LINWOOD — The Mustangs came out flat but eventually got things moving, scoring 2 goals while dominating the second half to top the visiting Falcons 2-0 in a Cape-Atlantic League girls soccer game.
Mainland played host to Oakcrest on Wednesday, Sept. 29, in a rematch of the season-opener for both teams back on Sept. 9.
The Mustangs won that first game 5-1, getting goals from Julie Kaes (2), Alyssa Turner (plus 2 assists), Hannah Cipkins and Camryn Dirkes. This time it was Emma Karver and Dirkes putting the ball in the net for Mainland, both assisted by Kaes.
Mainland had some quality chances in the first half but the final touch continued to elude the girls.
Dirkes, a senior who’s the team’s leading scoring (6), missed an open net about 35 minutes into the first half and the Mustangs had another great chance amid a mad scramble in front of goal just a couple of minutes later.
“It’s frustrating but it’s also encouraging because we know we are like just there, we’re so close. It doesn’t have to be a pretty goal. It can be a messy goal, just put it in the back of the net. Anything you can hit it with, just get it in. It’s just more motivation to keep going and keeping poking them in there,” Dirkes said she was thinking at the time.
Head coach Chris Meade saw the first half as a time of missed opportunities.
“Taking advantage of chances is always the difference in games and when you get those you have to take advantage because you never know when they are going to come,” Meade said. “If we take advantage of our chances I think we are looking at a different halftime score and it takes the pressure off.”
Whatever he told the girls at halftime worked, as the Mustangs controlled the ball and the tempo of the game in the second half.
“We started a little bit slower than we thought we should have,” Dirkes said. “At half time we were talking about really making better runs, rather than reacting being proactive and just pushing forward because we knew it was just a matter of time.”
Karver, a junior, opened the scoring with 26:23 left in the game, knocking the ball past Oakcrest goalkeeper Gabbie Gibson amid a scramble in front of the net. It was her third of the season.
The goal seemed to ease all of the tension in the players, who started making crisper passes and smarter runs.
“After we got that first one I noticed our momentum changed a lot and we were able to keep the ball a lot more,” Dirkes said, noting the team kept possession for about 45 seconds straight once.
“We were just knocking it around trying to find the best run, so it was just a matter of time,” she said.
Continually frustrated by the Mustang defense, the Falcons collected a total of three yellow cards for egregious fouls, with Kylie Foggan getting two — one for pulling the neck of a player’s jersey — and being ejected. Gabby Dittus got the other.
Dirkes finally put the game away with just less than 7 minutes remaining, getting around a diving Gibson and scoring in the open net off a pass from Kaes.
“I felt like if we kept pressuring and doing good things and put them on their heels that we would knock a couple in and that’s what happened,” Meade said.
He was not overwhelmed by the performance.
“Overall our defense was solid. We’ve been working on minimizing mistakes and playing solid, so I’m proud of that,” Meade said. “Offensively, we talked about our movement off the ball and communication are two keys that we wanted to have and I thought it got better as the game went on but we didn’t do that as much and I think it left us being a little flat,” he said.
The Mustangs improved to 5-1-1, having lost to Ocean City High School and tied Shawnee High School in an out-of-conference game. Through Sept. 29 the girls have scored 23 goals and given up 6, 3 to the Red Raiders. Dirkes leads the team with 6 goals and 3 assists, Kaes has 4 goals and 5 assists and Jane Meade has 3 goals and 1 assist.
Oakcrest fell to 2-6-1.
Gibson made 16 saves for the Falcons while Mustang goalkeeper Genevieve Morrison made just 1.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff