26 September 2012

Girls Soccer: Case for the defense

Alex Frost scored on penalty kick (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Farmington defense and keeper Ashley Becker wrapped an invisible protective shield around the Tiger goal in a 2-0 Missota Conference win over Chaska Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium.

The shutout of the Hawks marked the fifth consecutive game that the Tigers have not allowed a goal and raised their season record to a lofty 9-2-2.

How does a team produce eight shutouts in 13 games? Coach Rob Carpentier said the formula is a simple one.

"We have an all-state caliber defender in Izzie Ferm and an all-state caliber keeper in Ashley Becker," he said. "Leah Zak is a multi-year starter on defense, Kayla Kucala has been a quiet hero and as a team we understand our assignments...We communicate well and we execute. This is a very mature group of players."

While the defense did its customary job of shutting down the opposition, the offense produced scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity in the first half only to find itself in a scoreless tie at the break.

"We could have easily have had five goals in the first half," Carpentier said. "Our halftime talk was very short. We came out aggressively and were doing what we wanted to do. It was just a matter of finishing."

Alex Frost's penalty kick shorlty after intermission finally broke the scoring ice and Kelli Elmer's rebound of a Hannah Miller direct kick with eight minutes left supplied a little breathing room.

The Tigers finished the night with a lopsided 21-2 advantage in shots.

Izzie Ferm (No. 11) led the defense (photo by Jim Lindquist)
"Our not being able to finish has been largely a matter of technique and we are working on that," Carpentier said. "We have had no shortage of scoring chances."

Farmington (5-0 in the Missota Conference) travels to Owatonna Thursday in a game with Section 1 seeding implications and then returns home next Tuesday for a showdown with Holy Angels (4-0) in a contest that will likely decide the league championship.