 The field of teams may have been small but the competition was anything but at Blizzard's inaugural attempt at capturing the Mountaineer Open. Saturday's first game, the girls were matched up against the SYA Lady Leopards. Terrific effort and smart passing gave the Blizzard a 4-0 victory that was led by captain Fred Dominiski who found the net three times for her first outdoor hat trick. In her final guest appearance before officially joining the Blizzard, Atley Fortney scored the remaining goal, her fifth of the tournament season. The girl's second match of the day was against a speedy and talented HSC Freedom team. The girls could not match the Hagerstown's team effort and lost 4-1 with a lone goal from leading scorer Callista Clairmont.
Vowing to makeup for Saturday afternoon's performance proved no easy task. After injuries and illness, the girls started the day with only eleven players. The semifinal contest was a rematch against the Lady Leopards of Smithsburg. The hard fighting Leopards took a 1-0 lead late into the game. A final offensive push in the last ten minutes resulted in a 2-1 come from behind win with goals from midfielder Sabrina Menefee and Atley Fortney.
The championship match found the girls facing the Freedom squad in a rematch. This time, Blizzard matched the intensity of their opponents in what turned out to be the match of the weekend. The momentum in the game went back and forth as each team exchanged powerful shots, near misses and terrific keeper play. With minutes remaining, Sabrina Menefee broke free from her defender and found the back of the net for the contest's lone goal. Blizzard survived the next few minutes by playing all out with everyone helping protect the lead. Seconds after the last Freedom shot bounced off the post, the whistle blew and the girls were victorious. Congratulations go to all teams participating for some very exciting play but especially to our girls for keeping the trophy in West Virginia and winning their third tournament of the season. |
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Blizzard wins Mountaineer Openposted Jun 26, 2011 5:39 PM by Aric Canonico [ updated Jun 27, 2011 11:36 AM ] |