PLYMOUTH – Battling to the end the talent and offensive pressure in the end were just too much for Plymouth’s Lady Rockies as they fell to South Bend St. Joe in sectional final action at Plymouth by a 4-0 score.
It as nearly a game of missed opportunity for St. Joe offensively as they applied nearly constant pressure to a Plymouth defense that somehow turned them away time and time again.
It started just eight minutes in when Georgia Place would miss two point blank shots at Plymouth goalie CeCe Robinson who somehow turned away each one. Eight minutes later it was more of the same as Natalie Moore and Caroline Edmonds missed similar opportunities at putting in the game’s first score.
The frustration only grew for the Indians as with five minutes to play in the first half Edmonds was awarded a penalty kick just outside the box, missed it, a Plymouth infraction allowed her to take another opportunity at the same kick with the identical result.
“We got lucky with a lot of those hitting the cross bar and going high,” said Plymouth coach Stephanie Ferch of the St. Joe pressure. “We were lucky to be zero, zero at half. I think we counted four opportunities when we crossed the ball and we were open on the back side but couldn’t convert it. If we had gotten one in that might have helped the momentum but they are a good team and their offense was just stronger than our defense.”
“They (Plymouth) want to keep it tied as long as possible which makes the players a little tighter and the goal that much more difficult to hit to get that first one,” said St. Joe coach Phil DePauw. “You definitely want to get that first goal in there and you see what happened after we were able to do that. It always relaxes you.”
Both teams renewed their vigor on the offensive side in the second half but unfortunately for the Lady Rockies, Place was able to take the cover off the goal, burying the first score seven minutes into the second half and then hitting home another a little less than 10 minutes later.
“We were settling for outside shots in that first half,” said DePauw. “We talked about getting into the box close enough so it’s not just a shot she’s going to save it’s a shot that has a chance to go in.”
“We went a little more offensive once we got down a goal and put Madison Smith up but really our girls just came out with a little more energy and life in the second half,” said Ferch.
St. Joe would hit two more in the game with Moore taking advantage of a rebound off of Robinson to hit a goal and Tatum White hitting a score three minutes later.
In spite of being in the cross hairs all night, Robinson turned away shot after shot turning in an outstanding performance.
“She shows up every night,” said Ferch of her senior goalie. “She’s been like that every game she’s played for us. She shows up big and we can count on her. She is definitely going to be missed.”
“They worked really hard they played really hard,” said DePauw of the Plymouth effort. “They clearly belonged here in the final.”
Plymouth finishes their season at 12-6, St. Joe is now 13-5-2 and will move on to the Plymouth regional on Saturday.
•ST. JOE 4, PLYMOUTH 0
at Plymouth
Scoring summary:
First half
None
Second Half
33:09 Georgia Place
24:07 Georgia Place assist Natalie Moore
21:39 Natalie Moore
17:41 Tatum White assist Caroline Edmonds
Shots on goal: St. Joe 23, Plymouth 3
