The Pilot News - Rockies shoot down Concord

The Lady Rockies finished Monday’s Northern Lakes Conference game at Kindt Field with a prolific 21 shots on goal compared to just 10 by Concord. Plymouth had taken a 2-0 advantage by halftime, and the Rockies turned the heat up even further in the second half, pressuring the Lady Minutemen with shot after shot, including six straight in a 10-minute span following the visitors’ lone goal of the night.
Middle forward Samantha Scheetz scored two of Plymouth’s three goals for the night off assists by attacking mid Brittany Davis — who got off several nice shots of her own, although she couldn’t find the back of the net — and Trisha Neidlinger in the 26th and 44th minutes. She was also credited with an assist on Plymouth’s first strike in the eighth minute, as winger Brandi Witmer cleaned up a previous Scheetz attempt, changing direction to trip up Concord goalie Jordan Murphy and dribbling it in casually from close range.
“We were able to get some speed up front,” said Feece. “I was real happy with the intensity that Sam and Tessa (Parsons) and Brandi and (KaLyn) Hirschy, when she was in there, brought to the table. It seemed like every time we took a shot Witmer was all over that goalie, which was good.”
“Some of those runs up the middle were just fantastic,” he added. “They were calling for the ball and getting to the ball. I was very, very pleased.”
Minutemen goalie Murphy made some sharp saves in the net for the visitors, finishing with 17 total, and Plymouth keeper Nikki Butcher also had an impressive showing with 10 saves of her own.
Butcher likely would have finished the night with a shutout if not for a perfect penalty kick off a Rockies hand ball in the box during the 63rd minute. Concord’s Kaitlyn Horner took the kick, an arcing chip shot that Butcher got up on but couldn’t stop as it banked in off the crossbream for Concord’s only score of the night. Plymouth’s junior goalie also saved an earlier free kick in the 47th minute, as minutemen forward Sara Tomasbi took the shot, and Butcher made a quality jumping catch to hold the score at 3-0.
“Butch came up big time with two big stops,” Feece said. “There was nothing she could have done on that penalty kick. It was just perfectly placed right underneath the bar, but she came up with a couple big stops.”
The Rockies stay perfect in the NLC at 5-0-0 with Monday’s home win. Although Plymouth is the conference frontrunner with no ties and no losses in the NLC, the team will play another unbeaten conference team when it hosts Wawasee Thursday. After that the Rockies close out their conference schedule with a match at NorthWood next Tuesday, so depending on the outcome of those two games, Plymouth could clinch an outright 2008 NLC title within the next week.
We’ve got NorthWood, and Wawasee on Thursday, and that’d be it,” said Feece. “Hopefully, we’ll get that conference. Thursday’s pretty much everything, but it doesn’t lighten up much. NorthWood beat us last year 2-nil, and they’ve got pretty much everybody back this year, so they’re going to be tough.”
Plymouth’s JV also won Monday, blanking Concord 3-0.
Stephanie Rosas, Samantha Webster, and Kylie Ludwig all scored for the JV Rockies.
• PLYMOUTH 3,
CONCORD 1
At Plymouth
FIRST HALF
P — Brandi Witmer (Nicole Scheetz) 8th minute
P — Scheetz (Brittany Davis) 26th minute
SECOND HALF
P — Scheetz (Neidlinger) 44th
C — Kaitlyn Horner (PK) 63rd
Shots on Goal: Plymouth 21, Concord 10
Saves: Nikki Butcher (P) 10, Jordan Murphy (C) 17
Fouls: P 19, Concord 14
Records: 10-0-1, NLC – 5-0-0
JV game: Plymouth 3, Concord 0