In a rematch against Hoderness School, the Wildcat girls display their toughness
Peter Alden
If there was ever a game to demonstrate the Wildcat girls' toughness, it was on the cold and soaking wet turf at Holderness this Wednesday. From the offset, the Wildcats were everywhere on the field, chasing down the ball, forming nearly impenetrable lines of defense in their goal box, and driving the ball hard into opponent territory. Holderness had 25 players to just 11 KUA girls. Once again, the Wildcats lacked subs, but this was in no way slowing them down. They stopped more than 15 corner kicks and just as many scoring drives. All four defenders managed to block several shots of their own inside the box. Forwards and midfielders Aiyonna Gay, JC Bernard, Shoshi Parodneck and Olivia Root had their own highlights as they drove the ball into Holderness territory and managed to get several shots off, including a fantastic cross by Aiyonna that found Shoshi wide open. Taylor Swett was the sweeper who seemed to be everywhere on the field, making it difficult for Holderness to get a clear shot. Perhaps the biggest hero of the game was goalie West Lee-Ogilbee who made several miraculous saves, including one where she deflected the ball numerous times in a crowded box that included 4 Holderness players and at least as many Wildcats. It was chaos. The ball bounced around West for nearly a minute before it was finally cleared. There was just 4 minutes left in the game. It could've gone either way, but both teams fought hard to defend their goal. This super close game ended in a 0-0 tie. Not quite the result the KUA girls were looking for, but the coaches were proud of them putting up such stalwart effort against a much bigger team on their home turf. The Wildcat girls look forward to their own home game against Proctor this Saturday.