'That's soccer': Despite controlling possession, Taunton girls fall to New Bedford

TAUNTON — In soccer, as in life, it doesn't matter how much effort you put in if you don't capitalize on your chances, and that's exactly what happened to Taunton on a gusty Monday afternoon at the Buck Mahoney Baseball Complex.

Despite dominating possession and outshooting the visitors 33-7, with New Bedford goalkeeper Caitlin Cordeiro making 12 saves, the Tigers (0-5-2) fell to the Whalers (1-5-0) 2-1 in non-league action.

"That’s soccer," Taunton coach Dan Borges said. "Anybody who’s been around long enough knows that’s how soccer happens sometimes. Credit to their goalie, she made some great saves and New Bedford worked hard the whole game. The ball was mostly in their end (and) we just couldn’t score but that’s soccer."

A quick pair of goals off counterattacks by Jenna Nogueira saw New Bedford go ahead early but the Tigers were unable to respond until Juliana Matos found the back of the net in the 76th minute in what was only Taunton's second goal of the season while just missing the equalizer on a penalty kick a minute later.

"We have not been scoring," Borges said. "Today was another game where we couldn’t score... that was the big emphasis coming into this game, let’s get some offense going and try to score some goals, so back to practice tomorrow and we’ll keep working on it."

On the other side of the ball, the Tigers were able to keep the visitors largely out their attacking end while Taunton goalkeeper Ashlyn Hebert made four saves in net.

"Overall I think defensively we played well," Borges said. "We had the majority of possession. Their goalkeeper came up big when she needed to and like I said, that’s soccer."

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The Tigers pounced on the attack early, earning a corner and getting off a pair of shots within the first two minutes of the match, though both chances went wide. Keeping the early pressure on, Taunton got off another five shots in six minutes, forcing Cordeiro to make a pair of saves.

The Whalers got their first shot in the 15th minute which was saved by Hebert. They'd have better luck two minutes later though as Nogueira got the ball on a counterattack and took it down the left wing before sending a chip shot over Hebert into the back of the net to put her side on top 1-0.

New Bedford was able to double that lead just minutes later as a defensive error in the 19th minute saw the ball back at the feet of Nogueira on the right side of the box and the senior forward sent it to the far post and in to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

"We knew coming into the game we were warming (Hebert) up and said the wind was really tricky, so you’ve got to watch out whenever the ball come in from (the left side of the pitch) going across and that’s what happened on the first goal, it came across from that side, so the wind can be a little tricky so that’s tough," Borges said. "The second goal was more of a defensive error, the goalkeeper couldn’t do anything on it, it was just a defensive turnover close to goal and that’s just how it happens."

The Tigers, while stunned, didn't let it dissuade them from continuing their attack as they'd get off 10 more shots, seven of which went wide, before the next New Bedford chance. The Whalers forced another save by Hebert in the closing minutes of the half before going into the break with the 2-0 lead.

The second half continued much like the first, with Taunton continuing to press but seeing most of their chances go wide or saved by Cordeiro, who had to make quick back-to-back saves in the 69th minute to keep the goal hungry Tigers at bay.

Taunton finally were able to break through in the 76th minute as Matos put a quick shot past Cordeiro in front of a crowded net to bring the hosts back within one.

From there, Taunton pressed even harder than they had all match in hopes of finding the equalizer and had their chance as a handball call against the Whalers in the 77th minute saw Kaylee Lopes head to the penalty spot, but her shot would sail just a couple inches over the crossbar much to the relief of the anxious New Bedford side, who erupted in celebration upon the final whistle as the Whalers earned their first win since 2019.

"They were pushing as hard as they could, they were trying as hard as they can and that’s all you can ask for as a coach, to give your all, and that’s what they were trying to do there at the end," Borges said.

While the Tigers are still in search of their first win of the season, and their first since beating Milford 2-1 last October, Borges said his side has been making some serious progress as the program continues to rebuild.

"We’re now at a level where we’re competing," Borges said. "Every game we’re playing, we’re competing and that was really the goal coming in was let’s get to a point where we can compete and then once we start competing, then we can start winning games, so that’s the next step. We know we can compete, but now we just need to start winning some games."

Taunton will now look to complete that goal Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Stoughton (2-4-1).

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton girls soccer still searching for first win after loss to NB