Kirkwood Can't Solve Lindbergh Defense in Regular-Season Finale

To say that coach Mark Giesing was relieved that his Flyers finally won a game, a 1-0 decision over on Wednesday, would be a bit of an understatement. The victory ended a four-game losing streak.

Giesing was so excited he high-fived nearly every member of the team, and emphatically shook hands with his assistant coaches, both game officials, and just about anybody else that came his way when the game was over.

“I am happy,” Giesing said. “Because we got back to what works for us, which is a possession-style of soccer. The girls really moved the ball around well, particularly in the first half when we got the goal.”

Actually, Lindbergh possessed the ball for most of the night, and didn’t allow Kirkwood many chances at all to get near its net and possibly score to tie the game.

The Pioneers did mount one flurry late in the second half, on three straight movements up the field. But each time, someone from the Lindbergh defense was there to keep Kirkwood from getting on the board.

“We didn’t come out very well in the first half,” Kirkwood coach Phil Cotta said. “I thought we were very stale. They’re always an aggressive team, where they run through the ball. And we never put any pressure on them.”

For the first two-thirds of the game, it was all Lindbergh.

The Flyers turned that pressure into a score midway through the first half, when sophomore Angela Black fired a beautiful crossing pass to the front of the Kirkwood goalmouth.

The ball somehow got deflected away from the net, but bounded right to Lindbergh’s Annie Schwarz, who buried a shot past Kirkwood’s Marissa Meiners for her 11th goal of the season, and the only score either team would manage on the day.

“That was a really beautiful ball Angela sent into the box,” Giesing said. “A couple of people had a shot at it, but lucky for us, Annie was there and she knew what to do with it.”

Black almost netted a score of her own late in the second half, when she sent another cross towards the Pioneers net. This time, she was a bit closer when she made her move and when the ball came down, it just missed the inside of the back corner.

Instead, it bounced away and gave Kirkwood a goal-kick.

Even though the Pioneers didn’t generate a lot of chances, they didn’t wait long after Black’s near-miss to force the action a bit more.

Junior Rachel Kibby gained possession near the right-sideline and weaved her way through several Lindbergh defenders.

Somehow, she managed to get just outside the Lindbergh box, and fired a rocket shot at the net. But it sailed over the net untouched, forcing a Lindbergh goalkick.

Moments later, teammate Kelli Moran found herself in the clear on the left side of the Lindbergh box and let loose a left-footed blast that was headed for the top left corner of the net.

But Lindbergh goalkeeper Nina Tzlanos soared high to her right and grabbed Moran’s shot out of the sky, for what was easily the prettiest defensive play of the night.

“The last 15 minutes we finally started playing our game and got a few chances,” Cotta said. “But they had the better team tonight and got us.”

The victory for the Flyers ended a surprising losing skid that saw the 15-6 state title contenders slip all the way to fifth place and out of the Suburban West Conference race.

Still, Giesing was excited about what he saw from his team on Wednesday.

“We have just been playing the wrong style of soccer for a little bit here,” Giesing said. “We were playing long and chasing balls, it was just a bad style of soccer for us. But here tonight, we got back to playing the game right, and that’s what we have to do going forward into districts.”

Kirkwood, which also finished its regular season at 15-6, will open district play on Saturday with a 10 a.m. game against rival Webster Groves, which will serve as the host school for Class 3 District 3.