Alexander

Alexander had lost 2 in a row, both by 3 goal margains and was in desperate need of a win over Elba to avoid falling further off the pace in the GR Division 1 race.  They did just that with a 3-1 win over the Division 2 leading Elba Lancers.

Alexander went on top early in the game as 9th grader Julia Pettys (just recalled from JV) got a breakaway and fired it on net, it was saved by the Elba keeper, but Junior Anna Dominick ripped the rebound into the net to put Alexander up 1-0 10 minutes into the game.  The lead didn't last long as 5 minutes later as Alexander lost a 50/50 ball in their defensive 3rd on a goal kick and the ball was blasted into the net to tie the game at 1.  The 1st half was full of mistakes by both teams and ended 1-1.

Alexander came out much stronger in the 2nd half and it paid off 8 minutes in as Senior Rachel Pettys sent a cross in from the left side and Dominick beat the goalie to the near post and flicked it over the goalies head and into the net.  The goalie got her hands on the ball but was unable to keep it out of the net.

Alexander Goalie Hannah Wilson made the save of the game moments later as Elba Senior Chelsi Clark (the 2nd leading scorer in the league) sent a rocket on net from 30 yards out, but a leaping Wilson got both hands on it, tipped it into the air, and caught it before an Elba player could get her head on it.

Alexander iced the game with 7 minutes left as Rachel Pettys found her younger sister Julia on a through ball and the younger Pettys went in on a breakaway and calmly tucked the shot inside the left post to make the score 3-1.

Lost in the scoreline was the play of 8th grader Abby Shilvock who marked Clark the entire game and limited her to a handful of shots with only one being dangerous.  Shilvock, who is normally a midfielder, has really taken to her new role in the back and is taking a lot of pressure off of the rest of the defense by being able to take a player out of the other teams attack.

Alexander improves to 6-4-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the league and moves back into 5th place in the Class C Standings.  With 2/3 of the season gone Alexander is showing signs of improvement from their young lineup and if they can continue to show more poise on the ball they should continue to improve.

Alexander dropped a 4-1 decision to Wheatland in Wheatland on Monday to see their league record drop to 5-2-1 and overall drop to 5-4-1.  The halftime score was 1-1 after Wheatland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and Alexander tied it with around 10 minutes left to go in the first half.  The first half was very even possession wise but Wheatland had several chances that were saved by Alexander keeper Hannah Wilson in the games opening 10 minutes.

The 2nd half was a different story as Wheatland came out flying and never slowed down.  Wheatland buried a shot off a giveaway in the center of the field 10 minutes into the 2nd half and took only 4 minutes to make the score 3-1 after a great give and go that was finished off by Lauren Drago.  8 minutes after that it was 4-1 and the rout was on after Drago finished off her 2nd goal of the game.

Alexander struggled to complete passes in the 2nd half and Wheatland punished us for every mistake we made.  Alexander's best chance in the 2nd half came on a cross from Anna Dominick to Rachel Pettys but Pettys failed to get off a good strike and the keeper handled it easily.

Alexander's goal was scored by 8th grade midfielder Abby Shilvock.  Alexander finishes their 6 game in 10 day stretch Wednesday when they are home to Elba and are in need of a win to avoid falling further off the pace in the GR Division I race.  Wheatland improves to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the league and is undefeated against the Division 1 teams in their crossover games thus far.

For the 3rd straight year it was York versus Alexander in the finals of the Kendall tournament and for the 3rd straight year York took home the crown.  Most of the York lineup returned from the team that knocked off Alexander 2-0 in OT in last years championship game while Alexander returned just 2 starters and only three other players that saw action in the game but Alexander hung tough throughout the game.

For the 2nd straight game 8th grader Abby Shilvock drew defensive responsibilities marking #11 from York who is their leading scorer and limited her to only a handful of shots.  #11 managed to score the first goal of the game on a full volley after #8 won a header and there was not much either Shilvock or goalkeeper Hannah Wilson could do as she buried it in the top right corner of the net.  The score was 1-0 at the half.

In the 2nd half York got an early goal on a corner kick that was nearly headed in and the attempted clearance was fired into the right side of the net for a 2-0 lead.  York would pick up a 3rd goal about 10 minutes later as a ball was stolen on the right sideline and crossed into the center where an Alexander defender's clearance ended up in their own net for a 3-0 lead.

York kept the pressure up for the remainder of the game and Alexander managed to hold them off thanks to solid defensive efforts from the entire backline and goalkeeper Wilson who made 14 saves on the night.

For Alexander defender Savannah VanSon, Midfielder Tessa Bigelow, and Forward Rachel Pettys were named to the all tournament team while Abby Shilvock was named Defensive MVP of the tournament.  Fantastic performances were also turned in by Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson and Defender Gabby Kwiatek.

Alexander sits at 5-3-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the league going into another big week where they will face Wheatland (@ Wheatland) on Monday and Elba at home on Wednesday.

Alexander continued their recent strong play with a thrilling 2-1 victory in Kendall Friday night under the lights.  The game was a 1st round game of the Kendall tournament and Alexander will face off against York in the finals Saturday at 7pm.

Alexander didn't take long to get on the board as Senior Rachel Pettys blasted on home 10 minutes into the game off a pass from Anna Dominick.  Alexander came out strong and controlled play in the beginning of the 1st half.  Kendall started to settle down after the goal and got Sophmore Kaila Browe involved in their offense and forced keeper Hannah Wilson to make a leaping stop that went off the crossbar to keep the score 1-0.  Browe was in just her 2nd game of the season after being out with an injury.

The 2nd half saw some back and forth action with Kendall controlling the possession but failing to solve Alexander's defense.  8th grade Abby Shilvock was assigned to mark Browe for the majority of the game and did a great job limiting her chances with the ball.

With under 20 minutes left in the game Kendall got a corner kick and sent it into the middle.  Alexander failed on several attempts to clear it and the ball sat 8 yards off the line when Browe stormed through and blasted it into the net to knot the game at 1. 

The game appeared headed for overtime as neither team could finish off a chance at their 2nd goal.  With 90 seconds left Sophmore Autumn Atkinson played a ball to an overlapping Junior Leah Johnson who got the cross in front of the net on her 2nd attempt at it where Pettys was waiting to send the ball into the back of the net with 1:17 left on the clock.

Alexander managed to kill the time off from there and pick up the win.  It was a well played game by both sides.

Kendall will play Albion in the consolation game at 5pm and Alexander will play York in the championship at 7pm.  Alexander's JV team will play York's JV team in the finals of the JV tournament at 3pm after Alexander knocked off Kendall 4-1 and York knocked off Albion 3-1.