The Lady Dragon soccer team hosted the American Falls Beavers in their matchup on Tuesday, September 19 in what was a very intense and exciting game.  Although the score might not reflect the usual hope for the end of game result, it did highlight a huge feat for the Malad team.

   American Falls is historically a very intense, aggressive team that dominates their games both offensively and defensively.  Most often, there is quite a spread between their goals and those of their opponents, often shutting them out completely.  Knowing all this, the Lady Dragons stepped on the field to match their intensity, focus and aggression, surprising the Beavers and bringing a fight that they hardly expected.

In fact, the Lady Dragons dominated the opening half of the game with the ball on their side of the field for the better part of the half.  Once again, goalkeeper Aubrey Shulz had a number of incredible saves, keeping American Falls scoreless.  Over the game, Schulz tallied up a total of 23 saves on the Beavers’s goal attempts.

Coming into the second half, the Beavers managed to quick back to back goals and were sure they were on roll.  But the Lady Dragon defense stepped up and didn’t allow another goal the remainder of the game.  Joni Beck booted the ball with a power kick to the MHS goal, putting it passed the American Falls keeper and scoring one for Malad.  Despite great energy and play, especially over the last ten minutes of the game, The Lady Dragons weren’t able to find another opportunity to score.

Regardless of the 1-2 score, the game against American Falls was a big win as they held the Beavers to only two goals, truly impressive progress compared to their previous game where they allowed eleven.  Coach Shenell Clark shared about their match, “We played great as a team and it was overall a really good game.”