BELLINGHAM - Squalicum goalkeeper Lauren Eckert perfectly planned her return to goal for the Storm's Northwest Conference matchup against Burlington-Edison on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Civic Stadium.
Eckert, who's allowed just six goals through 10 games this season, missed Squalicum's last two games due to an ankle injury, but she shrugged off her bum ankle to deny two great scoring chances by the Tigers, as the Storm battled to a 0-0 tie.
"Lauren played great tonight," Storm forward Kylie Garrison said. "She was awesome. There wasn't a decrease at all in her play after her injury. She came out strong and we definitely needed her tonight."
In a defensive game complete with a total of eight shots on goal, Burlington-Edison nearly broke through in the first half.
In the 48th minute, a Tiger midfielder struck a high ball that bounced over the head of all Squalicum's defenders and right onto the foot of Burlington-Edison forward Anna Griffith. Griffith, in a one-on-one situation with Eckert drilled a ball right into the hands of Eckert, who snatched the ball to protect the shutout.
In the 70th minute, Eckert ended the Tigers' attack once more.
Burlington-Edison midfielder Mariah Swanson took a free kick on the right side of the pitch from 35 yards out. Swanson played a high, lofting ball from right to left, which found teammate Kristen Garcia. As Garcia went to head the ball into Squalicum's goal, Eckert charged and seemingly snatched the ball cleanly off Garcia's head.
"I thought my defense did really well," Squalicum coach David Kish said. "They always do well for us, and I thought Lauren did great in goal."
While the Storm's defense encountered little trouble with Burlington-Edison's attack, Squalicum struggled with its own offense.
The Storm was unable to placed a shot on goal until the 50th minute, when Garrison narrowly missed a deflected shot attempt on a well played ball from Storm defender Lauren Wallace.
Wallace booted a high, lofty pass into Burlington-Edison's scoring box and Garrison positioned herself perfectly.
With Wallace's pass traveling downward, Garrison stuck her foot out and managed to barely nudge the ball but didn't put enough behind her touch to seriously threaten Burlington-Edison's goalkeeper Allee Reichlin's ability to stop the shot.
"(Wallace) played a perfect ball to me," Garrison said. "I just fell back onto my heels a little bit but it would have been a great scoring sequence."
Squalicum's Sarah Byron and Gracie Slater created the Storm's second best scoring chance of the match in the 65th minute. Slater beat her defender down the right side of the pitch, sprinted with the ball until she was 10 yards out from goal and played a cross from right to left to Byron. Bryon couldn't get a clean look and passed the ball back to Slater, who placed a shot on frame that fell into the hands of Reichlin.
"I don't think we played like ourselves tonight," Kish said. "Burlington-Edison is a good team, and I think we played into them early on. We were just kicking the ball into their defense, and they were eating it up and spiting it back out. The second half, we got a little better."
Squalicum faces Anacortes next at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Civic Stadium.
SQUALICUM 0, BURLINGTON-EDISON 0
Shots on goal: Burlington-Edison 5; Squalicum 3. Goalies (saves): Burlington-Edison: Allison Perry (0), Allee Reichlin (3); Squalicum: Lauren Eckert (5).
