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THE PLAINS — One of the worst feelings in the world is to have something you want come to you, only to watch it slip right through your fingers.
Most of the time, how one responds to said instance often speaks louder than the instance itself. That was the case for the Athens Bulldogs on Tuesday evening.
Athens found itself leading 1-0 in the second half of Tuesday’s matchup with Unioto. The Shermans had yet to record a shot on target until 21:17 left in the second half, when Eliana Myers fired a shot right into the hands of Athens keeper AJ Knapp.
Only, the ball slipped right right through Knapp’s hands and into the net for the game-tying goal.
The Bulldogs could’ve hung their heads and dwelt on the mistake. But they chose a different path.
Knapp followed the miscue with two very big saves, setting up the Bulldogs for scoring opportunities on the other end. On the heels of a Quinn Murphy hat trick, Athens (6-3-1) fought its way to a 4-1 win over Unioto at Joe Burrow Stadium.
“There were a lot of moments where we bounced back. There were moments where we could’ve let it get in our heads and knock us down, but we didn’t,” Athens coach Nick Bohuslawsky said. “AJ came back out and had a great save on the free kick right after, and Quinn was able to get it rolling with the goals. All around, I like the fight and the ability to see the moment and come back from it.”
Athens got on the board early when Murphy found herself with the ball in the open field. With no one standing between her and the goal, Murphy capitalized on the opportunity to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at the 23:24 mark in the first half.
Though the Bulldogs could only muster one goal, their defense held its end of the bargain, limiting Unioto to only one shot in the half and preserving the lead into the break.
“We struggled to get goals early, and our defense is what gives us the confidence to keep pushing,” Bohuslawsky said. “It’s nice that we can reward them when we get a couple goals and take the pressure off of them.”
Although things came to a standstill through the front end of the second half, Athens had some opportunities to extend its lead. Murphy had the ball on a breakaway with 33:37 left, but was chased down by a pair of Sherman defenders who prevented her from taking a shot. A few more chances would come for Athens but to no avail, leaving the door open for Unioto to make things happen later on.
The Shermans (3-7) later worked the ball into their attacking third, setting up Myers for a shot with 21:17 left. After Knapp dropped the ball on the save attempt, Unioto found itself deadlocked in a tie game.
After such a devastating goal, Athens — specifically Knapp — could not have responded any better.
“I’ve seen a lot of keepers in my experience really get in their head and yell at their team for things, and I’ve never seen it come out positively,” Knapp said. “I’ve always tried to keep my composure. Even though that was a disappointing goal, I had to realize that we we’re still at 1-1 and still had a chance to get up there. If I sit back there and pout all day, they’re going to score another one.”
With 18:18 left, Myers set up for a free kick, looking to give the Shermans the lead.
This time, however, Myers’ shot was corralled by Knapp, setting Athens up to go to work offensively. Desperately searching for a difference-maker, the Bulldogs turned to Murphy, who delivered with 14:42 left, scoring off an assist from Emma Molde to give her team a 2-1 lead.
Unioto tried to answer moments later, but Knapp again stood firm. Once again, Myers fired at the goal but was denied as Knapp deflected the shot out of bounds. In a matter of minutes, all hope that Unioto seemed to find had now vanished.
Athens wanted to give itself a cushion late, and it did just that. After its defense prevented Unioto from finding the attacking third, the Bulldogs got an insurance goal from Andie Corrigan, making it 3-1 with 3:23 to play.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
With her team seemingly running away with the match, Murphy would put the nails in the coffin with 1:04 remaining, sinking her third goal of the evening to finish off a hard-fought 4-1 victory.
“We played with a lot of intensity for the first 20 minutes, and then we started to drop off. At halftime, we said that we were a better team than this,” Murphy said. “I think the last 20 minutes was really good soccer from us. We locked in and we played like a team.”
Unioto attempts to get back on track on Sept. 26 with a home date against Marietta. Meanwhile, Athens makes a trip to Warren on Thursday for a rematch from Aug. 27 — a 5-0 win for the Bulldogs.
“I want to see us try and put games away a little quicker than what we did tonight,” Bohuslawsky said. “We don’t want to save it until the last minute. We’ve shown that we have the capacity to do that, so we just have to make it happen now.”
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