Posted on 29 January 2014 by La Habra Journal
Whittier Christian’s Marriah Gishwiller pushes a header toward the goal during the Lady Heralds’ 2-1 loss to Village Christian, Tuesday afternoon at home. Gishwiller scored the Lady Heralds’ goal in the first half.
Story and photos by Erik Markus
La Habra Journal
A fast start doesn’t always translate to a win. With two teams fighting for their first win it was no surprise to see an early first goal. However, after the Lady Heralds took a 1-0 lead, they were bullied into a 2-1 loss to Village Christian, Tuesday afternoon at home.
Village Christian (1-8 1-3) disrupted the Lady Heralds’ rhythm and kept the ball away from the middle. Whittier Christian (0-13-3 0-3-1) prefers to possess the ball with quick passes, but struggled to control the tempo.
“We got into a kicking game with them which was rough because we don’t play that game,” said Nicole Nicolaides, Whittier Christian head coach.
A goal by Marriah Gishwiller gave Whittier Christian an early lead in the first half.
Village Christian had its first chance in the 21st minute when Lady Heralds’ goal keeper Klarissa Flores stopped a breakaway by forward Sarah Leggitt. Though Flores came out on top this time, momentum shifted towards the Lady Crusaders.
Minutes later they got an equalizer, and took the lead in the 37th minute when Leggitt avenged her early denial on another breakaway.
“We came in to this game expecting to win, which you should,” Nicolaides said “We scored the first goal, then they became complacent and let down and didn’t work hard.”
The Lady Heralds can expect to see extra time in practice shooting.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net today and that really hurt us, we had several chances,” Nicolaides said.
Whittier Christian came out of halftime with extra energy but failed to capitalize. The Lady Heralds had two opportunities in front of the net, but struggled to create space and convert.
In the 70th minute the Lady Heralds had their best chance at an equalizer when Village Christian keeper, Cammy Tubon missed a ball in the air. The ball bounced past her but was collected by a defender and then cleared away. The Lady Heralds’ retained possession after the clearance, but the shot banged off the crossbar and was then cleared out of danger.
The Lady Heralds are still in pursuit of their first win and visit Heritage Christian on Friday at 3:15.