The Bermuda National Women’s coach and her staff used a mixture of Under 15, Under 17, Three Seniors and Two Under 20's at the Clyde Best Center of Excellence Field to overcome a entertaining challenge from the visiting Goucher College.
Goucher College out of Baltimore would have felt comfortable in the rather cooler condition, but it was the Bermuda Select who got on the board early, in the 10th minute Aaliyah Nolan who proved to be a handful each time she was on the pitch beat her marker cut into the box and laid the on for Keunna Dill to score from close range.
The rest of the half, both teams were creative in the middle of the park, but failed to string anything together in the final third.
In the second half both teams dominated for short periods before the game came to life for the final 10 minutes, a handball in the Bermuda box resulted in a penalty being awarded to Goucher College, but the spot kick was saved by the Bermuda Select goalkeeper Micah Pond.
Minutes later Bermuda would go ahead 2 – 0, a foul committed by a Goucher College defender resulted in a free kick from some 20 yards out, Nolan stepped up and put her left footed shot into the back of the net.
Naquita Robinson the Women’s National Coach said, “The idea behind these matches is to give these girls matches. These games give us an opportunity to see different players in different positions. With the upcoming Under 15 tournament it also gives some of our stronger Under 15 players an opportunity to play against so good opposition.”
“Goucher was a good match up for us as we were able to see both attack and defense. The players played at a high tempo for the majority of the match which was encouraging. The girls have been working more on their technical skills and tonight showed a great improvement in their ability to not only receive the ball but make a great pass also. The girls are comfortable on the ball and doing what we asking of them. Tomorrow we will be making a few changes. Have a look at some other options,” concluded Robinson.
