Sandy girls soccer’s late flurry falls short in 2-1 loss to Gresham

Published 9:46 pm Wednesday, October 4, 2023

With 7 minutes left in a close game, and Sandy girls soccer trailing Gresham by a score, the Pioneers strung together a flurry of chances.

First a corner kick nearly found its way into the back of the net, but was saved off the line by Gresham sophomore Reese Heffler on a header at the post.

Then Sandy freshman Alix Flowers and senior Abby Safe both had shots veer just wide of the goal. Finally, with less than a minute left, the Pioneers sent the house on a last corner kick.

The ball bounced across the box, and sophomore Dalicia Saucedo had a chance, but couldn’t redirect it toward the frame on the volley.

The Pioneers lost 2-1 in a back-and-forth battle on the road against Gresham Wednesday, Oct. 4, in an early Mt. Hood Conference match.

Both teams scored in the opening minutes of the match.

First Gresham sophomore forward Aniya Lomax broke past the defense, which she would continue to do all night, with a mixture of strength and speed.

Her initial shot was saved by Sandy freshman keeper Hannah Winans, but it ricocheted back to Lomax’s feet for the easy score.

Four minutes later the Pioneers answered. After a botched clearance by the Gophers’ backline, Sandy senior midfielder Shelby Simon got the ball on a breakaway, calmly slotting it for the 1-1 tie.

Both Gresham and Sandy thrived on those deep, direct balls in the early going, relying on the attacking speedsters to win the 50-50 challenges.

After that exchange of goals, the Pioneers dominated possession through a majority of the first half. A trio of shots, including one by Flowers that was tip-saved by junior goalie Kyla Martin, nearly gave Sandy the lead. But Gresham counter-punched.

Lomax slotted a through-ball to junior midfielder Annastasiia Rudomanov, finding her in stride near the edge of the box. Rudomanov worked a bit of magic — a beautiful, arcing shot that went over the outstretched arm of Winans in what would be the game-winner.

Game Notes

• No one was thrilled by the officiating, with the Pioneers visibly frustrated as they felt the missed calls piled up. For the Gophers, the annoyance came with the clock. With 50 seconds left, after stopping it for a ball retrieval on that near-corner kick shot, the official forgot to restart time, leading to about 20 seconds of free-play for the Pioneers.