The South Aiken vs Wren match was a tough one to watch as I am one of the Wren coach's close friends and a former Thoroughbred. The Lady T-Breds came out like a lame filly after what must have been a mind numbing three hour bus ride. Wren attacked early and had a number of missed opportunities in the 1st half. South Aiken had their own chances, but could not capitalize. Wren really looked to be the stronger, more organized team, attacking down the flanks with through balls and creating a lot of dangerous opportunities. South Aiken's keeper seemed timid in the 1st half, and the entire team seemed a step slow, save for #17 in the middle and #13 the sweeper.
Knotted 0-0 at the half, the 2nd 40 proved to be an entirely different match. South Aiken stepped to the ball and won, not in the prettiest way, almost all of the 50/50 balls for a 25 minute span. Both teams had attacked almost continuously in the 1st half, but South Aiken's speed on throw-ins began to give them the advantage as Wren's defense began to face more frequent tests. South Aiken scored first on a 1v1 with the Wren keeper hesitantly coming off her line as #2 for SA slotted an awfully slow outside of the foot shot into the back of the net.
Wren pushed hard for a few moments, led by #2 Anna Weldon, who put on a technical dribbling show for the next 10 minutes, and got the equalizer off a ball chipped in from the left side that bounced over SA's sweeper. The keeper was blocked by a Wren forward and Weldon slotted the ball into an empty net to tie the score with 15 min. remaining.
Wren was never able to gain momentum after their goal however, as SA quickly capitalized on a scrum infront of the Wren goal where the ball was poked in out of a crowd of players. Three minutes later, SA found the back of the net again on the nicest goal of the night, a dropping shot from the 15 from SA's Elena Bethman (#8?) that found the Wren keeper a step or 2 off her line at the wrong time.
It was a well played match, far more aggressive in the 2nd half than the 1st. Wren looked to be the more tactically efficient team in the 1st half, but did not catch any breaks when SA simply played harder in the 2nd. Ironically, from watching the 1st half it seemed SA's keeper would eventually be their undoing, as she seemed very unsure regarding her positioning, but it proved to be the Wren keeper who faltered as the game wore on.
Congrats to both teams. Playoffs are fun to watch when your team does not make them.
