By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Preble girls’ soccer team finally got its signature win.
Preble scored one goal in each half to post a 2-0 Fox River Classic Conference victory over Notre Dame Academy April 16 at Ted Fritsch Field.
Goalie Ileaha Anderson made 16 saves in net for the victorious Hornets.
“This was a big team victory for us,” said Preble (6-1-1 overall, 1-0 FRCC) head coach Adam Ropson. “They’ve beaten us by a big margin in the past, so it felt good for these girls to forget what happened the last few years and focus in on these 90 minutes.”
With shots fairly even through the game’s first 30 minutes, Preble’s Lily Sinkler broke free on the right sideline with 10 minutes remaining in the first half and curved a shot into the extreme right part of the net for a 1-0 lead.
“I was very surprised it went in,” said Sinkler. “I tried to send it in on goal, and it just happened to find the back of the net. I think it gave us the confidence we needed at the end of the first half to know we could play with Notre Dame.”
Down 1-0 at the break, the Tritons (3-1, 0-1) peppered the nets to start the second half, but Anderson remained strong in net for the Hornets.
“I wish we would have played with the same intensity in both halves,” said Notre Dame head coach Bob Rickards. “It’s a younger team and they played the last 45 minutes without hesitation. Despite not scoring, coming out of the break, we got many good looks.”
Sinkler was awarded a penalty kick in the 68th minute after getting fouled in the restricted area.
She calmly put home the kick for a 2-0 lead.
The physicality of the game then ramped up as two Preble players were given yellow cards for their play on the field.
“I can’t put into words how well our defense and goalkeeper played in the second half to preserve this victory,” added Ropson. “Anderson played defense first before making the change over to the net. She has that voice that gets the girls in the right spot. We need to build on this and keep moving in the right direction.”
Box score
Green Bay Preble: 1, 1 – 2
Notre Dame: 0, 0 – 0