Cultivating Christian Minds and Character
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Spring Season
Soccer - Calvin Saves the Day for Westminster!!
Westminster goalie Whitney Calvin had her best game of the season in front of a standing room only crowd as the Wildcats avenged last season’s playoff loss by beating Visitation 1-0 in penalty kicks.
The Westminster community came out in force as they filled the bleachers and the sideline to show their support for the Lady Wildcats. Under sunny skies and temps finally in the 70s, #4 ranked Westminster took the field and faced #3 ranked Visitation. The Vivettes (somebody needs to explain what a Vivette is to me) took early control while playing into a forceful wind. Their offense consisted of possessing the ball through the midfield and then working it towards the corners (by pass or dribble) where they would look for a cross into the box. This approach was very effective in providing numerous opportunities. The first coming at 9:48 when a crossing pass to a Visitation attacker led to a hard shot that Whitney deflected up with her hands and off the crossbar. The Westminster defense was tested often but stood up to the challenge. Facing shots that often went high or wide, the Wildcats appeared to have some luck on their side. At 30:39 that luck looked to end when a Vivette attacker broke in alone on goal. Whitney Calvin wisely came out to meet the attacker and force her into shooting early. The move was successful as the shot slid wide of the net. Westminster's offense struggled to get any advantage of the wind at their backs. As they tried to play the ball through the midfield up to the strikers, the passes frequently seemed to barely miss the intended target. It’s not meant to say that the Wildcats didn’t have chances. Pressure late in the half seemed to catch Visitation off guard as they struggled to clear their end. At 33:58, Lauren Probst picked up a free kick and hit a rocket shot that sailed just wide of the net and the surprised keeper.
The 2nd half started much like the first except Visitation had the benefit of the wind at their back. Attacking early and often, the Vivettes threw everything towards the net. At 14:25, Whitney Calvin stunned the crowd with a diving save on a shot from 5 yds. The Wildcats found it nearly impossible to get across midfield. Every attempt was quickly stifled by a Visitation defense that always seemed to outnumber the Westminster attackers. Playing defense the entire half can be exhausting and the weariness of the Wildcats began to show late in the half. A sliding shot at 32:30 by Visitation grazed the post. At 33:20, Whitney once again came through with a diving save of a hard shot from 15yds. Visitation came close to putting a game winner in many times. None was closer than the one that came at 36:19 when a crossing pass from the right slipped behind the Wildcat defense right to a Vivette foot whose shot hit the post before leaving the field. At 40:00, the grueling half came to an end with the game thankfully tied at 0-0 and new life for the Wildcats.
The overtime periods were similar to regulation with Visitation generating the better chances. However, it’s not chances that win games, its goals and collectively the Wildcats were able to repel every threat. Christine Ehrmann had an especially nice game as she squared off against the normally high scoring Maura McKernan who ended the game with a number of shots around the goal but nothing in the net. The biggest chance of overtime for Visitation came at 3:28 of the 2nd OT when they caught the Wildcats off guard with a quick restart that resulted in a shot that slid millimeters wide of the net. Westminster’s best chance of the game came from Emily Sherman at 6:20 of the 2nd OT. Picking up a corner kick, Emily blasted a shot that was headed to victory until the Vivette keeper’s diving save. The two overtime periods ended with the teams tied at 0-0 and headed to penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks feature each team fielding 5 shooters that alternate shots on goal. Christine Ehrmann took the 1st shot for WCA and buried it in the back corner. Viz’s #13 (McKernan) went 1st and scored into the right corner off the diving Calvin’s fingertips. Kenzie Pfitzinger was 2nd and she calmly scored upper corner. The crowd went wild when Visitation’s #15 put a hard shot on goal that was stopped by the alert Wildcat keeper to make the score 2-1. Leah Beck showed no nervousness as she slipped her shot inside the post. The Vivette’s #3 shot went in left corner off Whitney’s fingers to make the score 3-2. The Wildcats Lauren Probst scored with a shot high over the outstretched keeper. Visitation’s #14 slipped her shot into the net untouched to make the score 4-3. Senior Ellie Moore stepped up to take her shot knowing that a goal would end the game in victory for Westminster. Maintaining her composure, Ellie lined herself up and blasted a shot…….GOAL!!!!! The Westminster faithful went crazy as both teams weary from 100 minutes of soccer shook hands. The final score of 1-0 was sweet revenge for last year’s playoff loss when Westminster was clearly the dominant team. The victory also proved that even under the most adverse of conditions, the Wildcat women will stand tall and play hard till the end.
The team is extremely grateful for the outstanding support of the students, faculty, and staff at today’s match. The Lady Cats take the Westminster field again this Saturday at 12:30 as they face off against Ladue. Get your weekend off to a great start by watching the game and cheering the team to another victory.
Game Stats:
Shots: Beck, Dohr, Pfitzinger, Sherman Saves: Calvin (9) – Many of them were spectacular!
Penalty Kick Goals: Ehrmann, Pfitzinger, Beck, Probst, Moore Penalty Kick Saves: Calvin (1) – That’s all we needed!
Last modified: 04/16/2008 10:55 pm