Fredericksburg closes season with tie against playoff-bound Washington
By Tom Leiss
For Fredericksburg Impact: www.fasaimpact.com
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| Impact vs Spirit W-League (photo credit: Tom Leiss) |
BOYDS, Md.—The Fredericksburg Impact closed out its third W-League season with a gutsy 1-1 tie against the Washington Spirit Reserves at the Maryland SportsPlex on Wednesday evening.
Things got off to a slow start for the Impact and Washington was able to take an early lead in the ninth minute. After working the ball into the left corner, Hayley Siegel sent a cross to the right to Ashley Herndon. The forward settled the ball and tucked a shot into the left side of the net for a 1-0 Spirit lead.
After the score, Washington continued to control the play and create chances, but Fredericksburg’s defense and goalie Jesse McGinley—who made a key save on a 24th minute free kick—were able to keep its hosts from doubling their lead.
As the half wore on, the Impact coaching staff began making adjustments that started to help them get more into the game.
“Washington, credit to them. They’ve got some really athletic kids, but we’ve got some really good soccer players and athletic kids ourselves and we just had to make the adjustments,” Fredericksburg coach Rich Stoneman said. “We couldn’t allow them to continue dictating our play. When we took that back from them and started to play our game, things started to go our way.”
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| Impact vs Spirit W-League (photo credit: Tom Leiss) |
The changes paid dividends in the 31st minute when Caty Butler played a pass to Kara Blosser. The midfielder got by one defender and then launched a 30-plus yard rocket that beat Spirit goalie DiDi Haracic to level the match, 1-1.
It was just what the Impact needed as they began to settle into the game.
“We were definitely on our heels from the start of the game,” co-captain Kimmy Cummings said. “There was some kind of momentum shift that had to happen and that was it. They definitely had the ball a lot and we were defending a lot, but some soccer games go that way and it’s just how you react to it. And I think we reacted very well.”
