Titans Fall 2-1 on Late Goal to Nationally Ranked Good Counsel in Pre-Season Friendly

August 26, 2010...  The Titans moved forward with pre-season preparations this evening facing off in a friendly with Nationally ranked (#17) Private school power Good Counsel High School.  In a match that had more of a state playoff feel to it then pre-season friendly, both sides battled through a hotly contested match before the Falcons found the game winner in the 76th minute

As the Titans have in their previous two pre-season matches, they started quickly by pressuring the opposition hard in the first moments of the match.  The Titans almost opened the scoring in the fourth minute when sophomore midfielder Emily Marshall found sophomore forward Aaran Parry whose first touch beat the final defender to put her in on goal.  The Falcons keeper made the save though to keep the match level.  It did not take long for the Titans to take the lead though as they won a corner in the eight minute.  Parry's corner found junior midfielder Allison Shankle who redirected the corner into the Falcon net for the 1-0 lead.    

The Falcons asserted themselves late in the first half putting pressure on the Titans net.  They finally got it right in the 31st minute when a serve found sophomore All-State forward Midge Purce who deposited the ball in the back of the net to even the score.

The second half found the sides battling for the go ahead goal and both were unfortunate not to take the lead midway through the half as only the woodwork prevented both sides from scoring.  Good Counsel's senior forward Kerry Mueller let a rocket go from 18 yards that rang the crossbar which was then cleared by the Titans defense.  Seven minutes later, a Parry cross found senior midfielder Claire Kelly's head who flicked the ball on net only to be denied by the crossbar.

With time running out, the Falcons Purce once again got on the end of a serve.  This time the 76th minute goal proved to be the game winner.  Junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Ulan recorded eight saves in an outstanding effort while junior forward Katie King was an active threat in the final third throughout the night.

The JV Titans fell 3-1 in the evenings first game.  Sophomore forward Tiffani Grubbs scored the Titans lone goal.

The Titans wrap-up their pre-season schedule on Tuesday, August 31 against 2009 4A West Regional finalist Churchill at 6:00pm.