A resilient Jonathan Law girls soccer team overcame an early first-half deficit then rallied for a 2-1 Southern Connecticut Conference Hammonasset Division win over cross-city rival Foran High on Oct. 9, at the Vito DeVito Sports Complex.
Foran took the lead with only 6:43 gone off the clock when Milani Gray got open inside the Law defense, took a through ball from Alexia Malangone, and put a shot past Law’s keeper Amanda Leone, who made five saves on 12 Foran shots.
Law, which got off to a slow and sloppy start, evened the contest at the 34-minute mark as Kiana Walker soft-touched in a shot past the Lions’ Carly Pala (two saves on five Law shots). Collen Rice picked up the assist.
The Eagles intensified play throughout the second half and narrowly missed on a potential second goal with 11:10 to play. Shannon Williams’ free kick from 26 yards out was tipped over the frame by Pala.
Williams came right back though to assist on the game-winning goal with six minutes left, as her corner kick from the left side was headed in by Cassidy White.
“They (Foran) controlled play for at least the first 30 minutes,” said Law coach J.D. Rhode. “We made that mistake (on the Foran goal) and fell behind.
“We’ve been known to shut down sometimes as a team when that happens. Tonight, we didn’t. Instead we went on the attack.”
Clearly disappointed with the loss, Foran coach Casey Blake saw the reasons why.
“We’re a good team when we want to be,” she said. “We do the things that make us a good team. We possess the ball. We pass with purpose and we get our shots. Obviously, what we lack is consistency. We had too much of it in this game.”
Law continues play on Monday when it travels to Clinton to take on the Morgan School of the Pequot Conference. Foran will close out it’s SCC Hammonasset schedule at Hand of Madison, also on Monday.
Law is 2-4 in division play while Foran is 0-5.