With 13:33 remaining in regulation, Kahler knocked in a rebound past Telstar goalie Meg Glover to break a scoreless tie and lift the Greyhounds to a 1-0 victory over the Rebels. 

“I said to them at halftime that I don’t care who scores,” Lisbon coach Julie Petrie said. “It doesn’t have to be pretty. We need to get rebounds off the goalie. We need to have our sticks down. They have to be quick shots. Just shoot. Usually it’s not the first shot that goes in. It’s the rebounds.”

Kahler’s goal was the product of a slew of chances in front of the cage with just over 14 minutes remaining. Michaela Bedell had the first opportunity with a shot from just inside the circle. Glover made the initial save to her left and came up with another stop on Molly Nicholson on the ensuing rebound. Kahler buried the second rebound to put Lisbon ahead. 

“We knew that we were dominating and our coach told us we really just needed to finish,” Kahler said. “We were right there. When we were 0-0 at halftime and we had dominated the whole time, I just knew that no matter what — even if I had to run through people — I just had to get it in.” 

The Greyhounds (5-1) were on the doorstep all afternoon, but their constant pressure yielded nothing on the scoreboard in the first half. Lisbon registered 12 shots on goal in the opening half and had seven penalty corners. Glover made all 12 saves and Telstar’s defense limited the Greyhounds to one shot on their seven penalty corners. 

“It’s hard to get mad because we were playing well,” Kahler said. “It is frustrating, but it’s hard to get angry when you’re right there. Some of it’s bad bounces, but some of it is inexperience as well.” 

Glover finished with 18 saves. 

The Rebels (3-2) didn’t record a shot on Lisbon goalie Stevie Charest in the first half and didn’t possess the ball over midfield in the opening six minutes. 

“We played a lot of defense, but I was pleased with the way our defense played,” Telstar coach Gail Wight said. “We had a lot of scary moments, but our defense played clean. They played the ball out.” 

Telstar’s best chance came in the first few minutes of the second half when the Rebels recorded their first shot and penalty corner. Telstar finished with two shots on goal.