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2001-02 Season Summary |
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HC Drops Season Opener In their first game of the season, the Foresters got
off to a great start by putting a lot of pressure on the Trinity Christian defense.
Approximately 15 minutes into the game freshman forward Amanda Thompson deflected a ball
to Kara Shoemaker who was moving up from her left outside midfield position. Shoemaker
drilled a twenty yard shot to put Huntington up 1-0. A few minutes later Thompson
appeared to have put Huntington up 2-0 on an assist from Shoemaker, but Thompson was ruled
to have been offside. With 15 minutes to go in the half, Shoemaker again hooked up with
Thompson with a great pass from the wing which Thompson buried from 6 yards on her first
touch. With the score 2-0 Huntington continued to attack, but the game was called due to
lightning with just 6:40 to go in the first half. The game was eventually cancelled.
College rules state that 70 minutes must be completed for a match to be official leaving
Huntington looking for their first win. In the Forester's first complete game of the season, they dropped a close one to Hiram College in overtime 1-0. They started the game on the defensive. The passing game was out of sync leading to a lot of turnovers. Only a strong defense led by senior sweeper Erin Abbey, sophomore stopper Annie Zeller, senior left back Alison Young and freshman right back Wendy Field kept the game scoreless for the first half. The Foresters slowly began to put their game together in the second half and started to take the momentum during the last 20 minutes of the game. Huntington had two good scoring chances in the final minutes of the game from Kara Shoemaker and Amanda Thompson, but both shots were wide of the Hiram goal. With the score 0-0 the game went into sudden death overtime. Two minutes into the first overtime period a cross by Hiram deflected off stopper Annie Zeller, the goal post, and goalkeeper Elizabeth Ballard and landed at the feet of a Hiram forward who touched the ball into the net for a heartbreaking game winner. Huntington is now 0-1 on the season. HC Falls to Olivet Nazarene Playing their third game in four days, a weary Forester squad fell to a talented Olivet Nazarene University team 4-0. ONU came out strong and put HC on the defensive early while scoring 4 goals in the first half. The Forester defense regrouped in the second half and held the Tigers scoreless. HC goalkeeper, Liz Ballard recorded 19 saves on the day. "We are looking forward to finally having two days to practice before traveling to Anderson University on Thursday" said Coach Tom Datema. With the loss, the women fall to 0-2 on the season. Foresters Come Up Short Against Anderson Anderson opened the scoring 35 minutes into the game on a free kick just outside the eighteen. HC got the equalizer just four minutes later when senior midfielder Sara Holtsberry split the Anderson defense with a pass to freshman forward Kristyn Bollig. Bollig scored from the left side, just inside the penalty area. In the second half, Anderson picked up the pace of the game scoring three goals while holding the Foresters scoreless to earn the 4-1 win. Forester goalkeeper Elizabeth Ballard had 26 saves in the game. The Foresters fall to 0-3 on the season. Foresters Blanked By Taylor Taylor overwhelmed Huntington in the first half with five goals and ten shots on goal to Huntington's one. The second half was much more competitive as HC was able to attack with six shots on goal to Taylor's eight. Neither team was able to score in the second half. "We need to be able to put together a complete game. Some games we have great first halves and other games where we have great second halves. It's not as if we are slow starters or a team that runs out of gas. We just need to learn to be consistent for 90 minutes", says Coach Datema. With the loss the Foresters fall to 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in the conference. Foresters Get First Win The women recorded their first win of the season by shutting out Defiance College 2-0. The Foresters netted their first goal with seven minutes left in the first half when sophomore Amanda Aston found junior Kara Shoemaker with a cross from the left wing. Shoemaker scored from 10 yards to put HC up 1-0. In the second half, the Yellow Jackets raised their level of play but the Forester defense met every challenge. The game finally was put out of reach on a breakaway goal by Shoemaker with just 17 seconds left in the game. HC goalkeeper, Elizabeth Ballard, had 13 saves in the game. Huntington now stands at 1-4 on the season. Foresters Fall 1-0 In Overtime To Goshen It took 90 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of overtime to decide this one. Both team's defenses were solid, not allowing the other to mount much of an offensive attack. With five minutes remaining in the sudden death overtime, Goshen scored the only goal of the game following a throw in. "It was one of those games that was a lot of fun right up until they scored the game winner. We simply fell asleep and that was all it took for Goshen to capitalize," said Coach Datema. The loss drops the women to 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in the conference. Strong Wildcat Squad Dominates Foresters 5-0 Ranked third in this week's NAIA Region 8 poll, the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats showed their ranking was well deserved. In one of the toughest games of the season, the Foresters battled hard, but gave up three goals in the first half and two in the second. "I thought we played with a lot more intensity today than in the last few games. We knew it was going to be tough and I think the players went into the game wanting to do well. Unfortunately for us IWU's speed and skill allows no room for error on our part and they capitalized on our mistakes," said Coach Datema. The Foresters fall to 1-6 on the season and 0-3 in the conference. Foresters Blank Franklin 3-0 By dictating the pace of the game, the Foresters were able to create numerous opportunities on offense. Kara Shoemaker opened the scoring on a breakaway set up by a header from Amanda Thompson just 14 minutes into the game. The highlight of the game came with 17 minutes left in the first half when Wendy Field fed Sara Holtsberry who beat the Franklin defense for the first goal of her career. In the second half a couple of freshman collaborated on a third goal when Kristyn Bollig freed Thompson with a great throw-in. Thompson's shot hit the far post before deflecting into the goal. With the win, the women move to 2-6 on the season. Bethel Rallies to Beat Foresters The Foresters couldn't make a 1-0 halftime lead hold up as the Bethel College Pilots scored three times in the final 20 minutes to win the match 3-1. Amanda Thompson got the lone goal for HC on an assist from Kara Shoemaker with 10 minutes left in the first half. "We have to do a better job of handling pressure when the game is on the line." said Coach Datema. The loss drops the women to 2-7 on the season and 0-4 in the conference. Foresters Get First Overtime Win
The third time is the charm. After
losing two previous overtime matches this season, the Foresters were
able to change their fortunes this time defeating Marian College 3-2 in
the extra period. HC set the tempo early in the game by scoring
their first goal eight minutes into the contest. Erin Abbey took a
free kick and placed it just wide of the far post where Amanda Thompson
volleyed it home to account for the scoring in the first half. In the
second half, HC had several close chances and finally converted for
their second goal when Thompson scored again on an assist from Kara
Shoemaker with 20 minutes left in the match. Marian then stunned
the Foresters scoring two goals in the final two minutes of regulation
to tie the game. In overtime, HC again took charge of the
match. Shoemaker scored the game-winning goal eight minutes into
the overtime period on an assist from Keisha Vowels. "They
really played well in the overtime. I'm pleased with the way we were
able to turn it around and get the winner," said Coach Datema.
