Roosevelt Girls Soccer Game Cut Short, Raiders Still Win 7-0

Since dropping the first game of the young season 2-1 to Walter Johnson, the Eleanor Roosevelt girls soccer team has outscored their opponents 25-0 over a three-game stretch. The most recent shutout, a 7-0 drubbing of Laurel High School on Monday, brought Roosevelt's current season record to 3-1.

Fresh off a 14-0 win against Bladensburg last week, Roosevelt showed no sign of letting up their scoring streak on Monday, scoring their first goal in just the second minute of the game against Laurel. The goal, contributed by junior Becky Sowers, was her first of three on the day. According to Sowers, she put in four against Bladensburg last Wednesday.

"We're picking up right where we left off on Friday. We're playing lazy," Roosevelt coach Marty Pfister screamed to his girls just minutes after the first goal. According to Pfister, despite the early goal he was not happy with his team's energy and execution early in the match as it resembled a lazy practice the team had held before the weekend began.

Just four minutes after Sowers' opening strike, Roosevelt senior Camille Richman put in a goal of her own. A second Richman goal in the 23rd minute of play made the score 3-0, where it remained upon the sound of the halftime whistle.  

Attacking the opposite goal in the second half, Roosevelt appeared more put together in the second half, completing passes and playing with a level of composure not apparent over the match's first 40 minutes.

Roosevelt struck for the fourth, fifth and sixth times between the 51st and 65th minutes thanks to the footwork of junior Amira Walcott, senior Kelsey Kanyuck, and the second strike from Sowers. Sowers' goal, arguably the most picturesque of the day, came off a short-cross assist from senior Lydia Epp Schmidt.

The completion of Roosevelt's sixth goal coincided with the visible frustration and deflation of the Laurel squad. Losing by such a great margin, senior mid-fielder Harifah Hendrickson never increased her velocity above a saunter as the game's final 15 minutes transpired.

Adding insult to injury, Sowers put in her third and final goal of the game in the 76th minute.

In an unclear unfolding of events, Laurel Coach Terry Parfitt found himself on the field in a heated verbal exchange with the referee following the final goal. Unable to calm Parfitt down to a reasonable level, the referees called the game in favor of Roosevelt, leaving the final four minutes unplayed.  

Despite the match's odd ending, Pfister had only kind words to say about Parfitt following the game.

"Terry has been coaching here forever and he's really the backbone of the county. I think the ref was upset that he didn't ask to come on the field, so it was just a technicality," he said.

Despite the victory, both Pfister and his players had mixed feelings about their performance.

"We played well in the second half but the first half was really sloppy," Sowers said after the game. "We weren't really connecting our passes, but we picked it up and we did well in the end."

According to Pfister, it was his halftime lecture which triggered the energy shift of the final 40 minutes.

"Sometimes in practice we're just not as focused and it carries over into a game," he said. "When you know you're going to put up a positive result it can be hard to stay focused as a team. I tried to tell them that at halftime and that's why we had a better second half than first half."

Roosevelt will play High Point at home in their next game on Friday.

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