By Rob Potter
HANCOCK — September 9, 2003 – Two goals by Patty Irish on Friday afternoon helped The Family School’s girls’ varsity soccer team win its first game ever.
The Lady Falcons played their inaugural match last Thursday versus Chester, which the more experienced Lady Hambletonians won by a final score of 7-0.
On Friday afternoon, however, The Family School outshot visiting Andes – a Section IV Class D team – by a 20-5 margin on its way to the milestone win.
The Family School evened its record at 1-1, while Andes fell to 0-2 on the young season.
Irish scored her first goal just five minutes into the contest. She sent a low shot to the left of Andes goalie Cassie Carson that found the back of the net.
The Lady Falcons kept the pressure on Andes for much of the first half, forcing Carson to make nine saves in the first 40 minutes of play.
With 32:35 elapsed in the second half, Irish scored her second goal. She gained control of the ball in the Andes end of the field and dribbled the ball just inside the right side of the goal box. Irish then kicked the ball high and into the far corner of the net, just past the reach of a leaping Carson.
The margin of victory could have been slightly larger for the Lady Falcons. Midway through the second half, the team had a goal waved off when the referees determined that a Family School player had obstructed an Andes player in the Lady Mountaineers’ goal box.
The Family School also was unable to convert a penalty kick earlier in the second half.
But the Lady Falcons and their co-coaches, Alex and Shari Carroll, were happy to record their first win – no matter the final score.
“Yesterday we played pretty well against Chester,” Alex Carroll said. “But Chester is a very good team. I told the team before today’s game to go out and play with the same intensity and focus as they did yesterday. We had that intensity and it led to our first win.”
“They’re doing very well for a first-year team,” Shari Carroll added. “We’re very proud of them.”
Family School goalie Nina Linn made 10 saves in the contest. Carson was credited with 23 saves.
While praising the efforts of the Lady Falcons, Andes Coach Sandra Baldauf noted that her team is improving.
“They made some good plays out there,” she said of her players. “We have a range of players, from seventh graders to 12th graders. Right now, the main goal is to get them to work together as a team.”