If soccer were scored on possession, Tuesday鈥檚 triple-A senior girls matchup at Goudy Field in Langford would not have been close.
Instead, the visiting Reynolds Roadrunners managed a 1-1 draw against previous Lower Vancouver Island standings leader, the Belmont Bulldogs, on their home turf.
Brooklyn Mayoh, off a cross from Marisa Livingstone, gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage about five minutes before the half-time break.
Kate Worthy replied off a counter-attack just a few minutes into the second half for the Roadrunners.
From that point on, the Bulldogs presented themselves with numerous scoring chances.
鈥淲e were unfortunate not to get a result today. You have to finish your chances,鈥� said Belmont coach Bud Livingstone. 鈥淲e gave up a lot of counter-attacks just because we were pressing forward for the win.
鈥淲e had lots of opportunities, we just didn鈥檛 finish and that鈥檚 what the game is about. You have to bury the chances you get.鈥�
Kathy Forbes, whose speed and shiftiness caused the Roadrunners fits, had an excellent opportunity that squeezed through the hands of Reynolds goalkeeper Tilly Hadley 50 minutes in. Trickling toward the net, the ball was cleared by a defender.
Just minutes later, Livingstone sent in Forbes, who opted to feed the ball off to Kristen Livingstone, whose shot went wide.
Belmont finally looked to go ahead as Marisa Livingstone 鈥� off a setup from Forbes 鈥� made it 2-1, but it was whistled down late on a questionable offside. Marisa Livingstone then had at least three more chances, but couldn鈥檛 quite cash in.
The best opportunity was on a penalty kick in which she rocketed the ball off the crossbar. It came back out and Livingstone headed it in, but the ball was not touched by any other player, which meant a disallowed goal.
鈥淯nfortunately, we didn鈥檛 have anybody crashing the net,鈥� said coach Livingstone. 鈥淪he got her own rebound, which she can鈥檛 do. That鈥檚 just one of those things. We鈥檙e still learning.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy with the start of the season,鈥� added coach Livingstone, whose team remains undefeated with two ties to go with three wins (one, versus Vic High, does not count in the standings). 鈥淭here are a lot of Grade 10s on the team and they鈥檙e fitting right in. They鈥檙e listening and moving the ball quickly, which is keeping other teams off-balance.鈥�
Yet, they were close to losing it late Tuesday as Worthy, off the side of the net, and Michaila Frawley, had opportunities for the Roadrunners, who had to be delighted with the tie.
鈥淏elmont is a strong team and I was impressed with them, but I was also impressed with our girls,鈥� said Reynolds coach J.J. Atterbury. 鈥淲e were a little short-staffed today, but they worked hard for one another and defended well as a group.
鈥淲e looked to counter [attack] today and it worked once for us and almost worked a couple of other times. Considering we didn鈥檛 have our full squad today, with injuries and what-not, we were happy to come out with a point against one of the stronger teams in triple A.鈥�
The Roadrunners have a win, two ties and a loss (the latter to Stelly鈥檚) so far this season.
Stelly鈥檚 鈥� which lost 2-1 to Belmont earlier this season 鈥� took over top spot Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over Spectrum.
The league playoffs begin May 2 with the Ryan Cup quarter-finals. The Ryan Cup final goes May 9.
