The Bedford girls soccer team traveled to Euclid for their fourth game of the season, and while they came up on the short end of the score, 2-0, they keep learning and growing as a unit.
The game was bookended with two goals by the Panthers. The first came at about 7 minutes into the match on long shot on goal, while the second came with 1:43 left in the second half on a short penalty kick. In the time in between, the teams matched up pretty well and were competitive.
The Euclid defense made it very difficult for the Bearcats to get many shots on goal, while the Panthers on the other hand had more opportunities to try to hit the back of the net. Fortunately for Bedford, their goalie Denim Whitted was on her game, and had quite a few impressive blocks.
In fact, with 14:02 left in the game, and with the score still just 1-0, there was one set of blocks that stood out. A Euclid player dribbled straight toward the center of the goal and took a shot a few feet in front of Whitted. The momentum of the shooter made her run into Whitted, but the goalie was able to block the ball from going in, even though she fell down and got a little tangled up with the shooter. A second later, Whitted had the presence of mind to pop right back up and immediately catch a rebound shot drilled by another opponent from the left side.
Another treat during the game was watching Whitted boom the ball down the field after a save. Her kicks traveled high in the air and were averaging 50 yards at least. Second-year head coach Chan Coleman said he and Whitted had been working on a new kicking technique in practice and it seemed to pay off.
The goalie was not the only Bedford player with some strong kicks, as midfielders Janelle Scott and team captain Erica Rowe also displayed some powerful kicking on defense and from the midfield area.
Coleman said he felt like Euclid came out with more energy than Bedford during the match. Still, he said that he thought his girls played better than they did in some of the other games this season. He said this is a learning process for many of the girls an there are “a lot of teaching moments that are happening.”
Quite a few of the players are underclassmen, and some haven’t played much organized soccer, he said. Coleman pointed to two specific areas that the team needs to work on: shooting and spacing.
“I was disappointed we didn’t get many shots last night,” he said. He has been encouraging the girls to be more aggressive and to be ready to shoot when they get near the penalty box.
He also keeps reminding the players to “spread out” and “keep their shape.” Bunching together has the negative effect of allowing one defender to cover two players. Also, when the players are too close to each other, their passes are not as effective. A kicked ball can travel faster than a player can run, and longer passes make the defense have to work harder.
The next match for the girls’ team is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, at 9 a.m. at Normandy High School. The Bearcats record last year was 3-9-3.
