Will Lessons From Ties Lead to Soccer Title?

The most remarkable things about the girls’ soccer season may be the number of ties for the 6-3-7 Warriors.

"We’ve never had anything like this,” said.

Warriors Claire Mulert and Bailey Bradford are not happy with the deadlocks but they and their teammates will be taking the lessons learned from the ties this season into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game with Highland Park that will determine the Central Suburban League North Division title.

“We need to play 80 minutes of soccer, not 79,” Bradford, the goalie, said. “We need to be ready every minute. When we’ve lost (or tied) it’s been because we weren’t on our game all the time.”

The ties have left more hunger than satisfaction in the mouths of the Warriors this season. Most of the time they have left the field with neither a victory nor defeat, they have left taking more shots than their opponent. They do not like it.

“It’s not satisfying,” Mulert said. “We didn’t lose but we could have done better. We could have won.”

There is also a practical effect of a tie when it comes to conference games. “In league play a win is worth three points and a tie counts for one,” Grady said. The Warriors are 3-0-1 in conference play.

Mulert and Bradford have been showing their teammates the way by example all season, according to Grady, and he expects ever more leadership like that against the Giants and into the playoffs.

Bradford has seven shutouts — four have been 0-0 ties — this season. She not only played the last few games with stitches in her leg, but refused to leave the game after being injured.

“She got hurt early in the game and wouldn’t go to the hospital to get stitches,” Grady said. “Talk about leading by example.”

For the Warrior goalie, her refusal to exit the contest was more about leadership than toughness. “If I can do it you can do it too,” Bradford said explaining the message she was giving her teammates.

Mulert combines showing her fellow Warriors the way both by her actions and her words. She plays whatever position Grady thinks she can fill in a particular game and lets her teammates know their expected locations regardless of her spot on the field.

“I’m always talking on the field,” Mulert said. “I let everyone know where they should be.” She also knows the importance of balancing encouragement with constructive criticism when someone makes a mistake. “Telling them it’s all right may not be OK.”

Bradford gives Mulert and other defenders credit for her seven shutouts. “They keep them (the opponents) away from the goal,’ Bradford said. “It makes it easier.”

“We want to keep them far enough away that if they get a shot it’s right into her hands,” Mulert added.

Grady knows his team will be ready for Highland Park Tuesday. The rivalry is intense between athletes who know each other well. “You can throw the record book out when these two teams play,” he said. “They’ve grown up knowing each other.”