North Putnam battles with Tri-West

ROACHDALE -- North Putnam hosted the Bruins of Tri-West Thursday night, walking away with some positives from their 10-0 defeat at hands of the Bruins.

North Putnam keeper Dakota Malayer focuses on a shot in the second half of Thursday's contest with Tri-West. Malayer had 24 saves in the contest

Cougar head coach Willie Gaskins saw some positive things out of his squad and thought they executed what they've been taught very well.

"There's nothing I could say they need to be working on," Gaskins. "They're doing everything I teach them to do in the practices and in the game itself. They're working hard; we knew it would be a tough game against Tri-West. We came out, hopefully playing a strong team and we we're going to show our strong side and we did for quite a while.

"I'm really pleased with our girls tonight," he added.

After allowing a Bruin score just six minutes in, North Putnam defended Tri-West tough and held them in check. That was until the 17:29 mark.

The Bruins went on the offensive and took control of the match by scoring six goals in the final 17 minutes of the half, taking a 7-0 lead into the half.

In the first half, the Cougars tended to migrate to the same area of the pitch, but after the break, they did a better job of keeping their spacing and began to push the ball forward. Gaskins again thought his team responded well and made some timely adjustments.

"We do tend to bunch a little bit, but hopefully that will be worked on. We're fairly young team and that's just something that's addressed all the time. We played a really hard, strong game against Tri-West who is a tough team," Gaskins said.

The Cougars held the Bruins to only three second half goals, while improving upon their defensive pressure.

Despite allowing some shots past, North Putnam keeper Dakota Malayer had a good night. Some shots Tri-West thought were definite goals, Malayer held her ground and put up a wall. Defender Leah Crosby played solid on the night and had some great deflections close to the goal.

After the match Gaskins spoke about the importance of facing much tougher opponents and the positive repercussions it can have on a team.

"They're pretty important. Obviously when you come up against a hard team, you're going to play a little harder. You have to work on your mindset and get your mindset up to where you play at their level," Gaskins concluded.

North Putnam begins its extended road trip by facing Crawfordsville at 10 a.m. Saturday.

At North Putnam

Next match -- North Putnam begins its extended road trip by facing Crawfordsville at 10 a.m. Saturday.