On October 4, the Varsity Girls Soccer team played a home game against the Gettysburg Warriors. After a hard fought game, the Rams came up short losing to the Warriors 3-1.

The game ended up being longer than usual due to a 30 minute weather delay in the first half.

Senior left wing Elizabeth (Lizzy) Pistoria said, “I think we all could of played so much better. We just got in our heads, which stopped us from playing our best.”

Coming into this game, the Girls Varsity Soccer team has played one of the best seasons in memory, resulting in postseason play.

“We have slowly progressed, but this year we have just been doing so incredibly good and we are all so proud to be apart of the KDGS team,” said senior outside defender Mackenzie Young.

Gettysburg started the game with possession and was able to get the ball down near the net early. Soon thereafter, Gettysburg had a corner kick, but no goal resulted.

After the Gettysburg scoring chance, the Rams took it into Gettysburg territory briefly, but not close enough to where they could take a shot on goal.

A little less than a minute after the quick start to the game, Gettysburg took the ball back towards the net again. This time, Gettysburg took advantage of being so close to the net, scoring a goal to take the early 1-0 lead with a little less than ten minutes played in the first half.

Soon after the Gettysburg goal, the Warriors had no trouble getting the ball back into Rams territory. However, the Rams defense was able to take the ball back towards midfield.

Not only did the Rams take the ball to midfield, they were able to get it near the net. In that possession, the Rams offense was in Warriors territory for an extended amount of time.

Also in that possession, the Rams offense took two shots on goal, but did not score on either shot.

A few minutes later, Gettysburg got the ball back around the net. The Warriors had their fair share of shots on goal on that possession as well, but came away with no goal.

Gettysburg had the ball back near the net a few more times within the next few minutes of play, but the Rams’ defense kept the Warriors from scoring.

That great defensive effort gave the offense a chance to tie the score. However, the Gettysburg defense matched the Rams’ defensive effort, not letting up any goals on that Rams’ possession.

A few minutes later, the Rams were advancing the ball towards midfield, and Gettysburg suddenly took the ball back towards the net. Not many defenders were back to stop the Warriors offense, and they took the ball all the way to the net.

However, junior goalie Abigail Wiland made an incredible save to keep Gettysburg from scoring on that possession.

The Rams eventually got the ball back towards the net and took a shot on goal. The shot nearly went in the goal, but ended up just going over the net, the score remained at 1-0.

On the Warriors’ next possession, they nearly scored, but defender Brianna Mack did a great job of keeping the ball away from the net. Gettysburg had another opportunity, but could not score.

With about 25 minutes played in the first half, Gettysburg took the ball deep into Rams’ territory, and scored to extend their lead to 2-0.

The Rams also got back towards the net, but missed on two shots on goal. A couple of minutes after the near Rams’ goal, the referees called a delay due to thunderstorms in the area.

About 30 minutes later, teams came back out of the locker room to warm up and continue the game. After five minutes of warm ups, the game got back under way.

Gettysburg started with the ball coming out of the weather delay, and rain began to fall, coming down hard.

Young said, “The rain is a huge inconvenience to play in, while it may be fun sometimes, trying to run down the field and settle the ball is very difficult when the rain is pelting you in the face. Playing on wet grass is much harder, because when you go for the ball and immediately slide into mud it is extremely frustrating. Plus, running on wet grass can definitely slow you down.”

Pistoria also noted that the ball rolls much better on dry grass and the rain also makes throw ins much more difficult.

Both teams fought for possession around midfield, and Gettysburg ended up getting the ball down near the net.

Then, junior right wing Cloe Thoericht took the ball near the goal in Warriors’ territory, but the Warriors’ defense took the ball back before Thoericht could get any closer to the net.

The Rams played equally as well defensively on the next Gettysburg drive as the Warriors did on the previous Rams’ possession. The Warriors could not get to the goal until a couple of minutes later.

However, Wiland prevented Gettysburg from scoring once again, keeping the score at 2-0.

After the save, both teams fought for possession around midfield for the last few minutes of the first half.

Gettysburg did get the ball near the net once more in the first half, but they did not score before the end of the first half leaving the score at 2-0, with the Warriors in the lead.

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Starting the second half, the Rams had possession but had to fight to keep it.

The Rams did keep possession and took it into Gettysburg territory and kept the ball around the net, yet no goal resulted from that possession.

Then, the Warriors briefly took the ball over midfield, but the Rams were able to get the ball back to the net.

With about ten minutes played in the second half, the Gettysburg defense took the ball, and the offense got down near the net. Then, the Warriors scored again, and led 3-0 at that point in the game.

After the Gettysburg goal, the Rams started with the ball, but once again had to fight to keep possession. After a few throw ins from both teams, Rams advanced the ball back into Gettysburg territory and kept it around the net.

Even with a corner kick, the Rams still could not score on multiple chances during that possession.

After the Ram’s corner kick, the Warriors’ defense was about to get the ball out to their offense when the Rams got penalized for pushing.

Showing great teamwork, the Rams defense stole the ball from the Warriors offense around midfield, and got the ball out to their own offense.

For about the next five minutes, Gettysburg had a lot of scoring chances, but the Rams’ defense did a great job of not giving up any more goals.

Shortly after the prolonged Gettysburg possession, the Rams got the ball around the net and missed on a close shot. About a minute later, Gettysburg did the same on offense.

With the ball, the Rams offense got a throw in about 1/4 of field distance away from the goal. The offense missed another close shot on goal, but they remained with the ball.

Then, with no time left in the game, the Rams get on the board with a goal. That Rams’ goal cut the Warriors lead down 3-1.

After the Rams goal, with about a minute left in the game, neither team advanced the ball anywhere close to either of the goals.

Gettysburg then sealed the 3-1 victory over the Rams.

“I think the field and the fact that we had just had a rough game the night before played a huge part in why we lost, we were all tired and not as fresh as we could have been if we would have had another day of rest,” Young said when reflecting on the game.

Even though the Rams lost by two goals, they did get their fair share of shots on goal. The Rams seemed to have close to or more shots on goal than Gettysburg, so a win or overtime was possible.

“I think that we all definitely tried our hardest to score and sometimes that is just how the game flows, there are times when you have a million opportunities to score but only come away with one or two. But there are also times when you get five chances to score and come out with five goals. I think the weather conditions also played a role, because kicking the ball on a wet soggy field is much harder,” Young said.

Even with the loss against Gettysburg, the Rams still qualify for district play in the postseason.