Girls Comeback For Thrilling Victory

In the early going of the first half of the big South-West Conference showdown between Brookfield (6-1, 5-1) and Immaculate (5-2, 3-2) it was all Lady Mustangs.  Their potent offense was in high gear and their swarming defense was causing havoc for the Lady Bobcats. 

To make matters worse, it was raining and the wind was howling on the IHS Field making it brutally cold.

In the tough hostile conditions Brookfield found themselves down 7-2 and on the ropes.  Not willing to go quietly they ratcheted up their defense and unleashed their own offensive weapons.  In the final 10 minutes of the half the Lady Bobcats reeled off six straight goals to take an amazing 8-7 lead into the break.

"It took us a little while to get our heads into the game," Brookfield head coach Kary Rodgers said of the slow start.  "They have so many good players on their team, we knew it would be a good game."

In the second half both defenses stepped up the intensity and Brookfield was able to hold on for a spirited 11-10 win.  With the game tied 10-10 junior midfielder Emily Leonard scored the game-winner, receiving a pass from junior attacker Kathryn Marron for a breakaway goal.

"I saw it coming one-on-one, I faked and shot it," Leonard said of the breakout opportunity.  "We all wanted it.  Teamwork is what won this game."

The goal from Leonard was her fourth in the game.

"We wanted this one really bad," senior captain Jackie Brown said.  "We were down but we knew we could come back.  We were ready for it.  We needed to step it up and play our game."

Brown helped lead the surge back by turning the draw possession game around.  In the early going Immaculate was gaining possession, allowing the Lady Mustangs to get into their offense.  Once Brown and the Lady Bobcats were able to control the draw they were able to slow Immaculate down and get their offense going.

Leonard and Marron scored the two early goals to keep Brookfield in the game.  Then the Lady Bobcats got a goal from junior attacker Kelsey Zimmerer to start the rally.  Leonard added two more and Brown scored three in the late stages of the first half.  Zimmerer and Leonard assisted on two of Brown's goals.  Freshman goaltender Kelly Grady made a nice save just before the horn sounded to preserve the lead heading into the break.

Zimmerer's contributions were especially big considering the team is still playing without top playmaker, senior captain Alexa Foldy.  Foldy suffered an ankle injury that has kept her out of two games.  The team hopes she can return next week.

"She is kind of mad about it," Brown said of her injured teammate.  "We took her anger out on the field and kind of played for her."

Marron scored early in the second half to give Brookfield a 9-7 lead before Immaculate rallied to tie it 9-9.  Brookfield then took advantage of two Immaculate penalties that led to a yellow card and a red card for the home team.

After the yellow card gave Brookfield it's first player advantage Marron netted her third of the game for the 10-9 lead.  The Lady Mustangs were able to tie the game once again after receiving the red card that put them down a player for the remainder of the game before Leonard delivered the knockout blow.

After Leonard's late-game heroics the Lady Bobcats were able to gain possession off the draw and run the final two minutes of the game out.

"Everybody played great," Rodgers said.  "The goalie was awesome, the defense was awesome. Nobody's a star on this team. It was a total team effort."

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