True to her role as a key member in head coach Etsuko Handa’s rotation, Sarina Bolden came off the bench.
However, Bolden and the rest of Elfen Saitama suffered a 1-0 loss to Niigata in the 2021-22 WE.League season, Saturday at the Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma in Maebashi.
Bolden was brought on at the 73rd minute in exchange for striker Hikaru Yumura as the home side sought a leveler after Niigata’s Michigami Ayaka gave the visitors the lead at the 56th minute with a header.
“We conceded the first goal, which took us a while to get back into our rhythm,” said a translated version of Handa’s comments. “In the second half, we created chances to score goals, but we also had the strength of our opponents’ defense, and I felt that we needed a little more ingenuity to score goals as a touch. We will prepare for the next week to believe in ourselves and win.”
The result was Elfen Saitama’s sixth defeat in this campaign. They are at 11th place in the league table with 8 points after 14 matches played.
On the other hand, the Albirex are in 7th place with 13 points.
Up next for Bolden and Elfen Saitama is an away trip to face AC Nagano Parceiro Ladies at the Nagano U Stadium on April 3 with kick-off scheduled at 12:00 NN Manila time.
