Erin Martin ’20 evades Taft defender on Saturday, October 13. Photo by Ryan Kim/The Choate News
Girls’ Varsity Soccer took on Taft under the lights this past Saturday, walking away with a hard-fought tie. Both teams advanced the ball well in the first few minutes of the game, but Choate generated the majority of the offensive opportunities.
The Taft goalkeeper made some big saves on great shots from Erin Martin ’20 and Abbi Adler ’20. Taft managed to get some chances of its own, but Choate goalkeeper Jordan Small ’19 held fast and kept the game tied at zero.
Choate started to dominate the game, as it had a few corner kicks and a great free kick by Martin that created excellent scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, a key member of the Choate defense, Grace Stapelberg ’20, suffered an injury. The girls did not panic as CiCi Curran ’20, co-captain Hannah Huddleston ’19, and Jenna Rempel ’20 picked up the slack and keep Taft from scoring.
The game was tied at zero heading into the half. As the second half began, Choate came out with a fiery determination, dominating possession, taking more shots, and creating more chances than Taft. The second half wore on, and the chances started to even out, as the teams would take turns creating scoring opportunities.
In the 81st minute, Abbi Adler ’20 took a shot that bounced hard off the hands of the Taft goalie, leaving the ball open in front of the net. She followed her shot to the net and kicked in the rebound, giving Choate the first lead of the game.
Taft came back with fire, determined not to go down easily. The energy was starting to change, as every opportunity meant more for Taft. In the 87th minute, Taft scored on a messy play to tie the game up at one each.
Not even 30 seconds later, Martin attempted her third free kick of the game, just missing by inches. Finally, the clock struck zero, and the teams remained tied.
Following the game, Martin said, “I think we played really well, we were solid and played with a lot of effort. Unfortunately, Taft scored a really nice goal towards the end of the game, and we didn’t get the result we had hoped for.”
