By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

FEDERAL WAY - Early quickness on the ball provided the initial momentum that eventually translated into a Decatur 2-0 South Puget Sound League North Division girls soccer win against visiting Mount Rainier at Federal Way Memorial Stadium on the warm and sunny afternoon of Fri., Sept. 19.

Following the encounter, the Gators' record stood at 1-1 league and 3-2 overall while the Rams were 0-3 and 1-3-1, respectively.

Fleet of foot, fabulous freshman Hannah Shires darted through and around Mount Rainier defenders regularly to help the Decatur offense keep their opponents on the alert.

With 24:04 remaining in the 40-minute first half, Shires made the first strike for the Gators on a penalty kick and nearly scored again two minutes later.

As the pressure on the Ram goal was maintained, freshman Raquel Prado-Huerta fed a nice through ball into Shires for another goal in the 22nd minute of first half play.

Mount Rainier goalkeeper Madeline Fletcher scurried from side to side along with her teammates to keep the persistent Decatur attackers off the scoreboard for the rest of the half and for the duration of the match up.

In the second half, the Rams made some excellent adjustments to keep Decatur bottled up offensively, although the Gators were still dangerous on a relatively few offensive strikes that penetrated the Mount Rainier defensive dome. The adjustments also helped open up the transition from defense to offense.

While the Ram defenders joined keeper Fletcher in a second half shut out performance, the Mount Rainier offense committed itself to a furious attack mode, spacing the field well for powerful passes. Cierra Pinson continually made her presence felt as a front line striker, as well. The Rams kept laying siege to the Decatur goal and intensified their strikes, but simply were unable to finish the rushes with goals until the referee's whistle signaled the end of the game and an excellent second half recovery by Mount Rainier.

"Our second half was much better," said Mount Rainier head coach Michelle Mohn. "The pieces are coming together slowly, one at a time. In the second half we made a few changes. Emily Rhodes moved from center defender to outside defender. She was able to create some opportunities for the offense. Several other players changed their roles, including Samantha Norberg and senior Kennedy Bryant, who dropped more into the back to keep the Gator forwards from breaking.

"We should have scored three or four goals," said Bryant, one of the Ram captains. "After halftime, we acted and played more like a team. There were more touches on balls and we tackled better. In the first half, it seemed like were afraid to do headers. Then, we played more balls in the air. More power on the ball (on the kicks) was what we needed."

The next match for Mount Rainier is on Tues., Sept 23 against Todd Beamer at Highline Memorial Stadium in a 7 p.m. starting time.