Reimink Lifts LCA Over WawaseeSYRACUSE – Lakeland Christian girls soccer coach Nate Raber wasn’t surprised when junior Anna Reimink dribbled through a fatigued Wawasee defense for the game-winning goal, leading the Lady Cougars to a 4-3 victory at Warrior Field Thursday night.
“Anna is just a rock star, she can control the field at any time,” Raber said.
Reimink intercepted a pass in the midfield circle, dribbled just enough to her left to elude a pair of Wawasee defenders, then converted her shot from just inside the football goal line.
The Lady Warriors were fatigued because Hannah Lancaster, Meghan Beer and Abbie Hackleman all left the match with injuries in the second half.
“People had to be in positions they aren’t normally in,” Wawasee coach Tracy Swain said. “We weren’t able to sub and we were getting tired. Our communication broke down because we were out of our normal routine.”
The match see-sawed much of the night, with each team having a lead in the first half. Lakeland Christian sophomore Tori Calizo scored twice in the first half, then completed her hat trick three minutes after halftime.
“It was great to see Tori get three goals tonight,” Raber said. “In our last game she had about 10 shots and missed all 10, so it was nice to see the redemptive aspect. And it was fun to watch.”
In between Calizo’s first-half goals, Sara Pritchard scored twice to give Wawasee the lead. The goals were about two minutes apart, with Jenny Camarena and Allie Hackleman each credited with an assist.
Wawasee got the second-half equalizer two minutes after Calizo’s third goal, when Natalie Winters scored on a free kick from about 30 yards out.
Raber said the key for the Lady Cougars was not giving up after losing the lead.
“I really enjoyed the resiliency. It’s really easy to hang your head once you get a lead and lose it multiple times and then come back,” he said.
“Our defense is just resilient. Our goalie (Maddie Paris) was making her first start because our starter was sick. So our defense buckled down, they stayed goal-side, did their jobs, trusted each other to fill in their positions and it worked out well.”
While happy to get goal production from Pritchard and Winters, Swain said more players need to get involved on the offensive end for the Lady Warriors.
“We can’t just rely on our two forwards to score,” she said. “The middle of our field, we’ve been working on switching up and putting Nat at mid and Sara at stopper. We’re getting that momentum change from them because they each bring some of that momentum with them. Those girls bring it. They were really ready to step up today and make it happen.”
LCA (1-3) will be in action again Sept. 8 at Trinity Christian, while Wawasee (1-5) will host Goshen Saturday evening in a Northern Lakes Conference match.