The women are now 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
Foresters Fall
to St. Francis
The University of Saint Francis Cougars
scored five minutes into the contest and never looked back as they
defeated the Foresters 3-0. Although the women began to battle
harder, the St. Francis defense held HC scoreless. Despite
the loss, Coach Datema found some positives. "Saint
Francis is one of the strongest teams we play this year. For long
stretches during the game we were able to play with them and put
together some really good opportunities." HC
is now 3-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
Foresters Shutout by Cornerstone The Foresters faced a little bit of everything in their 4-0 loss against a dominant Cornerstone squad. "They had a fast team with good ball skills but were also exceptional at splitting our defense with pinpoint passes," said Coach Datema. Cornerstone took control early scoring their first goal in the first five minutes of the match. The Foresters battled but gave up a second goal late in the first half. The second half was almost identical as Cornerstone added a third goal early and then another near the end making the final score 4-0. The women now stand at 3-9 on the season. Foresters Top Manchester The Foresters picked up their fourth win of the season topping Manchester College 2-1. Manchester opened the scoring just eight minutes into the game, but twenty minutes later, HC got the equalizer when forward Amanda Thompson scored on a breakaway. Forward Kara Shoemaker put the Foresters ahead with three minutes remaining in the first half off an assist from sweeper Erin Abbey. HC held off the Squires shutting them out in the second half to seal the win. "I was pleased with the way we responded after going down a goal early. I thought their goal was against the run of play, but our team was patient and didn't panic. Shoemaker also hit the goal post on two different occasions and would have scored another goal on a breakaway if not for a great save by their keeper. All things considered this was a good game for us," said Coach Datema. HC now stands at 4-9 on the season. Foresters Fall to Grace The Foresters couldn't connect on a couple scoring opportunities and fell to Grace College 3-0. HC had the momentum early in the game when Kara Shoemaker hit the post on a free kick, but Grace responded and went on the attack themselves. They scored their first goal midway through the first half and added a second just before half time. The second half began much like the first when Erin Abbey hit the cross bar on another free kick. Grace again picked up their intensity level and put the Foresters away with a third goal. "We did some positive things today but we also made a few costly mistakes. We know we are making progress but we are not satisfied yet," said Coach Datema. The women fall to 4-10 on the season and finish conference play at 1-6. Foresters Shuts Out St. Mary's of the Woods Huntington won its fifth game of the year with a 3-0 victory over St. Mary's of the Woods thanks to a hat trick by forward Kara Shoemaker. She was assisted by Keisha Vowels, Sabrina Cohee and Amanda Thompson. The Foresters dominated the game outshooting St Mary of the Woods 40 - 0. "Their program is only in its second year and is made up of mainly freshmen and sophomores so we knew that we were the stronger team," said Coach Datema. "Kara really worked hard this game and deserved her hat trick. She showed a lot of quality out on the field today." HC now stands at 5-10 on the year. Foresters Fall to Indiana Tech Some match-up problems for the Foresters gave Indiana Tech the edge they needed to pull out a 2-1 victory. HC's Kara Shoemaker had the first good chance to score in the game when she beat her defender and the keeper but put her shot just wide. The Lady Warriors regrouped and took the lead in 25th minute of the first half. The Foresters finally got the equalizer with 18 minutes left in the game when Shoemaker scored on an assist from Sara Holtsberry. The game really opened up after that with both teams having several good chances. Indiana Tech went up 2-1 with a few minutes to go in the game and were able to hold off HC for the win. The Foresters end the regular season at 5-11 overall and 1 - 6 in the MCC Conference. They now must wait to find out who they will play on Saturday in the first round of the MCC Conference tournament." Foresters Fall Short in MCC Tournament Despite a quality effort and several good scoring chances, the 7th seeded Foresters came up short on their bid for their first MCC Tournament win, falling 2-1 to #2 seed, St. Francis. The Cougars took the lead with a goal 11 minutes into the contest. The Foresters battled back and evened the score when Kara Shoemaker scored 14 minutes into the second half. With 20 minutes left in the game, St. Francis scored and took the lead again. The Forester women had several more good scoring chances but were unable to capitalize. The loss eliminated HC from the MCC tournament and concluded their season with an overall record of 5 - 12. "We played well in this game and we actually had more scoring chances than they did. They have a strong winning tradition and that experience was the difference. Our team came away from the game disappointed, but they realize that they can play with winning teams like St. Francis now," said Coach Datema. |
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