LM hosted a good Council Rock South team this afternoon in a cold sporadic rain, where the stakes were win or end your season. Just 9 minutes in the Aces had a good scoring chance when the Rock keeper was caught out of the net, but the shot deflected off 2 defenders and went wide. Five minutes later LM had another good scoring opportunity but this time the keeper came up big. Meanwhile, Council Rock's only threats in the 1st half came off corners & free kicks, but if you give up enough of them it's like playing with fire. Midway thru the 1st half tri-captain Tyler Niles opened the scoring with a beautiful header off a Matt Lindheim corner, 1-0 Aces at halftime.
In the 2nd half Rock changed it up a little, working the midfield on quick transitions, but still only threatened on restarts. Ten minutes in they finally got a good shot on a 30 yard blast, but LM's keeper Connor Yu made a nice save to keep it scoreless. Play went back & forth for the next 20 minutes, with the Aces clinging to a slim 1 goal lead but slowly letting Rock take over the momentum. With 13 minutes left, it was another free kick chance that turned the whole complexity of the game, when a Rock player put a real nice header past the LM keeper to tie it up. Two minutes later the Aces just missed on a corner kick. And with less than a minute left in regulation LM got 2 throw-ins deep in the Rock end but couldn't convert, sudden-victory OT.
It didn't take long, as 4 minutes into OT Rock scored the game winner, once again coming off a long throw-in, and the Aces season was over.
It was a disappointing ending, but when the shock wears off every player, and coaches as well, will realize just how good their impressive 15-3 season was. They came into pre-season practice with only 1 or 2 starters returning, a new goalie, and only a handful of players with any serious varsity experience. Their 3 losses were all by 1 goal; an own goal 2-1 loss to #1 ranked Conestoga, a 2-1 loss to Harriton on a PK, and an overtime 2-1 playoff loss (both coming from restarts) to Council Rock South.
I'll have several more season ending posts as the playoffs wind down. Thanks for your support.
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Thanks for your great posts through the season. They were insightful, informative, and much appreciated.
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