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LEBANON — Panthers ran wild early Sunday afternoon August 20, during the opening weekend of the 2006 soccer season in Lebanon, Oh.

The Lebanon Sports Complex played host to an epic battle of 11U Pink Panthers versus Purple Panthers.

Back and forth the action went as the colorful mass of jungle cats scratched and clawed to establish dominance.

First blood was drawn with less than a minute left in the first quarter when Pink Panther Megan Pepmeyer slid a shot in just through the hands of the purple goalie.

Then in the second quarter the Pink Panthers extended their lead to 2-0 on a direct kick goal by LeAnne Gosmer. The opportunity came following a trip in the goalie box.

Gosmer had this to say regarding her goal.

"I just kicked the ball with my right foot and it went into the goal. I don't really know how I did it, the ball usually goes pretty high."

But the Purple Panthers showed they had the hearts of lions as Maggie Ross answered with a goal of her own in the fourth quarter.

But the late game effort would be insufficient as the Pink Panthers would earn the win and extend their record to 2-0 on the season, and drop the Purple Panthers to 0-2.

The Purple Panthers two loses have been heartbreakers, both with a score of 2-1.

"The girls played great," purple head coach Eric Smither said. "We had a lot of nice passes and displayed good foot work."

Doug Gosmer, pink head coach, was just relieved to beat the heat seeing as his Panthers had no subs for the game.

"We supported each other well," said Gosmer. "We had over 30 passes during the game, which is a good measuring tool."

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4504 or playball@coxohio.com.