CORNER BROOK With 14 minutes left to play and down by one goal, Bud Light Shamrocks' Victoria Weir had the ball on her foot with a clear shot towards the goal.
Instead of the usual hard kick to a corner, Weir sent the ball skyward with a lob that eluded Veitch's Physiotherapy goalkeeper Catherine Shears and bounced into the back of the net, pulling the two teams even at 2-2.
That wound up as the final result in the Corner Brook Molson Women's Soccer League game at Ambrose O'Reilly Memorial Field on Monday night.
Karen Pottie had the other marker for the Shamrocks.
Jay Gillis and Jennifer Lombard scored for the physio girls.
"We were pretty much just scrambling," Weir said of the moments leading up to the tying strike. "It was so close the whole game and everyone was really giving their all. I'm really impressed no one gave up because it's a hard field to play on compared to (Wellington Street Sports Complex)."
This was the first game of the season played on a natural grass surface, as opposed to the artificial turf at the Wellington facility, which created a bit of an adjustment period.
"You have to kick significantly harder because the grass is high and it's just not level," Weir said. "We really worked for it. We wanted it bad and it paid off because at least we got the tie."
As for her shot selection, she may have been trying to catch Shears off guard, since she has such respect for her ability between the posts.
"She is amazing, her hands are awesome," she said. "I didn't expect my shot to go in, but it was nice to have our hard work pay off because we had a few good chances that just never got through."
The physio girls were also thrown off a little by the different playing surface.
"It's harder, the grass is high and we weren't used to it," said Gillis. "I guess we're just getting spoiled with the turf.
"Not that we don't like the grass, we do, we grew up on the grass, but playing on turf is a lot different," she added. "It takes some time to get used to playing on grass again."
Of course, both teams had to battle the same elements, but Gillis said the Shamrocks made the transition a little smoother than her side did.
"They've got fast runners and they've got good passes," she said.
The following is a summary of the other league game on Monday night:
Under-16s 9, Hawks 0
Jade Regular scored five times, while Frankie Warren (2), Felicia Park and Erika Penney also bulged the mesh as the Under-16s grounded the Hawks.
The Shamrocks have sole custody of first place in the league at the moment with a 3-1-1 record, ahead of the Island Orthotics Curling Rangers' mark of 3-1-0. The Under-16s improve to 3-2-0, while the physio girls are at 1-2-1 for fourth place. The Hawks fall to 0-4-0 on the year thus far.
