A typical Haddonfield throw-in starts with junior Olivia Blaber taking a deep breath before morphing seemingly into elastic as she slingshots the ball into a crowd of teammates.
"She can rocket it," Gess said.
Once the ball angles downward, the team's personality shines. One of the most tenacious teams in South Jersey, Haddonfield attacks its restarts with as much purpose as any area team.
The Bulldogs' leader, 5-foot-11 senior midfielder Katie Johnston, is a tactician when she has to be, but on restarts, she lives up to her team's moniker.
"Our mind-set is that every 50-50 ball is ours; we need to win the air game," said Johnston, who leads Haddonfield with 11 goals. "Every game we come to play, we don't take a play off."
Not taking a play off is the biggest reason why the Bulldogs have allowed only the one goal this season.
Haley Oberg scored off a throw-in, Carly Bonnet put back a free kick, and Emily Carson scored off another restart in the game's first 10 minutes Tuesday.
The game was well in the Bulldogs' hands but the team didn't take its foot off the gas for the rest of the game.
An inspired effort from keeper Janelle Orsino kept Gateway (6-6-1) in the game.
Orsino recorded 13 saves, 10 in the second half.
On the other end of the field, Haddonfield keeper Kellie Riley didn't record a single save. Her team controlled the ball for nearly the entire game. And when Gateway pushed the ball forward, an aggressive defense was always there to stop the threat before it reached the net.
"Our mind-set is definitely aggressive," Johnston said.
Gateway 0 0 – 0
Haddonfield 3 0 – 3
Goals: Haley Oberg, Carly Bonnet, Emily Carson.
Saves G-Janelle Orsino 13; H-Kellie Riley 0.
Contact Chris Melchiorre at rallysports@phillynews.com.
