Lady Dutch win season opener 3 – 1 over Lincoln

MHS Girls Soccer team half-time talk during season opener against Lincoln. Photo courtesy of MHS Varsity Soccer.

The Manchester girls soccer welcomed Division 1 Ypsilanti Lincoln High School to start their 2017 campaign.

The Lady Dutch looked to take control of the game early through a midfield trio of Natalie Bargardi, Rayna Edwards and Rylee Spitler, Lead by senior captain Delanie Osborne. Manchester maintained possession and took control of the game early,

After battling through the 1st game nerves, Freshman Rylee Spitler was able to link up well with Osborne before lobbing the keeper to score her first career goal for the Lady Dutch. 1 – 0

Manchester kept up the pressure and were starting to move the ball well when Freshman Natalie Bargardi scored her first career goal and the Lady Dutch’s 2nd of the game with a left foot driven shot from just outside the box. 2 – 0

Lincoln started to apply some pressure of their own and a succession of defensive errors and missed tackles lead to Lincoln being awarded a penalty kick which was converted to take the score to 2 -1 heading into halftime.

The 2nd half was similar to the 1st with Manchester working to control the game but being unable to capitalize due to some solid Lincoln defending.

The Lady Dutch finally finished off the game with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. Emma Mrocko whipped in a cross from the right wing that found its way over the goalkeepers head and into the back of the net.

“We have a very young team again,” said Manchester Girls Soccer Coach Sam Sibilski. “Only two seniors and two Juniors. We made alot of mistakes at times, mainly down to nerves; our shape looked ok at times but our ball retention and inability to connect in the final 3rd is something we need to work on heading forward into our next game. Definitely some positives to take from our first game of the year.”

Manchester travels to Monroe for their next game on Tuesday, March 28th with a 5.30pm kickoff.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.