Day 3 Thanksgiving Girls ODP recap

Day 3 Thanksgiving Girls ODP recap
by Gary Curreri
November 22, 2018
The West’s Mollie Griswold (Gilbert, AZ) was a one-girl wrecking crew as she scored four second half goals to lift the 2001/2002s to a 4-0 win over the South on Wednesday in the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (US Youth Soccer ODP) Girls Thanksgiving Interregional in Boca Raton, Fla.
 
“This is pretty big,” said Griswold, 16, who was denied a fifth goal in the match by the crossbar in the first half. “Opportunities like this don’t come along very often, so I just have to capitalize and put a few away.
 
 
“I started off a little shaky. I was a little bit nervous,” said Griswold, who has verbally committed to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Coming into this game, I knew these girls had a pretty strong back line. I missed a few opportunities and that last touch to tuck it away. And then I told myself I was going to do it and put my mind to it and made those few extra moves and got on to a few balls.”
 
After a scoreless first half, Griswold got her team on the board after drawing and converting a penalty for a 1-0 lead and then again eight minutes later. Griswold added two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the contest for the 4-0 win.
 
This is Griswold’s third trip to the event, but a new position for her. Last year she played center back and holding midfield for the West and this year she was inserted at forward. She said the experience of being there before helped relax her.
 
“I play the (9) back home,” Griswold said. “I like the 9 better.”
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