Despite the north Ohio-based outfit twice taking the lead, Ashley Hodson and Courtney Sweetman-Kirk both netted to ensure the game ended all square.
Jepson handed debuts to new signings Melissa Lawley, Becky Jane and Jade Bailey during the outing at the Notre Dame University Stadium.
Read on for Jepson’s thoughts on the game, encouraging debuts and a fitness update…
On the 2-2 draw…
This was a fantastic opportunity for us to expose the girls to where they need to be physically. This is only week two of our pre-season and Cleveland Ambassadors are in the peak of their pre-season, and you could tell the difference physically. We were really grateful to the Cleveland Ambassadors for coming over to play us, they have a fantastic set of players and coaching staff. We struggled today on the transition and at the end you could see a lot of the players were really fatigued. I thought we had some really exciting passing patterns at times in the final third, we created lots of opportunities and although we didn’t score as many goals as I would have liked to have seen, I think it’s a really good start to our pre-season and there’s no better place to be than the USA to start it.
On the disrupted start to the game due to the thunderstorm…
It’s tough because you turn up an hour and a half before the game, players get their physio and everything is prepped. They were getting ready to warm up but obviously because of the weather we had to delay it. Then lightning strikes again so that was another 30-minute delay which happened a couple of times. The weather we can’t control and we’ve got to be adaptable and I thought we were, they did alright.
On the debuts of Lawley, Jane and Bailey…
Those three have been a great addition to the squad and they have added a lot of strength. This is the first time I’ve seen them play with the rest of our girls from last season, so it was really pleasing to see them. Jade was outstanding in the midfield, linking the units. Physically, she needs to work on that in terms of the shape but that will come. Becky at right-back has added a lot going forward for us with her pace and Mel is the dribble driver! She created the second goal for us and she has added a lot of quality. We have signed three exciting players and it’s good to welcome them to the squad.
On the goal machine Sweetman-Kirk grabbing the equaliser at Notre Dame…
I wouldn’t expect anything else and neither would Courtney. She did tell me this morning that she was going to score!
Free video: All the goals from the 2-2 draw
On Hodson netting an excellent goal and looking sharp after her serious injury last year…
We know Ash has got that in her. When she came back from her ACL injury last season and scored that goal against MK Dons, it showed she has that in her locker. It was good to see her start this game, get as many minutes as she did and obviously get herself on the scoresheet. Hopefully when the Women’s Super League season starts we will see a lot more of that from Ash.
On the progress of Jess Clarke’s potential return to action after her injury lay-off…
We have a few players carrying knocks. Christie Murray is struggling with an injury, Kirsty Linnett is also struggling, we lost Niamh Fahey in the warm-up today, but hopefully we will see Jess back for some minutes in Boston.
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