Pembroke and Alexander squared off in Pembroke Monday with sole possession of 1st place on the line and Pembroke came away with a well earned 1-0 victory in a hard fought game. The 1st half saw only two real scoring chances, one by Pembroke which rang off the crossbar and one by Alexander that was blown offsides (quite possibly incorrectly) on a direct kick from midfield. Pembroke had the better of the posession in the 1st half but neither team generated many good looks on the goal.
The 2nd half was a highly entertaining half which saw both teams create several scoring chances with none finding the net. Alexander's 8th grade defender Abby Shilvock had Pembroke's top scorer Nicole Sharrick under wraps for the majority of the game as Sharrick only managed to put a couple dangerous crosses at the front of the net throughout the game.
In a 8 minute span in the middle of the 2nd half Alexander had 6 shots from inside the 18 but didn't strike any of them that well and none managed to find their way into the net. Pembroke had a couple crosses that went through the 6 yard box on the ground but none of them were connected on the back post.
With both teams playing at such a high level it was going to take a mistake or fantastic shot for either team to put a goal in the back of the net. With just over 3 minutes left in the game both happened on the same play. An Alexander defender committed an unnecessary foul near the right sideline about 18 yards off the endline and the direct kick was fired in at the far post. Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson couldn't get enough on her jump and the ball found the far side netting to give Pembroke a 1-0 lead. Alexander pushed everything forward for the last 3 minutes but was unable to get a ball in the net.
It was a very even game overall with both teams accounting for 3 corners, around 8 saves for each goalie, and around 12 shots on goal. It was a fantastic game, congrats to Pembroke on the hard fought win. They are alone atop the GR standings 1 game ahead of Alexander (and they also hold the tiebreaker) with 3 games remaining for each team. Holley is a game and a half behind with 4 to play and Bergen is 2 behind with 5 games remaining.
