Torpedoes rally from loss but cannot overcome Yellowjacket Thunderfoot

Dateline: October 10, 2009.  Playing with a full complement for the first time in several weeks, things looked good for Torpedoes this morning despite less-than-ideal conditions.  With a 2-2 record, Torpedoes opponent was evenly-matched with an identical 2-2 record.  But the muddy conditions slowed Torpedoes natural speed advantage and tipped the match to the team with the better defense.

Center Helen Leboe, absent last week, started the match off right with a goal in the first minute.  Goalie Emma Nikolai had a number of nice blocks on high kicks to the corner.  The Yellowjackets retaliated with their own goal, just before halftime, and the match was knotted at one each.

The Jackets scored another goal late in the third quarter, and that was the end of the scoring.  Team Mothers faced a lot of muddy laundry, but there would be no rally for the Torpedoes.

But the story of the match was Mary "Thunderfoot," an oversize Yellowjacket defenseman that blocked shot after shot, rally after rally, barely allowing the ball into the Jacket end for three full quarters.  She hammered the ball with every kick, breaking up breakaways and keeping the ball away from the much-faster Torpedo forward.  "She was always in the right place," said Coach Nikolai.  "She was everywhere," said Laboe.

Nikolai is looking to Coach Paul Steadman for help next week, as he travels out of state and leaves the team to Steadman.  "Last time you got us our first loss," he told Steadman.  "Try to do better this time, or you're fired."