Milton, Georgia – In a highly energetic Friday night game, the Cambridge Lady Bears settled for a tie with the Milton High School Eagles, 1-1, on February 19, 2021.
The game started off with fast play and quick ball movement from both teams. Freshman, Natalie Leibel took a shot at the goal very quickly into the first half but did not find the net. Only 8 minutes into the first half, the Milton Eagles scored first from 10 yards out.
The Lady Bears tried to capitalize on Free Kicks throughout the first half, Junior Kate Leibel's attempt was too high, but just 5 minutes later, Junior Ella Ciardullo would take a low free kick that almost made it past the goalie, Kate Leibel followed up with a second attempt which was saved. The Lady Bears had several free kicks and a corner in the first half of play.
Lots of fast action continued, Sophomore, Katelyn Hardwick had a shot on goal that missed wide and Juniors Ella Ciardullo and Kate Leibel made several well played shots for no score. With 8 minutes left in the first half, Milton took the ball all the way down the field, worked their way past Goalkeeper Olivia Barfield and missed an open net shot. Kate Leibel fought through a Milton defender and made a pass to sister, Natalie Leibel whose shot to the goal was saved. On the opposite end of the field, the Lady Bears' Defenders worked quickly for a great half holding Milton to only the one goal.
With just 2 minutes left in the first half, Katelyn Hardwick made a good first touch pass on the ball to Sophomore Gaby Sanchez who passed it to Ella Ciardullo. The Junior took the ball up the sideline and made a perfectly timed cross from the right to Katelyn Hardwick who hit it into the back of the net. A beautiful team play up the field! Lady Bears tie the game 1-1 to end the first half.
Both teams came out for the second half wanting to win. The Lady Bears took the field fast and played with intensity. Senior Defenders, Kyndall Jenkins and Nia Worrell worked hard and were physical throughout the game. Milton took a corner kick 10 minutes in and they were denied the goal with a terrific save from Olivia Barfield. Gaby Sanchez crashed the net to follow up two goal attempts by Ella Ciardullo. With 5 minutes left in the game, Cambridge would take a corner kick that went well past the goal. The Milton Eagles tried to capitalize by moving the ball all the way back down the field quickly, finishing with a strong shot that missed the net.
With less than 30 seconds on the clock, the Lady Bears made a final aggressive push to win the game. Ella Ciardullo worked her way toward the net and came upon several defenders, as the clock ticked down, she found a way to get the ball to Gaby Sanchez who took a strong, hard shot on net with only 1 second left on the clock. The shot went just wide and the game ended in a tie 1-1.
Olivia Barfield would have a terrific performance with 4 saves on the night. Between the two teams there were 30 total shots at the goal, the Lady Bears taking 19 of them, but each team would only score once.
The Lady Bears will have to wait a year to settle this crosstown rivalry. For now, they go on the road for the next two games playing at South Forsyth on February 23rd and Centennial on February 26th. Their next home game is March 2nd vs. Chattahoochee High School.
Let's Go Bears!
