The Cougars had learned their lesson from the first match and came out closing the ball quickly from the opening whistle on another 80º October day. The first half saw a resilient Emmie in the heart of the action at left back, winning ball after ball to keep possession and mount pressure on the Storm defense. The visitors were able to retaliate with an occasional counterattack, but Quinn and Maddie at center-back were able to rebuff each attempt, protecting Maeve in goal, who distributed her punts excellently throughout the match. Piper made several well-timed, intelligent runs at the number 9 position, only for the outstanding St. Luke’s ‘keeper to thwart each attempt, more than once at full stretch. One such attempt seemed to cross the line, but without Goalline Technology, the save was allowed to stand, and the hosts were forced to head into the intermission knotted nil-nil.

The Cougars located the keys to the St. Luke’s defense just five minutes into the second stanza. From her holding midfield position, Luna floated a delicate chip down the left channel, and left-winger Nat charged diagonally infield to latch onto the pass, breeze past one defender and curl home a right-footed finish into the bottom far corner. The scoring bug from there seemed to become contagious, as Victoria slammed home a rocket from the edge of the area two minutes later, and three minutes after that Nat capped off a brace with a low finish from distance. 

Nico and India had joined the back line on the flanks from the outset of the second half and made sure that there was minimal pressure on the centerbacks and ‘keeper. Meanwhile, Annie and Bernie slotted into the centermidfield to help the Cougars command possession. The intricate passing paid off, as Caroline provided Mila with a precise centering pass from her right wing position that the latter buried confidently from close range. Mila then reciprocated the effort, setting up Caroline for a well earned goal after the co-captain had put in an impressive shift and launched seemingly countless crosses into the danger area over the course of the match. 

The Cougars showed great effort and sportsmanship from start to finish, and they look to build on the momentum as the business part of the schedule is underway with two matches coming on the 9th and 14th of October.