By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – In a back-and-forth, Fox River Classic Conference matchup Monday, May 24, the Green Bay Southwest and Green Bay Preble girls’ soccer teams couldn’t settle it after 90 minutes of play.
The Hornets saw a late lead disappear in a 3-3 draw.
In the 79th minute, Preble forward Ivory Donald, a four-year starter, managed to get ahead of the Southwest defense on a fast-moving play.
Donald showed great playmaking ability, getting control of the ball in traffic on a full sprint, and tapped one past Trojans goalie Lucy Lindstrom for a 3-2 advantage.
With less than a minute remaining, a wild sequence in front of the Hornets net saw goalie Sumedha Hill deflect one header attempt by Southwest, but moments later, Maddie Marchant tied it 3-3 on another header.
“As a team, we’re growing,” said Preble head coach Adam Ropson. “From a coach’s perspective, when we went down 1-0, we came back to tie it. When we went down 2-1, we came back to tie it. We’re learning. In the first or second game of the season, we might have struggled to come back. Now, we’re more competitive. It was a fun game against a quality Southwest team. It was fun to be a part of – it just hurts to lose the lead late as we did.”
Both teams controlled the ball evenly for the first 20 minutes, but the visiting Trojans scored first on a shot from Mallory Kerhin.
The Hornets weren’t on their heels for long, though, as Lauren Rank tied the game 1-1 three minutes later.
With time winding down in the first half, Preble put pressure on Southwest’s defense, and the aggressive play led to a shot from Johanna Thompson, but Lindstrom turned it away.
Southwest attacked to close the first half, and it resulted in Aubrie Selsmeyer getting an opportunity, but she got bumped off track by the Hornets’ defense before she could shoot.
Southwest striker Ella Siegle fired a deep shot that hit the top bar and bounced in for a score 18 seconds into the second half for a 2-1 lead.
Preble responded when Paige Lahtela, sandwiched by two Southwest defenders, managed to get the ball up the sideline and put a shot past Hill in the 47th minute to even the score, 2-2.
Lahtela was injured on the play but returned later in the game.
It was even playing for the next 30 minutes, as neither squad could put together a possession that ended with a decent scoring chance.
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