Huskies head coach sees need for more aggressiveness, physical play
Déjà vu was in the air Thursday evening, as George Brown’s women’s team lost 5-0 to the Niagara Knights for the second time this season.
Evenly matched for much of the first half, Niagara’s goal off a corner kick at the 45 minute mark proved to be the game’s turning point. The tally came off a ball which lingered in the Huskies box, until Knights forward Alex Pasco headered it home.
From there, the floodgates opened. After Pasco scored twice more, she was joined on the scoresheet by midfielders Bethany Langendoen and Emily Babcock. For Pasco, who hasn’t scored since Niagara’s season opener against George Brown, the goals came as something of a relief.
“It was a long time coming for me,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities in the last few games, and it was finally nice to capitalize on these three.”
Soccer is a game of moments. 44 minutes of relatively even, 0-0 soccer can be instantly erased by a regrettable goal, and more importantly, the effect that goal has between the ears.
“We gave up a poor goal at a crucial time of the game, go into the halftime with our heads down and now you’re behind the eight ball,” said Huskies head coach John Williams. “It’s tough to play soccer behind the eight ball.”
In Niagara’s goal to open the scoring, Williams sees an area of need for George Brown: willingness to fight for a ball. It’s not that he wants players to create fouls or cross the line. Rather, Williams is looking for a little more aggression on the field.
“You need some players that are going to be in there to put in a hard tackle every now and again, and just let (opponents) know they’re not going to be always pushed around,” said Williams. “We get pushed around quite often with the girls.”
According to Huskies midfielder Julia Kassner, who played goalkeeper for the first 37 minutes until regular netminder Kelsey-Jane Lamprecht arrived, the team is in a different place from where it was to begin the season.
“We actually held them (for) quite long. At the end we sort of gave up and they just kept scoring and scoring,” said Kassner. “But I think we’re getting better as a team, and hopefully we go further from here.”
