A very much depleted TSCH 97G Richardson finished league play in PLW on Saturday afternoon last with a win against the Lonestar San Antonio 97 by a score of 2-1. The win secured  a 4^th place finish in PLW for the team in its inaugural PLW season.

Played on a  very wet field and in very windy conditions, both teams attempted to play passing games despite the underfoot conditions. TSCH 97G adapted quicker to the field and created several scoring opportunities before the breakthrough goal arrived midway through the first half. After winning the ball in midfield Regan McQuaid played a through ball for Allie Kennedy to race on to and after taking a single touch Allie finished to the net to  give TSCH97G the lead.

Despite creating additional chances towards the latter stages of the first half TSCH97G took a one goal lead into the half time break. Lonestar started the second half intent on scoring and put the TSCH97G defense under tremendous pressure. The equalizing goal arrived 10 minutes in when a clearance fell to a Lonestar player just outside the penalty area and the first time shot flew past Regan Hall in the TSCH97G goal. At 1-1 and with strong breeze behind them Lonestar began to control the game and it took some resolute defending by the TSCH97G backline to keep the score level.

The central defensive pair of Hannah Arning and Tiffany Jones aided by Bri Demuth and Kay Chapman stood strong against the Lonestar offensive onslaught. Gradually the TSCH97G midfielders, lead by the tough tackling and hard running Abbey Rutherford along with the passing of Caitlin Moore, began to play their way back into the game and the lead goal arrived courtesy of a penalty kick. A great run at the Lonestar defense by Piper Cannon ended when she was tackled by 2 Lonestar defenders after breaking clear in the box. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Rachel Van Fosson drove the resultant spot kick high past the Lonestar keeper to give TSCH97G the lead. After the goal the game opened up even more and there were several chances at both ends of the field. The TSCH97G front pairing of Rachel Van Fosson and Riley Graham were holding the ball well and several times they released their wide midfielders Allie Kennedy and Lauren Parker to run at the Lonestar defence.

Despite creating the chances there were no more goals and at the end the rain sodden TSCH97G’s were delighted with the win. Their PLW record was 4 wins 3 ties and 2 losses, with the loses both at the hand of the teams that finished 1 & 2 in the league.

Coach Richardson was very happy with the win and especially the teams performance on the day. From coach Richardson “Both sides deserve great credit for the manner in which they played today as the conditions were more reminiscent of my home countries (Ireland) weather than Oklahoma’s. The win was a great finish to our season, adding to the recent tournament success in at the Norman Classic. To go through league and tournament play losing only 4 games all season was a great achievement for this team. We have a break now to get some of our players healthy again as we were down to 13  players for today’s game. After the Christmas break we will begin our  preparations for the State Cup championship, and I am very confident that this team will be challenging to bring the state cup to TSCH.” For the fall season the team played 24 games with 12 wins 8 ties and 4 loses.

The TSCH 97 G Richardson roster: Regan Hall, Kay Chapman, Bri Demuth, Tiffany Jones (captain) Hannah Arning, Abbey Rutherford, Caitlin Moore, Camrie Hurst (captain) Allie Kennedy, Lauren Parker, Piper Cannon, Katie Lopez, Riley Graham, Rachel VanFosson, Regan McQuaid, Madison Ohman, Kyndal Slator, Kathryn Huff.