The Mavericks surprised themselves by scoring three times in the first half in Sunday’s showdown against the Morinville Ladies in the St. Albert Women’s Soccer League.
“It’s unusual for us because we’re usually a second-half team so it’s nice that we actually picked it up in the first half,” striker Lindsay Hornung said after the 3-1 win by 2012 division one pennant winners and playoff cup champions at Forest Park field.
Suzanne Schulz, last year’s Golden Boot Award winner as the top division one scorer – 17 in league play, two in the playoffs, plus seven at provincials – tallied in the 13th minute and late in the first half.
“We really wanted to push Morinville pretty hard,” said Hornung, who potted her own rebound home in the 28th minute. “We were first to every ball, which is really important, especially to win the air balls. We were also making good passes and not just kicking it and trying to chase.”
Morinville struggled to get its offence into gear until Mel Duro kicked in a breakaway goal in the 67th minute and then almost scored in the following minute against Karen Seward of the Mavericks.
“We got outplayed in the first half and that's why we lost basically,” said goalkeeper Danielle Lafond. “As we went to the ball we weren't thinking we were going to get it. We had more of a defensive mindset so that’s how we played. We weren't pushing up because we were too stuck on our end.
“I think we just needed to be a little more offensive.”
Duro also just missed hooking a shot into the top corner of the net in the 72nd minute and with under 10 minutes remaining Suzanne Douziech almost buried a ball past Seward.
“In the second half we definitely pulled up our socks,” Lafond said.
Credit the vocal shot stopper for keeping the score respectable until Duro’s goal woke up a sleepy Morinville attack. After a strong first half by Lafond, she thwarted at least three glorious opportunities by the Mavericks in the opening minutes after the break and then watched as Hornung and Jen Bruinsma booted the ball over the net from prime scoring range on consecutive scoring chances before the 57th minute.
About two minutes before Duro scored, the diminutive Lafond nearly leaped out of her cleats to swat away a rising ball by Bruinsma, the Mavericks’ leading scorer this season with six goals.
The Morinville Community High School graduate praised the team’s defensive formation for limiting the amount of saves she had to make.
“My defence always helps me. I really like the way we play with a sweeper and a stopper,” Lafond said. “My defence stops them most of the time but sometimes you have to pull off the tough saves.”
The loss was the fifth in a row against the Mavericks after Morinville beat them 5-2 in the second-last game of the 2011 regular season to grab sole possession of first place in the standings.
Both teams were 2-0 to kick off the season.
“We always know whenever we step into a Mavericks’ game it’s going to be tough,” Lafond said. “Luckily we showed up to play in the second half.”
Last year Morinville placed second at 11-4 after winning the 2011 pennant at 17-0-1.
Last season the Mavericks finished 16-0 in the regular season and playoffs combined and their only loss in 20 matches was at the Tier IV provincials. The 2-1 setback against WSC Storm, a Tier 4 Atterbury division team in the Edmonton District Soccer Association, was in the last round robin game to determine the playoff pairings in the medal round. The Mavericks went on to edge Static FC, the first-place division 3C team in the EDSA, 2-1 for bronze. It equalled the highest finish by a SAWSL team at provincials, when Morinville brought home bronze in Tier IV in 2005.
“Our intention is to do as good or better than last season and if we make it that far that's great,” Hornung said of the team’s quest for provincial gold. “We certainly don't want to go backwards. We really want to keep our tempo up. We just have to work hard at getting back into our groove and these first few games are sort of what that is about.”
The Mavericks are a talented and cohesive unit with multiple players on the roster from the team’s fourth-place finish at the 2010 Tier IV provincials after posting a 17-1 league record.
“We approach every game the same way and that’s try and put in our best effort, but the most important thing is we’re having fun. That's why we stay with it,” said the 30-something Hornung (nee Anderson), a Paul Kane High School alumna and former St. Albert Flyer.
Morinville will once again challenge the Mavericks for first place and a provincial berth with a solid mixture of youth and veteran players like Duro, Douziech (nee Gaetz, the 2011 Golden Boot Award winner) and captain Amy Suggitt in the midfield.
Key pieces of the puzzle – Angie Laboucan up front and Cherisee Gunderson in the backs – also turned in solid efforts against the Mavericks.
“We just have to get our rhythm again,” said Lafond, 21. “We have the same core team as we’ve always had and we can rely on them because you know exactly how they play and can anticipate what they’re going to do. The young ones just have to learn how we play.”
