Parker collects memorable victory
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JANESVILLE — It was the win that almost wasn’t.
After years of being beat up by Craig, the Parker High School girls soccer team finally turned the tables on their intra-city rivals, beating Craig 1-0 Tuesday night.
But the slim margin could have—and some say should have—been a tie.
With Parker leading 1-0 in the 88th minute, Craig’s Kristy Benson drove on the goal from about five feet out and collided with Parker goaltender Sam Anacker just after firing a shot. The rebound bounced across the pitch, and Craig’s Emma Fashing poked it through the goal, only to hear she was offsides and the goal didn’t count.
“We don’t think she was offsides, but the referee made the call, and we have to live with it,” Craig coach Bill McCabe said.
And for Anacker, the rollercoaster of emotions was dramatic.
“I felt like I had just lost the World Cup,” she said of seeing the ball go into net. “A tie is a loss for me. But then, when I saw it was offsides, I don’t think I could have been happier.”
The Vikings (9-2 overall, 3-2 Big Eight) broke a two-game losing streak that followed an eight-game winning streak.
The game’s only goal came in the 51st minute. Nicole Strieker worked to the left in front of the net and shot right into the center of the goal just as Craig goalie Sofia Sanchez had committed.
“Everyone was moving and making distractions,” Strieker said. “And they left it open to me. I just took the shot, but it was just luck.”
Both teams had opportunities to score, but Craig (5-7, 2-4) controlled the run of play, especially in the first half.
Right before the 18-minute mark, Fashing stole the ball from Parker’s Katie Prom, but Anacker grabbed the ball before Fashing could get off a good shot. Then, at about the 24-minute mark, Fashing had the ball again in front of the goal and battled two defenders, only to have Anacker poke the ball away and out of bounds.
Later in the first half, Craig’s Chelsea Sheedy picked up a pass from Emily Sanchez and drove to her left, but her shot went right into Anacker’s hands.
“They controlled the ball a lot, but we’re a counter team,” said Parker coach Matt Beisser. “We take teams as they come, and then we take over.
“They had a lot of the possession, but we had a lot of opportunities, too. It just comes down to finishing the opportunities, and tonight we did.”
In the second half, Craig’s Kelsey Kennedy just missed the goal twice—once on a free kick that went over the crossbar, then on a shot that went outside of the left goal post.
Strieker also had a free kick sail over the crossbar with about 11 minutes left in the game.
Anacker finished with seven saves, while Sanchez had eight.
“I really wanted this one,” Anacker said. “I knew they were going to come at me, but we just came back at them just as hard.”
For both coaches, the game and result meant something larger than just a win and intra-city bragging rights.
“The number of people that were on the hill was the best thing that could have happened,” McCabe said of the crowd. “As the level of play increases on the west side of town, it’s going to make both teams better.
“We have to work at this to get even with Madison, and we have a long way to go, but we have come a long way.’’
Meanwhile, Beisser and his team held the bragging rights, at least for a night.
“Now I guess we can say there’s a rivalry,” he said. “They played a great game, but finally we came out a winner.”
PARKER 1, CRAIG 0
Janesville Parker 0 1—1
Janesville Craig 0 0—0
Second Half
JP—Nicole Strieker (unassisted), 10:32.
Saves—Sam Anacker (JP) 7, Sofia Sanchez (JC) 8.
May 8, 2008 at 2:11 p.m.
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Congrats to Parker! It is always nice to beat the cross town school. Getalife is correct in saying hopefully this will help the youth programs. It would be ideal to see Beloit, Janesville and the surrounding smaller communities band together and take on the evil empire that is Madison area soccer!
May 8, 2008 at 11:27 a.m.
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Great job!!This was a win for Janesville soccer. Hopefully we can build off this an increase the youth programs to continue to improve soccer in Janesville.
May 7, 2008 at 6:23 p.m.
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parker and craig both played great games of soccer, but parker ended up with the upper hand. No matter what anyone says about craig getting ripped off on a bad call, the game is over.
the craig girls put their hearts into the game, but parker finally believed that they could come away with the win and thats what made the difference in the end
May 7, 2008 at 4:47 p.m.
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Sounds like it was a great game for Janesville soccer! Wish I could have seen it. Hey, Jim, as an old soccer official I'm interested in the offsides call. Did the shot rebound to a player in offsides position? The article really didn't clarify the argument.
CONGRATULATIONS VIKINGS!!
May 7, 2008 at 12:34 p.m.
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Congratulations Nicole, Catie, Kelsey, Bridget, Michelle and Jenna. You never stopped believing! I am proud of you.
DS.
May 7, 2008 at 12:27 p.m.
