In their first meeting this season Grace Church used athletic, direct play to top the Knights by coming straight up the middle of the field. Their close control on the dribble opened opportunities to play the ball over the top and get in behind the LREI backline. Their goals came from breakaways and close range finishes. So the Knights were ready for that approach in this second meeting. They did a good job of clogging the space in front of their back four and preventing long balls behind the centerbacks. But Grace was able to use that same athletic play and those same long passes over the top to find space down the wings. Their goals in this game came not from close range finishing, but from deft chips over the top of goalkeeper Sofia Sharp from 20+ yards out. It’s an incredibly difficult shot to hit, but the Grace forwards found their mark three times in this game, with a fourth coming late on. The Knights certainly had control of the play for long stretches. Senior midfielder Olivia Roederer had one of her best games of the season, shredding the opponents backline to put her teammates into dangerous spaces on multiple occasions. She also had most of the best shooting opportunities, testing the Grace keeper with long range shots on multiple occasions. But the goalie had a phenomenal day and was always well positioned or had the jump on the chance. The Grace defenders were also quick and physical, able to close spaces or outmuscle the LREI forwards as they worked to find scoring opportunities that never seemed to come. The Knights lone goal came in the 66th minute. The ball began on the LREI right flank, and moved across to left winger Lily Parks. Parks pushed the ball up to center forward Charlotte Peyser, who turned her defender and found a yard of space just inside the corner of the box. She unloaded a right footed curling shot to the back post. As beautiful as the goal was it came too late to swing the momentum of the game. This was the final non league game of the 2019 season for LREI. Next up are the team’s final three league games, including matchups against current 3rd seed Leman on Tuesday the 8th, York Prep on Friday the 11th, and current #1 Dwight on Tuesday the 15th.