SYRACUSE – It took a while for Manchester to get used to the new artifical turf at Warrior Field. But once the Lady Squires did, they played their usual strong defensive game and won 1-0 over host Wawasee Tuesday night.
In the first five minutes of the match the ball was in the Wawasee half of the field. Once they adjusted, Manchester kept the pressure on the Lady Warriors.
“Turf is new to us. We are a very young team and a lot of them have never played on it. The speed of the ball, the bounce of the ball is different for my girls,” Manchester head coach Jen Birch said. “To understand that and to give them the right angle up front, we are still working on that as well.”
Wawasee had a solid defensive effort also, Manchester’s only goal came from the foot of freshman Emma Garriott off a strange hop 37 minutes in to the match. The key was Garriott being in the right place at the right time to convert the pass from Gabbie Brewer.
“Garriott just has energy for days and she’s not going to let up. She gets after everything offensively and defensively,” said Birch.
After halftime it was more of the same, with Wawasee working to mount a scoring threat but rarely getting off a shot inside of 15 yards. Lady Squire defenders kept senior goalkeeper Kiera Stacy from having to make any kind of spectacular save.
“Our defense did a great job.” Birch said. “Haley Clifford is kind of like a wall back there. Once she wants to get that ball, she is going to shut it down. Gabbie Brewer and Ranissa Shambarger play the outsides and are quick and are not afraid to get physical to make sure to stop that ball. They keep Kiera shot-free as much as they can.”
On the Wawasee side, first-year head coach Tracy Swain is helping her young squad find its way. Defensively the Lady Warriors are doing well with just three seniors on the roster.
The lack of offense to date is getting to be frustrating, Swain said.
“They know they can score, they know they are able to score, and they get frustrated when they don’t score,” Swain said. “But they are also holding teams to one goal. We’ve held two teams to one goal, and that’s huge from last year.
“I hope they see that as improvement, and that’s where we need to go as a team. Their confidence is growing as we go.
“We are seeing that progress. Our first two games we scored three goals in each of those games. We can do it, we just have to put it together all the time. We play the style our opponent plays, and right now it’s just getting us to do the things we do in practice.”
Manchester improved to 3-1 and will host Oak Hill in a non-conference match Thursday. Wawasee (1-3) travels to Waterford Mills to take on Bethany Christian on Thursday.
