Soccer: Clarion Downs Ridgway

(By Clarion Area Girls Soccer Coach Chris Schonbachler)

The past two weeks have been full of challenges for the Clarion Bobcat Girls Soccer Team. 

An unfortunate string of injuries saw them making the trip to Ridgway on Monday evening (September 20th), with 6 of their starting 11 unavailable. 

After working through a slow start that put Ridgway ahead 1-0, Clarion settled in and controlled ball possession for a majority of the first half.  The trio of Lexi Coull, Anna Gribik, and Joyce Kim created numerous scoring chances, which just missed the finishing touch.  Finally, their hard work paid off when a Coull cross found Kim open on the left side for a tap in goal, evening the score at 1-1. 

Clarion started the second half with renewed energy. Soon it was Allison Acey crossing the ball to Kim for her second goal of the evening.  The Bobcat extended the lead to 3-1, when Anna Gribik passed the ball to…guess who..Joyce Kim.  Kim struck an incredible shot from a low angle that bent into the upper right corner of the goal.  Hat Trick Joyce Kim.

The Ridgway girls did not give up without a fight to the end.  After closing the gap to 3-2 they fought hard for every 50/50 ball and forced Clarion to play solid defense for the final 10 minutes. 

The highlight of that defensive stand was backup goalkeeper Madilyn Baker stopping a powerful Elker shot at point blank range.  That save re-energized an exhausted Clarion squad and helped them close out Ridgway, with a 3-2 victory. 

The team will travel to West Branch on Saturday (September 25th) before returning home on Monday (September 27th) for a doubleheader against Forest Area with the Clarion/Cl boys soccer team. 

The win on Monday improves the team’s record to 2-5.

(Thanks to Coach Schonbachler for this article. Great work, Clarion Soccer!!!!)