It was such a memorable day for the AFC Ann Arbor women’s team, as they defeated Detroit Sun 1-0. The effort from Suzuho Yamasaki made it possible to clinch their second victory in the league, the third of the 2019 campaign as a whole. The Mighty Oak ended their first home season in a meaningful way.
It was a thrilling first half for The Mighty Oak who dominated for most of the 45 minutes. Devyn Brough opened up the match in the 6th minute with a solid shot after finding a mistake from the Sun defender Rachelle Topolewski which went wide. AFCAA then fired some shots to test the keeper, Katelyn McEachern, but none of them went into the net. The best opportunity of the half came in the 43rd minute again from Brough. She made a solid challenge against Zoe Hudson when faced with the one-on-one opportunity, but the effort went over the bar, unfortunately.
The Sun didn’t just sit back and watch The Mighty Oak attack. Gabriella Mencotti was a threat to AFCAA defense as she managed to create two one-on-one opportunities, in the 39th and 45th minute. Victoria Norris made a solid tackle to prevent a shot in the first threat and the second went high up. The scoreboard kept silent throughout the first half: 0-0.
The first twenty minutes of the second half were full of more chances by The Mighty Oak. Katie Vitella on the right side stroke a strong right-footed shot in the 50th minute but it got deflected by the keeper. Vitella, after seven minutes, then swerved a brilliant cross which found Devyn Brough on the left side. Brough controlled well and fired a volley but it was well saved by the keeper.
AFCAA finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a great effort by Suzuho Yamasaki. A mistake from a Sun midfielder was well detected by Yamasaki, who then dribbled about 15 yards forward and finalized with a solid right foot contact, in the 59th minute. AFCAA tried hard to find a second goal through two newcomers, Emily Eitzman and Caroline Flemming, but they were unable to do so.
The last ten minutes of the match were a hard mission for The Mighty Oak defense to keep the scoresheet clean. Tracey Mccay, a substitute for the Sun, attempted two long range shots in the 83rd and 87th minute, but the first was well defended by Victoria Norris, and the second stroke the post.
The solid defensive effort made possible for the team to earn the first clean sheet victory of the inaugural team’s UWS league season, made even sweeter by avenging a 2-4 defeat suffered at the hands of the Sun at the beginning of the season. Although our home odyssey has come to an end, the season is not over. The women are back in action next Friday, June 28th, as the team make a trip to Indiana to face the current second-place holders of the conference, Indiana Union.