Douglas- The Lady Apaches battled to a 1-1 draw this past Saturday against the visiting Scottsdale Artichokes. The Apaches were looking to avenge a 0-3 loss earlier this season.
The game started out very even as both teams looked to establish a rhythm in the game. Scottsdale had a great chance in the 27th minute which forced Venecia Alvarez into a great kick save on a 1v1 breakaway.
Cochise put together a couple of long passing sequences to try and penetrate the back line of Scottsdale. Ilene DeLeon came closest to opening the scoring for the Apaches when she beat her defender to the inside and ripped a shot that came back off the crossbar.
Scottsdale opened the scoring five minutes before halftime with a goal from a corner kick in the 40th minute. As the half closed the Apaches remained confident in their ability to regain the lead in the second half.
It only took 12 minutes into the second half for the Lady Apaches to reply with a goal of their own. Katie Gardiner scored her first goal of the year off some quick thinking. Larissa Lee danced her way into a shooting position and aimed her shot towards goal. Gardiner redirected the shot past the wrong footed goalkeeper to knot the score at one apiece.
The Apaches continued to push for the goal that would give them the lead, but were unsuccessful in their attempts. As the game reached overtime the Lady Apaches looked to have one final thrust to find the winning goal.
The winning goal never came and the Lady Apaches had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Cochise will continue play on Tuesday, September 29th against a very tough Mesa CC side who they beat in overtime 2-1 earlier this year.