Girls J.V. Soccer Downs NMH

KUA wandered south today to take on Northfield Mount Hermon.  The KUA ladies came to play today as they had their most focused warm-up of the season and went on to play their most composed game so far.  Despite playing a player down the entire match, KUA came out with some fire and intensity as Emily Zea applied pressure right from the kick-off, creating a breakaway opportunity for herself off of a failed clearance from the NMH defense, and burying it in the side netting for the 1st goal of the match in the 1st minute of play.  KUA did not hold the lead for long as NMH put together a good string of passes, earning themselves their own breakaway, and putting it in the back of the net to make it 1-1 with only 2 minutes played in the match.  Play settled down after this exciting start and KUA put great pressure on the NMH back line.  The ladies were very composed all over the field, especially in the midfield, as they looked to find feet and made good decisions with their passes.  KUA did an excellent job attacking from the wing as Emilie Vansant's crosses from the outside continue to be a danger for every team we play.  About 25 minutes in, KUA served the ball into the NMH penalty area and amidst the scrum it was Emily Zea who poked the ball home for the Wildcats 2nd goal of the game.  Both teams were playing well with KUA having the better end of the chances heading into halftime with a score of 2-1 in favor of the visiting Wildcats.  KUA came out fired up again as they continued to press against the NMH defense.  Emily Zea did a great job as the lone striker checking back into the midfield and enabling KUA to play in NHM's half of the field.  Play went back and forth with KUA having great ball movement and chances on goal awhile NMH had some nerve racking counter-attacks.  Then 20 minutes into the 2nd half, KUA served another ball into the NMH box and the ball took a fortunate bounce to Emilie Vansant, who rifled it into the back of net from 8 yards out to give KUA a 3-1 lead.  KUA kept up the pressure even though they seemed to be running out of gas.  Haley Pollock and Katie Dole created a good combination of passes to put Emily Zea through on the breakaway as Zea remained composed in her finish, scoring her 3rd goal of the game, and putting the visitors up 4-1.  KUA finished out the game strong, earning their 6th win of the season to boost their season record to 6-6-0.
All of the KUA ladies played an excellent match today, especially as they played down a player for the whole match.  They brought the pressure and focus that they needed to get the result, and played one of their best games of the season.  For her efforts up top as the lone forward, applying high pressure to the NHM defenders and enabling KUA to play offensively today, and for scoring a hat trick as well, Emily Zea earned our team's Golden Gatorade Player of the Match Award.  The ladies look forward to closing out the season next week with away matches against Cushing Academy and a re-match at Vermont Academy.