The St. Albert Impact Premier tied 2-2 with the Sherwood Park Dreadnoughts in the United Cycle Premier division of the EDSA on Tuesday.
“It’s frustrating coming out with a tie,” said Impact team captain Jessica Rankine. “We just needed a little more focus in the first half.”
At first, the two teams seemed to be an even match-up. The final score was reached in the first half as Brittany Boe (No. 2) and then Tessa Green (No. 4) each managed a passionate goal to keep the team in the game.
Suddenly the Impact began putting the Dreadnoughts on the defensive just before entering the second half. One half-time discussion with the coach later, and the difference was night and day for St. Albert.
“The team figured out what had to be done,” said St. Albert Coach Brian Murphy. “We play very well as a group which is what we have to continue doing in order to be successful.”
The Impact seemed to have ball possession for the entirety of the second half. With this shift, they received a lot of opportunities at their opponent’s goal.
However, despite maintaining a strong offence for the rest of the match, St. Albert just couldn’t break the stalemate.
“There were too many errors in the first half,” said Murphy. “We were unfocused, didn’t possess enough, gave the ball away, and gave up a lot of goals as a result.”
Murphy attributes their slow start to a new system they’ve implemented and have been fine-tuning. In their previous games, it has been par for the course to have a poor first half followed by a strong second half.
“I feel that this match kind of reflected how our season’s been so far,” added Rankine. “It would have been nice to finish on a lot more of our shots.”
While they’ve had experience playing together, they’re still getting used to the system and the first-half hiccups are a result. All it takes is a meeting to make the slight adjustment and the team really kicks into gear.
In their previous tournament match earlier this month, St. Albert was blown away 0-6 by Calgary’s North West United team. The Impact had also won and lost another two matches before then.
The St. Albert Impact Premier will play their next match with the Edmonton Warriors at Confederation Park on Tuesday, May 26.
