Westwood Girls Earn Hard Fought Tie With Panthers

On certain days a tie can feel like a win, and for the girl’s soccer team that winning feeling came in the form of a 1-1 tie against their undefeated rival Holliston, Tuesday evening in Westwood.

Ebru Hazar scored a beautiful ‘finesse’ goal with seven minutes left in the second half, to spurn a Holliston victory in a game in which the Panthers controlled the midfield in a physical match, where the referees appeared to leave their whistles at home.

“She is a poised player,” said Westwood Coach Tim Chant of Hazar. “That’s not the first finesse goal I’ve seen her score.”

The Panthers scored their only goal in the first half, when a collision with Westwood goalie Nadine Taghian allowed Lindy Kyger’s shot from 20 yards out to roll in the net at the 20th minute.

It was clear that the size of the Panthers front and back lines would present a problem for Chant’s girls in creating opportunities and winning the 50/50 balls in the midfield.

“We have some physical players that move well on the field together,” said Holliston head coach Kristina Kern, whose team remained unbeaten at 2-0-1, following wins over Millis and Ashland.

Coach Chant’s solution to the Panther pressure was instilling midfielder Sheila O’Sullivan midway through the first half and immediately the Wolverines were able to contest some balls in the midfield.

“We got a real injection of intensity with O’Sullivan going into the midfield,” said Chant. "She is a ball-winner and she picked up our intensity and toughness.”

Said Holliston sophomore forward Jordan Bynoe, “We really wanted to beat Westwood. After they scored, we panicked a little.”

The action in the final 10 minutes of the game was that of a championship fight, as both teams went end-to-end with ample scoring opportunities.

Holliston's Courtney Adams had a strike to the far post, but the Wolverine's Taghian made a diving stop to keep her team within a goal.

Hazar also had a breakaway late, down the right sideline, but Panther goalie Allegra Sacco came across the field to breakup the play and save one of the best scoring opportunities for the Wolverines all night.

“We knew it was crunch time, we were going to jump on any opportunity we got,” said Hazar. “When the ball goes forward everyone is running up.”

Hazar’s goal came on a beautiful assist from Caitie Reilly, who fought for the ball and was able to head it over to Hazar’s foot.

 “She fought so hard for the ball, she lost it at first and went right back and got it again,” said Hazar.

The Panthers had numerous corner kicks in the final minutes, but the Wolverines, which had dropped their previous two games to Medway and Bellingham by scores of 1-0, were able to fight off the attack of the Panthers to get the well-earned tie.

“Both teams are good teams, and it was a tough tie and a tough goal to go off on,” said Kern. “But we had some opportunities . . . at times I thought we were trying to do things individually instead of as a team.”

The Panthers are, however, not concerned with the draw, and expect to bounce back and be a perennial Tri-Valley League contender.

“I know we will bounce back,” said Kern.

Meanwhile, Chant knows he has his hands full in finding the scoring punch on a very under sized front line.

“Every night is a battle," he said.