Davis Norber's Clinching Goal Puts Principia Into an Icy Slumber on a Very Hot Day

Junior forward Davis Norber of the Ladue soccer team’s best view this season has been mostly from the bench. On a brutally hot day on the pitch at Principia, coach Dave Aronberg of the Rams emptied his entire  bench, giving everyone a few minutes playing time in the extreme heat.

Norber certainly made the most of a brief moment in the fray. With a little more than 10 minutes left in a 2-1 game, she broke free from the pack and had Panther goal keeper Jessica Clouse dead in her sights.

“I was afraid to take the shot. I haven’t been on the field all season. I just kept dribbling and dribbling.”

Finally, she slammed her foot on the ball and it rocketed past the keeper for a 3-1 score and the clincher.

“I’m really glad I scored that goal. I knew right there, that was the clincher,” she said.

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Good thing, because Norber was hosting the slumber party at her house Saturday night for all 20 fellow teammates. Juniors had to be there at five to get the pizzas together. The goal certainly gave her something to talk about at the girls-only party.

“The pressure the midfielders created made the scoring opportunity possible,” reasoned the winning coach, talking to his squad, moments after exchanging hand shakes. Ladue is off to a 5-2 start. A far cry from last year’s sub 9-12 record.

Suffice to say it was a feisty game. Ladue was flagged for 17 penalties. Goal Keeper Fran Shannon was sensational making 13 of 14 stops in the game. The only score that slipped by her came from sophomore Sarah DeNicholas who came free for the initial 1-nil lead.

From there, the home team Panthers wilted in the heat, and Ladue played mostly on their end of the well-kept field.

Ladue gathered its goals from Natasha Medler, tying the game late in the first half. Steady Abbey Walter put the Rams ahead to stay five minutes into the second half with an assist from Aisha Ghodbane. Mariana Alisio had two assists for the winners.

Walter is a popular member of the squad. She always bring the sandwiches and trail mix. “My parents go nuts over that kind of stuff. They always get the award for best parents at the soccer banquet,” she said proudly.

Aronberg is liking what he’s seeing. From the sideline, he proclaimed “now, you are anticipating and really playing soccer.”

He passed out bouquets figuratively to Shannon, his keeper and Hadley Newton, the new star defender. “She played her butt off,” he said about Newton to the entire squad.

Ladue has three games this week. His goal is to win at least two of them. They are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday all on the road against Jennings, Parkway Central and Westminster Christian Academy.

On this team, you just have to have a nickname. Jody Peterson is “Jo-Jo”; Abigail Shapiro is “Shap”; Morgan Moore’s handle is “Mo-Mo”; and Sarah Kerchgessner is just “Kerch.”

One name you could hang on the 2012 version of the Ladue kickers is “winners.”