The Wareham Girls' Soccer team gave their regular season uniforms the night off on Friday, as the Lady Vikings took to Spillaine Field in bright pink attire for the 6th Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game.

The Lady Vikings hosted Bourne, but lost to the Lady Canalmen in a 3-0 match, bringing Wareham's overall record to 0-10.

The first half was an intense and even match up between both teams. The battle for possession at mid-field was physical, and opportunities for offensive strikes were hard-fought. On the few occasions where offensive players broke out from the mid-field gridlock, defenders for both teams secured their zones tightly, resulting in very few shots on net in the first twenty minutes of the match.

However, at the 24-minute mark of the first half, Bourne's Madelyn Leach snuck by Wareham defenders, unloading an easy strike into the net to make the score 1-0.

Soon after, Wareham got an unlucky break. Within a minute of Bourne's goal, the Lady Vikings in pink responded with aggressive offense, and quick retaliation from the foot of Wareham's Angela Pearle – her shot on net looked as though it entered the goal area, but the referees ruled it a save by Bourne's goal-keeper. The goal line technology wasn't operating on Friday night, so there wasn't opportunity for Wareham to request a review.

“We're playing better than usual,” said Pearle at the end of the first half. “We're making small passes and taking the shots.”

During halftime, the Lady Vikings coordinated their “miracle minute”. Pink soccer balls were cut in half, and each half was turned into a donation bowl. The players had only one minute to rush through the crowd attempting to collect as much cash as possible to raise funds for breast cancer awareness benefiting Susan G. Koman for the Cure. In the past five years Wareham Girls' Soccer “miracle minute” fundraiser has raised over $3500 for breast cancer awareness.

As play resumed, the second half of the match was a struggle for Wareham. Bourne controlled the ball for much of the 40 minutes, and play occurred predominantly in Wareham's zone. Bourne had a lot of good opportunities to score, but were kept at bay by senior goal-keeper Caleigh Monteiro. Her quick ability to react to their offensive strategies prevented Bourne from running away with the lead. The Lady Canalmen got an insurance goal at the 19-minute mark, of the second half, and then a final goal at the 27-minute mark.

“Compared to the first time this year when we played Bourne, we played significantly better, we played a lot tougher," Coach Megan Kashner said. "It was a very physical game – it wasn't like that last time. But I think the girls rose to the occasion, especially because it was the Breast Cancer Awareness Game. I think they came with a higher energy, and hopefully we can carry that on."

With five games left in the season, Kashner is hoping for a win.

“We're an upward progress. I would love for these girls to get a win," Kashner said. "We are building off of each game.”

Following the match with Bourne, the Lady Vikings were taking their “miracle minute” over to the Wareham High School football game against Apponequet to reach a bigger crowd to raise more funds for their cause.

“I know through talking to the team in preparation for this game that a lot of them know someone in their family who has breast cancer and it's affected them,” Kashner said, “I hope they remember this as they get older – that they listen to their bodies, and know that it could happen to anyone. I know they put a lot of time into planning this game, they really care about this game a lot.”

Wareham Girls' Soccer team's next game is against Fairhaven on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 3:30 p.m. at Hastings Middle School in Fairhaven.