’ shot attempts again and again, coming away with six saves. Harpold was especially proud of Shelton’s efforts because of her approach to the game. “Nicole hates playing goalie,” Harpold said with a laugh. “There were some saves that we just couldn’t believe that were coming out of nowhere. She doesn’t have a lot of experience in goal we were excited for anything and those were amazing. The team voted that she had the best game.”

Neither team could push the ball to score in two extra periods and the rivals walked away tied.

Though her Hawks did not win, Harpold was proud of her teams efforts, especially after watching their lead slip away in the final minute. “They just wanted to keep it up,” she said. “I think they were excited just to keep going. They said it was the most fun game they’ve had to play just because it was so intense.”

Hanover….............................0 1 0 0 — 1
Atlee ......................................0 1 0 0 — 1
H: Glisson, A: Roseboro
Saves: Shelton (H) 6; Hoy (A) 4
Records: Hanover 2-0-1, 3-0-1; Atlee 3-0-1, 4-0-2