By Kevin Cunningham
Correspondent
Despite solid efforts, the Delavan-Darien High School girls soccer team remains winless thus far in the spring season but the coach said the team continues to show growth including holding two area teams to ties in recent matches.
On April 16 the Comets played Badger at home and the game resulted in a tie. Badger was 4-2 overall going into that game.
“There were some offensive opportunities. But, it was mostly defensive. We did score on a corner kick, but it was called back because they said the ball went out of bounds first. It was really defensive, though. They had a really quick forward up front, so we were focused on the defense. We were pretty happy with the result,” said Comets head coach Mike Marse.
Two days later, Delavan-Darien got another tie, 2-2, against Wilmot Union on the road. The first half went Wilmot Union’s way, as the Comets faced a 2-0 deficit, but they responded with a couple goals of their own later.
Emma Gonzalez was assisted on the team’s first goal by Alexa Plomares, and then Minerba Rodriguez scored the Comets’ second goal.
“We had a pretty spirited conversation at halftime. We played really bad in the first half. It was just a really bad first half. The first 15 minutes, we played well. But, they had a quick forward that got away and scored a goal. Then, it was a flashback to last year where we gave up. They scored another, and then at halftime, we talked about it,” Marse said.
“We came back in the second half and probably should have won it. We had a penalty kick that got blocked and then a free kick that went off the crossbar. The second half, we played really good. The first half was horrible, but, the girls knew it. Like I’ve said, without timeouts, there’s not a whole lot you can change until halftime. That second half, we certainly played better.”
The Comets are now 0-2-3 overall five games in and have another month left of games until the conclusion of the regular season.
“To me, losing is a habit, and we’re getting out of that habit. Losing’s a habit, just like winning is a habit. If we continue to grow and play better for a full game, we’ll win a game pretty soon,” Marse said.
“I think we’re going in the right direction. There are a lot of games this last month where we should be able to win. Conference-wise, I think there are a lot of teams around our ability,” he added.
See more Delavan-Darien sports in the April 25 Enterprise.
