Girls Soccer at Pinson Valley High

Commentary’s By George Mason

 In the second match-up between the PVHS girls and Mountain Brook this season (the first ended in a 7-0 blow out in favor of Mountain Brook) our Pinson girls showed some improvement -- they only lost 5 - 0.  Pinson gave up three goals in the first half, the first just a minute and a half into the game, the second on a penalty kick in the tenth minute and the third in the 30th minute.  The second half opened just as rocky, with MB scoring their 4th goal in the first 90 seconds of the opening and then again 2 minutes later.  The Pinson girls then played the last 36 minutes of the game without giving up another goal, but they failed to score as well. 

The tally would have been far worse, but this was the first game that sophomore Hannah Vanderboegh was in the goal for Pinson.  She had previously played in the field with her right hand in a cast while recovering from a metacarpal "boxer's fracture."   Vanderboegh made 14 saves in the first half and 15 in the second, including a penalty kick, for a total of 29.

Previous games this season included a 3-2 win season opener against Gardendale, the 7-0 loss to Mountain Brook and a 5-0 loss to Clay Chalkville. 

The rest of the season should go a bit smoother as the girls continue to improve as a team and few of their opponents are rated as tough as Mountain Brook , a team with a number of experienced club soccer players.   The PVHS Girls Soccer team snatched a tie from the jaws of victory in their match with Gardendale on Tuesday, after overconfidently changing goalkeepers with a lead of only one goal. 

Pinson scored early in the eighth minute with a shot by freshman Zoe Vanderboegh, and although Pinson took many other shots on goal this was the only point scored by the half.  Hannah Vanderboegh, the regular goalkeeper for PVHS was barely tested in the first 40 minutes, making only a half dozen stops or saves. 

The decision to take Hannah Vanderboegh out of the goal in the second half and let her play in the field with only a one point advantage was viewed with trepidation by parents on the sidelines.  At first, this fear appeared to be unfounded, for junior Allison Holt scored another goal on a breakaway putting Pinson up 2-0. 

But Gardendale came roaring back, the Pinson defense became disarrayed, and Gardendale scored on a kick that deflected off a Pinson player's head into the net for an "own goal."  The PVHS team then seemed to come apart at the seams defensively, and Gardendale scored the tying point with less than four minutes left on the clock.

In retrospect, the decision to remove junior Hannah Vanderboegh from the goal was clearly a mistake.  At 16, Vanderboegh is arguably the best goalkeeper of her age in the state, having been the Alabama state Olympic Development Program team goalkeeper for five years running.  She also plays on the Mountain Brook Angels 90 team which is currently ranked 24th in the nation, and in January won its division at the Disney Wide World of Sports college showcase beating out teams from all over the country.

The PVHS team has improved as this season progressed under the tutelage of Coach D'Earman and they played very well the first half.  Taking Vanderboegh out of the goal seemed to sap them of their confidence though and soccer is often as much a psychological game as a physical one.

Vanderboegh is expected to be in the goal when PVHS faces Clay Chalkville in their rematch on Friday.