Lions miss unique chance to come within two points of league leader
The Chicago Dutch Lions FC (2-1-2) had their two-game winning streak snapped with an extremely unfortunate and cruel 3-2 loss against FC Milwaukee Torrent (3-0-1) at Benedictine University Saturday night.
Sarah Vierling opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a long range shot from 30 yards out after a beautiful build up sequence. The Lions could not capitalize on several more good scoring opportunities and were punished in injury time of the first half. A mishit cross from left side was initially parried well by goalkeeper Mika Fisher and then bounced off of a Torrent forward trickling over the goal line to tie the game.
The Lions responded with another great goal from outside the box to go ahead 2-1 to start the second half, courtesy of Sophia Senese. The home team seemed in control dominating possession throughout the game and creating chances. Unfortunately, the referee whistled for a penalty after Julia Ralph supposedly controlled the ball with her arm in her own box. After Milwaukee tied from the penalty spot, the game got more hectic in the middle part of the second half and the Lions lost control of the game for a bit. Milwaukee was very effective and scored the winner in that phase through a nice header after a corner kick.
Numerous chances near the end of regulation to get the equalizer, including one final push with just seconds to go, fell short for CDL FC. FC Milwaukee Torrent held on to preserve the win, handing the Dutch Lions FC its first-ever loss at home and its first loss since May 30.
Nikhil Erlebach did not want to blame the referee for the loss. “We do feel that multiple crucial decisions went against us, yes, but we created enough opportunities to not allow the referee and a physical, direct opponent to beat us today. We have to learn from this loss and play our brand of football more consistently. Today we were punished for not being effective enough in the final third.”
Dutch Lions Right Back, Abbey Hillman, thought that the team played well enough to win, but closing the deal is paramount for future success. “The result was definitely frustrating for us,” Hillman said. “I thought we played pretty well as a team and we had some great moments. We just have to finish [the game] while we’re in there, but I thought that everyone was working hard.”
Milwaukee Torrent FC moves into second place with nine points, just three points behind the first-place Chicago Red Stars Reserves, while the Lions sit in third place with seven points through its first five matches.
The next two matches will see the team travel to Green Bay and Chicago on Sunday, June 27 and Wednesday, June 30 for rematches against Green Bay Glory and Chicago City Soccer Club. Both matches are set for 6 p.m.