York second half spurt turns back Lady Trojans in home soccer opener

New Kent defender Haley Grisbaum (7) takes the ball away from York striker Madison Van Dyke during first half action.

Alan Chamberlain photo

For most of the first half, New Kent’s Lady Trojans and York’s visiting Falcons slugged it out in basically an even soccer contest. As halftime approached, a scoreless tie seemed certain, but with under two minutes left, the Falcons moved in front. After the break, three Falcon goals over a 15-minute span spurred the visitors toward a 5-1 final.

Lady Trojan first year head coach Steve Grech labeled the first half tie-breaker as devastating for his team.

“What happened is that goal with less than two minutes left in the first half brought the team down,” he said.

“Then in the second half we changed keepers,” he added.

Lauren Barney started in goal for the hosts, stopping two shots before York’s Moira Thomson looped a long-range shot over Barney’s leaping save attempt to open the Falcons’ 1-0 halftime lead. Sydni Harvey took over in goal in the second half, and York quickly converted on two consecutive shots for a 3-0 lead.

“I took [Harvey] out to calm her down,” Grech said. “She was trying to stop the ball with her feet.”

Reinserted after York had upped its lead to 4-0, Harvey surrendered the Falcons’ final goal but also registered three saves.

New Kent, meanwhile, came close to taking a 1-1 deadlock to halftime. Just before the clock expired, Grace Lysek delivered a high shot bound for the Falcon goal, but keeper Abby Miller made a leaping save.

New Kent launched seven first half shots to York’s 10, but managed just two more after intermission. The hosts, however, averted a shutout thanks to Miller stepping outside the goal area to retrieve the ball with just over a minute to play. Kristen Taylor’s penalty shot created the final margin.

“The main thing is the girls didn’t give up,” said Grech, whose team is 0-2. “We had a couple of chances to score, but we just couldn’t get the ball in.”