The Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues defeated the Western Mass Lady Pioneers 1-0 on Saturday to stay undefeated and atop the W-League Northeast Division.
Angelika Johansson scored the game’s only goal in the 60th minute to help lift the Quickstrike Lady Blues. The goal was her eighth of the season, which ties her for the league lead.
Johansson was active all game and was unlucky not to have scored earlier. In the 25th minute, she flicked on a ball served by Ashleigh Gunning, but her shot went off of the crossbar. Then, Johansson had a penalty kick saved in the 30th minute that could have put the Hudson Valley ahead.
Western Mass seemed content to slow the game by getting numbers behind the ball, something that Quickstrike Lady Blues Head Coach Jesse Kolmel was very aware of.
"I think that a lot of teams are making the decision to sit in and make us play through them, so it is going to make games tighter," he said.
Kolmel said that halftime adjustments did help improve the home side, but also noted that he was disappointed with how many chances went unfinished.
Quickstrike Lady Blues midfielder Erica Stewart - who wore one of the captain’s armbands on the evening - also felt that the home team got off to a slow start.
"I think we had a lot of momentum coming into this game," she said. "We were really ready to bring a lot of energy and just go at them. We didn’t put enough focus on our attack right in the beginning. I think we were hesitant to just go at them in the beginning."
Although the Quickstrike Lady Blues would have liked to have finished more chances, they were still able to make Johansson’s 60th minute goal stand to improve to 6-0-1 (19 pts.) on the season and stay in first place in the W-League Northeast Division.
Next, the Lady Blues travel to New Jersey on Friday to take on the New Jersey Wildcats at 7 p.m. They return home on Sunday, June 28th to take on the Long Island Lady Rough Riders at 5 p.m. at Newburgh Free Academy.
