Glenbard North 2, Glenbard South 2
The final touch she took to get behind the last Glenbard North defender went long, and it put Glenbard South's Taylor Cochran in a footrace for the ball against a goalkeeper charging off her line.
Maybe a girls soccer player's first goal of the season shouldn't come easy.
"That felt good," Cochran said, after turning on the afterburners, sliding and slipping her first goal of the season inside the near post from 8 yards out.
"She stayed after practice yesterday and practiced that exact goal," said Raiders coach Glen Eggert. "She's been so close. It was nice to see her get that first one."
The 2-2 tie that the host Raiders (2-1-3) and Panthers (0-2-2) posted in a rain-soaked, lightning-shortened game wasn't pretty, but both sides played good, hard soccer in Glen Ellyn on Tuesday.
The Panthers struck first when Brittany Taylor busted behind the Raiders' defense on the dribble and buried one from close range in the game's 12th minute. Cochran answered four minutes later with her goal, and the Raiders went up 2-1 in the 20th minute when Dani Warner poked a ball between two defenders, ran it down in the box and went far post from 12 yards out.
The Panthers answered right back when Taylor worked a ball to the end line on the right side and centered a perfect feed to Courtney Swanson, who finished on it from 6 yards out.
"We had the wind in our faces the first half, and given that we struggled against the conditions, I thought we made some good plays," said Panthers coach David Stanfield.
"We scored off of two nice moves, and we've been doing that this season pretty regularly, so I'm pretty pleased."
Including a game against Downers Grove South in which the field lights failed, two of the Panthers' four games played thus far have been shortened. On Tuesday Stanfield applauded a good team effort spearheaded by the play of Megan Strawn, Jamie Stone and Jen Petrosky.
The second half saw roughly 20 minutes of action played before lightning flashed and the officials closed the book on the game.
Eggert was also pleased with the intensity put forth by his squad under soggy conditions.
"There wasn't any question that they played hard, but there just wasn't any way it was going to be a pretty game," he said.
"Kristen (Warner) and Dani (Warner) had good moments when they brought the ball up and made good decisions, and the whole team is starting to understand the need to play quickly."
For her part Cochran was happy to put a six-game wait for her first goal of the season behind her.
"That drives you nuts," she said. "Getting that (first) goal can boost your confidence and make you feel like you can do it again."