Home opener ends in tie break

By Daniel Nugent-Bowman

nuge0020@algonquincollege.com

Tamara den Hartigh wished she could have played that moment over again.

With the match tied 1-1 in the women’s home opener against the Durham Lords, the Algonquin midfielder was denied on a penalty kick in the 76th minute by keeper Ashley Visser. Den Hartigh’s shot was heading for the top right corner when Visser jumped and easily caught the ball.

Neither team would score another goal.

“I guess it’s just intimidating with all the fans and being the first home game,” said den Hartigh. “I got a little bit nervous. It looked like the goalie took a lot of the net. I guess I just choked a bit.”

Visser was just fortunate to get out of the situation unscathed.

“I was a little disappointed with my defence, but that’s what happens in the game sometimes,” she said. “Maybe if (the defender) didn’t take the penalty, they might have scored. Luckily it turned out in our favour.”

The penalty kick wasn’t the only opportunity that Visser had to be wary of late in the game. Thunder midfielder Ally Pross was stymied in the 89th minute when Visser dove across the net to block a mid-range strike.

“Their goalie made some amazing saves,” said Algonquin coach Garth Gittens. “As a soccer fan, you’ve got to applaud or appreciate good soccer and good saves. It just happens. We’d wished we’d scored, but she made some amazing saves.”

After an evenly played first half, the home side did manage to get on the board early in the second half when forward Stephanie Young directed a cross from the left wing from Pross in the 48th minute into the net, perfectly grazing the right post.

Durham responded 15 minutes later when midfielder Katie Watts headed the ball past Algonquin keeper Melissa Urquhart. The equalizer came much to the delight of Durham coach Vaso Vujanovic.

“It was a superb game for both teams,” he said. “All 90 minutes were up and down. They had a lot of healthy players, which we don’t have. That made a big difference in the last 10 or 20 minutes. I am pleased with taking a point from here.”

Visser agreed with her coach’s assessment.

“I thought our team played really well,” she said. “Algonquin is always a strong contender. Whenever we come here and play them, we’re always expecting a strong game and that’s what they gave us.”

The Lords came into the game sporting a 3-0 record, so even though the Thunder didn’t come away with the victory, Gittens was happy with his team’s play.

“It was positive,” said Gittens. “We did a lot of great things. I was expecting Durham to be as strong as they are. They are perennial provincial champs, so they deserve a lot of respect and we gave it to them because they are a very strong team.”

Pross, while content with the draw against the Lords, felt that there was room for improvement.