Robinson’s trick shots after position switch lift Sun Valley past Interboro

PROSPECT PARK — The clock showed 28 minutes to play and Sun Valley down by two when coach Chris Lambert made a switch both players had braced for.

Jacquelin Oldham had bedeviled the Interboro back line for 52 minutes of Tuesday’s nonleague contest, but she had five shots denied by Bucs’ goalkeeper Kayla Droxler to show for it. Chiara Robinson had done plenty of dancing in midfield, springing front-runners like Oldham for chances.

With finishing in short supply, Lambert made the swap: Oldham to pull the strings in midfield, Robinson to run off the shoulder of defenders. The result was emphatic: Five goals in 20 minutes, four directly involving Robinson, to lead Sun Valley to a come-from-behind 6-4 victory.

“It depends on who’s having a good day,” Robinson said. “Me and Jackie are both dominant dribblers, so (Lambert) likes us to be at the top and be the main scorers. So sometimes, Jackie could be having an off day or I could be having an off day so we drop in the middle, and whoever he sees that’s having a good time dribbling up at the top he tends to put up more.”

Oldham’s last go at the backline was a breakaway, spurred by Robinson’s through ball, with just Droxler to beat, but she stung the shot right at the keeper in the 52nd minute.

Barely 20 seconds later, Robinson found another run from the left channel where she finally solved the puzzle that was Droxler to get Sun Valley within 3-2. Just 64 seconds later, Robinson had her brace, Oldham freeing her to prance through defenders and side-foot a shot into the far-side netting that left even the sharp Droxler no chance.

It didn’t help the Vanguards that the scorer of their first goal, Samantha Hoy, limped off with a leg injury. But with the clear edge in chances created, it took Robinson playing the finisher to get them over the hump.

Robinson supplied the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute, a Shannon Purfield long throw finding its way to her. She took two touches into the box then put off Droxler enough to sneak a shot short-side. The game-winner came when the defense collapsed to a Robinson run to the byline, leaving no one to mark Leigha Grace at the far post for a tap-in of Robinson’s cross.

“It’s good to have somebody that can dribble through, and we know that if we get it to her, she’s going to get through the defense every time,” Purfield, who also assisted on Hoy’s goal, said of Robinson. “She can make her own space, so having her up there, she creates space for everyone else to pass to her, and she can get right up to the net to score like she did a couple times.”

Droxler had the answer for 50 minutes, though. She had eight saves at halftime, including a double denial of Robinson and Oldham in the 32nd. Hoy struck the post in the first half, and Oldham missed a couple of golden chances in the middle of the box.

Droxler’s shot-stopping helped repel incessant pressure that led to 10 Sun Valley corners. Even after giving up two goals to Grace, she produced arguably her best save of the day, a diving stop of Oldham.

“She’s so good,” Interboro forward Morgan Reed said. “She’s really good at making big saves when we need them, and it hypes the team up and makes us excited to play. We want to score for her because she’s making big saves to keep us in the game.”

Droxler and Reed appeared to be enough for Interboro. The speedy forward wreaked havoc on a hesitant Sun Valley backline, scoring in the 14th and 17th. The first was a through ball by Payton Giove that Reed roofed, and the second came from Reed’s pressure of a weak back pass that never got to Jaina Preuhs in goal, Reed blocking a long-ball attempt, collecting and depositing into the open net.

“I’ve always tried to pressure the goalie just in case something like that happens, and then it finally happened,” Reed said. “It was a good feeling because you work hard to pressure the ball and then it pays off. Usually it doesn’t pay off, but it makes you feel good because you’re working hard for it.”

She scored 100 seconds into the second half when Nicki Floyd slipped a ball from left midfield through to the right channel, giving the Bucs a 3-1 edge.

But Sun Valley rallied. Even when midfield stopper Kassidy Lambert exited with a knee injury, the Vanguards circled the wagons. Purfield led it, with freshman Chyanne Rogers playing the sweeper role and senior Julliana Cadden locking it down at left back.

It helped, too, to have someone as deft at putting away chances as Robinson, who has been around long enough to not be shy about being the attack’s focal point.

“It’s definitely stressful but I just take a deep breath, I get calm and make sure I’m being very selfish, but if I don’t have the open goal or that chance, I can also cut back and find my open players in the middle,” Robinson said. “But it’s definitely stressful taking on such a big role in the middle.”

In other nonleague action:

Springfield 1, W.C. East 0 >> Sara Bean hammered home Alyssa Long’s cross midway through the second half to give Springfield the win.

Shannon Cutcliff made six saves in goal for the Cougars (2-0).