Ladyjackets soccer finale

On Wednesday, October 24 the #6 seed Milton Ladyjackets rolled over the #11 Otter Valley Otters at home in a Division II soccer playdown. The lady jackets out shot the Otters 28 to 5 and improved their record to 10-5.

Milton controlled play from the opening whistle and looked to score early and often with a total of 18 first half chances. We looked pretty solid but I think we started to get a little complacent about the defensive part of our game. It was a total mismatch and we dominated play in every aspect.

Three first half goals secured the win for us; Kaylyn Pelkey got things started when she ripped a low shot from 20 yards out into the left bottom side netting. The next goal, a beauty, was started with a great run by freshman Danielle Hurley who beat an Otter Valley defender to the outside and picked out freshman Hillary Turner who was standing alone on the left corner of the six yard box. Turner one timed the ball into the net for her first varsity goal in her first varsity match. Not bad for a goaltender! Pelkey finished off the scoring with a well placed header from a long, 40 yard free kick from Heather Little. The half ended with Milton dominating 3-0.

I think in the second half we didn’t play with the same emotion and determination as we did in the first for which we paid the price. Although we still dominated play we really weren’t paying attention to the defensive part of our game. I think the ladies were so focused on scoring that the Otters took advantage of the opportunity. The Otter Valley goal started while Milton was pressing to score a fourth goal and we got caught with too many players deep in the offensive end. A fast break by the Otters resulted in a corner kick and a questionable PK call when Milton’s goaltender Ashleigh Adams landed on an Otter Valley forward after punching the corner kick out of the 18 yard box. The score ended at 3-1 and the Ladyjackets advanced to a big quarter final match against Harwood on Monday, Oct. 29.

In this match, played in Duxbury, Milton fell to the very mature #3 seed Harwood Highlanders by a score of 3-0. The first 35 minutes of the match was back and forth soccer with no real team advantage. It looked as though we would end the half in a tie 0-0 but we made a couple of defensive errors and in a two minute span we found ourselves down by 2. Harwood is a seasoned team with 12 seniors and 6 juniors and they demonstrated resilience under pressure. In the second half, I think play was pretty even until an unmarked Harwood outside half back broke free and sent a low shot to the far post from just inside the 18. It was a nice goal and well deserved. Milton had two great scoring chances; one from the top of the 18 when Heather Little broke free from a central defender and took a hard shot only to watch the keeper smother it. The other was the best Milton opportunity when Danielle Hurley took a pass inside the 18, beat the last Harwood defender and took a hard shot that the keeper dove to save. The rebound was then volleyed by Kaitlin Geary but sailed wide of the post.

The Milton Ladyjackets finish the year at 10-6 and are primed to start their indoor season which runs from November to March.

Seniors, thank you so much for all the memories from U14, U18, High School and tournaments we played in; you are a fantastic group of young ladies.

submitted by Doug Marek