SNN Staff
Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 10:34 am

The Tidewater Sharks battled but could not quite pull out the win against BuxMont Torch in their final home game. Photo Credit: Tidewater Sharks

Women's Soccer News: Tidewater Sharks Lose Home Final to BuxMont Torch

The Tidewater Sharks closed out their inaugural Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) season on Saturday afternoon, July 7, with a 4-2 loss to the BuxMont Torch at Cooley Field. Coming into their final match the Sharks were unbeaten at home (2-0-2), with the hope of continuing that streak. Unfortunately for the hosts, the visiting Torch had other ideas.

The Torch got on the board early with a goal in the 6th minute and continued to pressure the Sharks defenders and control the tempo of the game throughout the first half. After struggling to find their form, Sharks forward Lauren Gough finally beat two defenders and the BuxMont keeper in the 40th minute to level the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.

"Although we just didn’t have it today, we were able to equalize before the half and gain much needed momentum." said Sharks coach Kevin Darcy. "I was hopeful that Lauren’s goal would propel us to take hold of the match in the second half, but unfortunately we were not sharp today and BuxMont was.”

“I have to give the Torch a lot of credit as they played very well today and deserved the win,” Darcy continued. “We were hoping to end the season unbeaten at home, but I am pleased with our efforts this season and excited about the future of our franchise in the WPSL. Our players put out a great effort today despite the heat and a good team but it just wasn’t our day overall."

The second half started much like the first as the Torch scored the go ahead goal five minutes in to take a 2-1 lead. BuxMont pushed the lead to 3-1 midway through the half on an own goal by the Sharks before Tidewater’s Jodi Knorowski scored a blast in the 81st minute to pull within one goal at 3-2. The Sharks pushed forward in an effort to equalize but were caught in transition, giving up the fourth goal for the final 4-2 score.

"That was a tremendous build up and goal by Jodi, and at that point we decided to push for the tie,” said Darcy. We had moved to 3 defenders in an effort to get more players into the attack and knew we increased the risk to give up a goal in transition. This was our last match and we were at home, so it was an easy decision to go forward and try to get the result – but unfortunately it didn’t work out."

The Sharks end their inaugural WPSL season with a 2-1-2 record at home and a 0-4-1 record on the road for a final record of 2-5-3 and 9 points.

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