Kingsford ties Marquette 1-1
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KINGSFORD -- In a rematch of last year's U.P. girls soccer championship, the Kingsford Flivvers entertained Marquette on Thursday at Commemorative Field, and after 80 intriguing minutes of action, the defending champion Flivvers finished with a 1-1 draw with the Redettes.
Kingsford junior Erika Malone scored off an assist by sophomore Mia Counter with just over one minute left in the first half, while Marquette evened the match with a bit more than 18 minutes remaining on a goal by junior midfielder Hattie Britton.
The Redettes controlled the run of play throughout much of the contest, but the Flivvers (2-0-1) held strong behind the play of junior goalkeeper Alyssa Englund
"Alyssa Englund played a terrific game," Kingsford coach Jon Lorenzoni said. "She came up and met the ball several times and took away opportunities for Marquette and she was vocal back there. She was a good leader."
Marquette (3-0-2) misfired frequently on their strikes, but when the Redettes fired a shot on goal, Englund was there to deny. And the Flivver backline did its part as well against the dangerous Marquette forwards, including standout junior Bella Lorens.
They have some strikers with some talent," Lorenzoni said. "That Bella Lorens is like a little waterbug; she's fast, she shifty and she's good with the ball. And I thought our defenders did a really nice job for the most part."
Kingsford's defensive unit was comprised of centerbacks Brooke Bittinger and Lexie Vross, and fullbacks Sarah Scullon, Peyton Johnson and Abby Przeslakowski.
Offensively, much of Kingsford's attack came on the counter, often playing through midfielder Maria Fornetti. The junior was aggressive with the ball and creative with her movement.
As the first half crept inside two minutes before intermission, Fornetti dribbled through several Marquette defenders in the midfield and found Counter on the left wing. Counter then fed Malone, who pushed a shot past Marquette goalkeeper Kaitlyn DesParois' lower right corner to put the Flivvers up 1-0.
It was Malone's fourth goal of the young season.
"It was an nice pass through like that, and I was able to pull it off," said Malone, who was one of several Kingsford playing with muscle and tendon aches. "When I'm shooting, I try to aim for the corners, so I just aimed for that corner and it happened to slip by her hands and just go in."
Lorenzoni spoke of Fornetti's contribution to the goal.
"Maria Fornetti is phenomenal," he said. "She's the playmaker. She's the one who is setting things up. When we have a quality attack, nine times out of 10 it comes through Maria."
The Redettes, winners of nine of the last 11 U.P. championships, continued to attack in the second half. In the 47th minute alone, Marquette fired three shots on the Kingsford goal, two by junior forward Hannah Mason.
Finally, the Redettes broke through, courtesy of Britton, a sturdy player with a strong kick.
Both teams had chances in the final portion of the match, but the game ended in a tie.
The Flivvers, who are also missing sophomore forward Megan Bittinger, out indefinitely with a concussion, took the stalemate like a win given their youth and their medical issues.
"I'm very proud of us girls," Malone said. "We have a lot of players that are hurt right now and we're just trying to get by. We have a lot to do still, but I think as the season progresses, we're going to get much better."
"We had a couple of decent opportunities, but let's be real, they had more of the good quality shots and opportunities," added Lorenzoni, who called Marquette one of the best programs in the state. "We really gutted it out. We had kids going out there dinged up, we had some kids in a different position that they're not used to playing and because they were covering for other kids.
"I'm very proud of them. I felt like giving every one of them a hug after they came off."
Jerry DeRoche can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 247, or at jderoche@ironmountaindailynews.com.