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The significance of last night's game is not whether or not this was Parker's first win over Craig, it is that the big crowd witnessed an amazing, well played and highly entertaining soccer game played by two very good soccer teams!
You can travel to Madison to watch perennial powers like Middleton and West play or go to Milwaukee and watch DSHA play Brookfield East but I doubt you will ever see a better, more hardly fought soccer game between two talented teams than you did last night between the two Janesville teams.
It was a tremendous and memorable night for Janesville soccer, not because Parker beat Craig, but because of the high level of soccer being played by two fine Janesville teams. Congratulations to Parker for winning this awesome game but thank you to the players and coaches from both teams for giving it everything you had to provide the fans with a very special night of soccer. You all make the Janesville soccer community proud.
May 7, 2008 at 11:40 a.m.
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am so glad we have someone looking out for the grammar and specifics for this story..
if you just read the story for the story ..things would be fine..But it looks like the Gazette just hired abunch of "Freelance" copy editor..
Just leave it alone
May 7, 2008 at 10:54 a.m.
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I wasn't criticizing anyone's comments I was just wondering if the story had changed because the way I read it they didn't make sense. If someone took that as criticism, my apologies.
May 7, 2008 at 10:37 a.m.
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Freelance writer Chris Etheridge was told by a usually reliable source that this was the first time that Parker had beaten Craig in girls soccer. The first version of his story reflected that.
As you can see, several people in the comments here said that wasn't true. We checked it out as soon as we could, and we changed the story early this morning to remove the inaccurate information. We modified it again after the print edition was finished.
We still aren't sure when Parker last beat Craig before Tuesday night, but we believe it was in the mid- to late 1990s. Searching our archives would be time-consuming because those files are not electronic. Does anyone know for sure?
Scott Angus
Editor
May 7, 2008 at 10:36 a.m.
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Before you criticize people for comments made earlier, you should understand that they've changed this story at least twice. At first, it said it was the first time Parker had ever won, then as of 8:30 this morning it said "for the first time in decades" and now it says "in years."
May 7, 2008 at 10:17 a.m.
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I apoligize for my fact check comment, it seems as though the article was changed both before and after I originally read it.
May 7, 2008 at 10:11 a.m.
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Did they change the story?
As I read it the story not only doesn't say it was the first time ever that Parker beat Craig it also doesn't say it was the first time in a decade. It says "after years." That neither implies forever nor a decade. The fact the writer uses the term "years" suggests that it's possible they were uncertain as to the exact time frame and simply knew it had been a while.
May 7, 2008 at 9:46 a.m.
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The article does not say that it was the first time ever for Parker to beat Craig, it says it was the first time in over a decade. That means that several of you that were calling for fact checking were the ones who needed to check your facts.
Congrats Parker.
May 7, 2008 at 9:10 a.m.
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The game is over both teams played great but Parker won this year for the first time for these seniors and first for Coach Beisser. End of story. No excuses. Give the repsect where the respect is due.
May 7, 2008 at 8:31 a.m.
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Who wrote this article? a 2 year old. Did this guy know anything about soccer? Where was John Barry? he is the guy that usually covers soccer. Streaks is right, this was not the first win ever for Parker. It was the first for these girls and the first for COach Beisser. Who won this game? by the way the article was written you wouldve thought Craig? Both teams played great? Parker won. Give these girls the respect they deserve and get your facts straight.
May 7, 2008 at 8:24 a.m.
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who wrote this article. I think a 2 year old could have written it better. Streaks is right. This is not the first time Parker has beaten Craig. It was the first time these girls have beaten Craig and the first time for COach Beisser. Not a very good written article. Where was Barry he is usually the guy covering the game. This guy didnt even know the difference between a free kick and a penalty kick. Definitely typical. If the score wasnt there you would have thought Craig won by the big praise of Craig. It was a great game to watch and both teams played great but Parker won and give them the girls the respect they deserve and dont crap on the teams of past with information that is false
May 7, 2008 at 12:20 a.m.
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There were no penalty kicks in the game. The kicks referred to in the article were free kicks that were the direct result of fouls. A penalty kick is taken from the penalty spot - 12 yards from the goal line, kicker against goalie.
May 7, 2008 at 12:10 a.m.
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The first sentence reads like it was written by a high school freshman:.."Janesville Parker High School girls soccer team beat Janesville Craig, 1-0, for the first time in the history Tuesday night on the Cougars’ field."
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Is it the first time in history that Parker girls beat Craig?
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Or, the first time in history they beat them on the Craig field?
May 6, 2008 at 11:59 p.m.
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This is not the first time that the Parker Girls have beaten Craig in soccer. Someone needs to check their facts. It's disrespectful to past Parker and Craig players to say it's never been done before.
Jim Strieker
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