It was a close one, but the Girls Varsity squad fell to Milton in a fast-paced, physical match that went down to the wire on Friday, Feb. 23rd.

After 10 minutes of back-and-forth in the midfield, Milton brought some heavy pressure to the Bears' end of the field. The defense held strong, with keeper Hannah Morrone notching several saves. The Bears had their chances, too, with freshman midfielder Chloe Ford just missing a nice long-range try near the end of a scoreless first half.

The scoreboard finally changed 9 minutes into the second half when Milton scored on a breakaway that caught the defense off guard. The seesaw struggle continued in the midfield until another breakaway ended with a penalty kick for Milton, bringing it to 2-0 with just 15 minutes to go. But the Bears weren't done…

With 12 minutes left, senior midfielder Mary Koch got control of a deflected shot in the box and caught the Eagle keeper off her line, slamming in a goal and bringing it to 2-1. Unfortunately, the Eagles answered a few minutes later with an easy header off a corner kick.

Still, the Bears didn't quit. They played hard and kept up the pressure, enduring some rough play and interesting refereeing (including, perhaps, a missed penalty in the box). With under five to play, junior forward Hannah Behner made a nice turn past two Eagle defenders and hit a beautiful goal from about 12 yards out, bringing the Bears back to within one, but it wasn't their night.

The loss ends a two-game win streak, following victories over Etowah (4-1) and Wesleyan (6-0), and losses to Roswell (0-1) and Mill Creek (0-1) earlier in the season.

Their next game is Feb. 27 at Dunwoody (5:55PM), followed by a home game vs. Centennial on March 2.  

Go Bears!