Germantown Academy's Emily Williams - PSD Photo
If there was ever such thing as a “good loss,” this might have been it.
Although there was plentiful emotion exhibited by several disappointed players during Friday afternoon’s post-game handshake, Germantown Academy’s 3-2 Inter-Academic League loss to host Episcopal was, in reality, just a very good regular-season slugfest.
It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if the two soccer juggernauts eventually end up in the league championship a month from now.
“Episcopal is a great team,” said Germantown Academy junior Emily Williams, whose Patriots lost for the first time this season. “For a long time we struggled to get the ball into the net. We got close but weren’t able to finish. It was frustrating.”
Meanwhile, the Churchmen seemed well on their way to victory after taking a 2-0 lead on goals by junior Molly O’Brian and senior Jess Shanahan. That’s when Williams served notice that said “not so fast.”
Halfway through the second half and despite struggling with shin splints, Williams finally gave Patriot fans something to cheer about when she broke EA’s shutout bid and now trailed, 2-1.
Instead of playing cautiously, however, Episcopal continued to play aggressively. Talk about playing with reckless abandon.
Germantown Academy comes close to tying the game.
Germantown Academy attempts to tie the game again.
After several near misses by Germantown Academy, the Churchmen regained a two-goal edge when Shanahan scored her second goal of the contest.
“That was tough because we had just finally scored and had some momentum, but that was a challenge after they scored that third goal,” said Williams, who exited the game with the score 2-1 and, limping noticeably on the sideline, did not return. “We needed to dig deep.”
Unbelievably, the Patriots did just that. A goal by freshman Katie Hackley cut the lead to 3-2. Against all odds, GA wasn’t dead quite yet.
“Give them credit. They kept coming at us,” said Shanahan. “Two goal leads should be enough. Both times, they got two within one. Maybe it took those goals to wake us up.”
When the whistle concluded play, both squads were thoroughly exhausted. Episcopal was relieved. Germantown Academy was emotional.
The Patriots will have another chance to redeem themselves as the two teams meet again on November 10 at Germantown Academy.
Bring some popcorn.
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)
Germantown Academy is very emotional after a hard fought match.
