In the first match of the second season of ISSL, the EABH girls faced EAR in a soccer match at 8:00 AM. For those unaware, the soccer matches in this league are divided into two halves of twenty minutes, which is shorter than the professional level.
The game began with great intensity: the Lady Hawks had two goal opportunities in the first eight minutes of the match. However, EAR’s team adopted a similarly aggressive playing style and scored at the ten-minute mark, leaving the scoreboard at 0 - 1.
Fortunately for EABH, the girls were not demoralized by this early setback but rather motivated by it. Our attack repeatedly pressured EAR’s defense in the first half, forcing them to recur to fouls twice. On one of those occasions, Laura Calixto got hurt but quickly recovered. The third time is the charm: the opponents committed a handball in their box! The referee confirmed the penalty for EABH, and Anna Flávia Escobar (4) masterfully scored, bringing the match to a tie with five minutes left in the first half.
The scoreboard stayed the same for the remainder of the half. After halftime, the Lady Hawks maintained their offensive strategy, but this time they were focusing their attacks on the right side of the field with their right forward. A beautiful chip shot to Laura Calixto (22), who came in with a clinical finish, gave EABH the lead at fifteen minutes of the second half (2 - 1).
In the final minutes of the match, Laura scored once again, this time with a precise assist from Marilana (13) from the right side, bringing the final scoreboard to 3 - 1 for EABH. Without a smidge of a doubt, the Lady Hawks have inaugurated the season on their right foot, and we hope that morale stays at this all-time high to bring more wins home.
On another note, this was also the first match that we saw NR’s new live stream system in action. In this new edition of the event, our hosts have set cameras across all courts to allow games to be streamed in real-time, which anyone can watch through their Youtube channel.
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