IPSWICH — The Manchester Essex girls soccer team had dominated its first two games of the season, scoring 13 times without giving a goal. They were hoping for more of the season Tuesday afternoon when the Hornets hit the road to face rival Ipswich.
Instead, it was a contest that came right down to the wire.
Both teams exchanged goals in the final 10 minutes, ultimately ending in a 2-2 tie at Jack Welch Stadium.
It looked like it was the Hornets’ game to win when junior Sophie Hano put in a header in the front of the IHS net for her second goal of the afternoon, making it 2-1. But the host Tigers quickly responded with a goal of their own as sophomore Lola Morley put one in from deep to tie it.
Ipswich’s Sophie Magers gave the Tigers the momentum going into halftime with a goal from a corner kick that was placed perfectly and went into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Despite the goal late to make it a tie game, Manchester-Essex head coach Scout Grifoni was optimistic about her team moving forward.
“I thought Ipswich played very well,” said Grifoni. “It was a pretty even game. We came out in the second half fighting, trying to even the score, and then Ipswich responded. So credit to them.
“I think we have a lot of things that we need to work on, but, sometimes ties feel like losses and having that goal scored right after we came back to take the lead was obviously hard for us mentally,” she added. “But overall, it’s just an opportunity for us to look at what happened and look at what’s what’s going on in the field and make adjustments so that we can do better next time. That’s always a good thing about games like these.”
Ipswich led going into halftime, then fell behind in the second stanza before Morley’s tying goal in the late stages.
“It was a hard fought battle. It started off strong and then we let up a couple goals, but we battled and were able to respond quickly and get one on ourselves,” said Ipswich coach Hannah Weagle. “So we got to tie it up, then we just had to finish out the game strong.
The two goaltenders, Miranda Baran of Ipswich (5 saves) and Emerald Jakes of Manchester Essex (6 saves) both made some key stops.
In a game that had a lot of emotion and swings in momentum, Weagle noted that she had to keep her team under control.
“I was getting them to calm down and try and get in front of the ball or behind the ball,” she said. “And just relax, because when the pressure of the game wears down, then they all stress out and the ball goes crazy. So getting everybody to calm down was important.”
Ipswich will travel to North Reading High School Thursday for a 4:45 match, while Manchester Essex plays at the same day starting 15 minutes earlier.