Freeman carves out spooktacular win

DAVENPORT – On a blustery Halloween night, the No. 1 ranked Freeman Scotties (14-0) rolled into town to take on the Gorillas (11-4) in a NE2B girls soccer game. The Scotties led by state scoring leader Rylee Russell's two goals defeated the Gorillas 3-1, Thursday, Oct. 31.

Freeman stepped onto the pitch, expecting to dominate the game with its team speed and aggressive, physical play. For much of the game, the Scotties did just that. Their stout defense thwarted several Gorillas' attacks before shots on goal could be made. The entire game, they pressured Davenport star Glenna Soliday, which sent her sprawling to the ground throughout.

Russell scored the first Freeman goal with a shot into the net six minutes into the first half. Freshman Nora Gass followed with another score to make the score 2-0 at the half.

In the second half, the teams played to a stalemate until Russell fired a shot into the net from 30 yards out for her second goal of the night. With 28:00 left in the game, Freeman led 3-0.

The Gorillas never gave up. With 2:00 left on the clock, Charlotte Soliday received a pass on the left side of the field. She dribbled to the right, juked to the left, and fired a shot into the net to score Davenport's only goal of the night.

Freeman won the game 3-1 which improved their record to 15-0.

"It was a very physical game," Davenport assistant coach Ashley Dunning said. "I'm really proud of the girls for standing their ground and for pushing through all the adversity. It was a good hard fought game."

Freeman head coach Dave Ellis was impressed with the Gorillas' effort.

"Glenna Soliday is an amazing player," he said. "She is phenomenal. Our strategy tonight was to contain her because she demands a lot of respect and is such a threat. But they've got other talented players too. We know that every time we play Davenport that we're in for a battle."

Russell was pleased with her team's performance.

"I think we did exceptional tonight," she said. "We played as a team every single second of the game. I think Davenport played really good too. Both of our teams brought energy tonight. Their passing was great, and Glenna and Charlotte Soliday did an awesome job."

The loss dropped Gorillas' record to 11-5. They will enter post season play after their last league game on Nov. 4.