Bulldogs earn tie but lose Parker

By JUSTIN CREECH For the News & Messenger
Published: April 11, 2008

In the first half of Friday’s Cardinal District game, the Hylton girls soccer team struggled to keep up with the Forest Park Bruins.

Then, late in the first half, the Bulldogs were hit with the worst set of circumstances.

Senior forward Crissy Parker went down with 6:23 left in the first half. Parker went to pull the ball back toward her and was kicked in the left leg by an opposing player. Parker suffered a broken leg on the play and immediately hit the ground screaming as she rolled from side to side in agony.

“My first thought was is she OK?” said Bulldogs Coach Lauren Brundage. “I know she is the type of player who will bounce up and the way she was crying I just had to run out there and give her a hug.”

The George Mason University-bound Parker lay on the field for over 20 minutes surrounded by Brundage, assistant coach Jennifer Clark and the training staff. She was finally moved onto a stretcher when the paramedics arrived and had her leg propped up by a pillow.

“She was in shock,” said Brundage of Parker. “I’m sure she was thinking what’s my future going to be like because she could tell it was broken.”

Matters got worse for Hylton (1-3-2) in the second half. Delaney Tomczak re-directed a corner kick past Hylton goalkeeper Zuzy Abdala with 21:30 remaining in the game to give Forest Park a 1-0 lead.

Hylton, however, did not panic. With 12:10 remaining in the game, Breiana White used a header to re-direct Caitlin Thomas’ dead ball kick into the Forest Park net. After White’s header, the ball hit the ground about five feet from Bruins’ goalkeeper Sarah Gray and rolled into the net.

Brundage was not surprised her team was able to tie the game as she says they have dealt well with emotional situations in the past.

“It’s been about two weeks since we scored a goal,” said Brundage. “So, it was just really the icing on the cake. Even though we were down it just felt like it was going to happen and when it did it was just a big relief.”

Both teams got chances in overtime but were unable to find room to beat Gray or Abdala.