Friday, August 22, 2008
Heidi Clayton scored a game-high five goals Thursday evening as the Madisonville-North Hopkins girls’ soccer team nearly pulled off a shutout of Webster County, winning 10-1 at Donley Field.
The Lady Maroons benefited from strong goal-keeping play by senior starter Troyanna Hardy and back-up Sarah Kelley. The duo did not allowed a goal until eight minutes left.
“You have to credit Troyanna,” junior Laura Rao said. “She had a shutout and then (Sarah) did great too. She came in and had one scored on her, it was just a defensive mix up.”
Kelley, a freshman, relieved Hardy in goal and played the final 25 minutes.
Coach Steve Shepard said he was proud of both his keepers and mentioned it’s pivotal to get Kelley quality minutes this season.
“We know Sarah is going to be our goalie next year,” he said. “She did have some decisions to make and she did get scored on, which gave her an opportunity to not get scored on. She got some work, but it’s imperative to get her in the game and get trained.”
While Hardy and Kelley kept the Lady Trojans offense in check, the Lady Maroons’ forwards took advantage of a young Webster County team.
Clayton’s five goals were just one short of tying a career-high, and she said her goals came as a result of strong teamwork.
“We executed well,” she said. “We
were able to pass well through the competition. We definitely overpowered the other team in speed.”
Rao, who scored four goals, said the team’s key to victory was being aggressive.
“We went at them from the beginning,” she said. “You always have to do that, no matter the competition.”
North’s Megan Hutchens rounded out the Lady Maroons’ scoring with a goal in the second half.
Hutchens said her goal came directly as a result of what the team has worked on in practice.
“I was just thinking, ‘finish, finish,” because we’ve been working on that a lot in practice, yesterday especially,” she said. “That corner just came perfectly to me and I was like, ‘yes!,’ so I just put it in.”
Junior Lyndi Tedder also contributed offensively with two assists on the night.
Shepard said he was most impressed with the way his team scored, not how many times they found the back of the net.
“We worked on being in control of the attack,” he said. “We dictated whether we went down the left side or down the right side.”
As for Webster County coach Tom Welshans, he said playing a talented and experienced team like North early in the season can help his girls learn a lot.
“The big thing playing a team like them is we get to find out about ourselves,” he said. “I think it will benefit us. I have no doubt we’ll play better later in the year.”
Welshans said he thought the Lady Trojans played a better second half, but could not contain Clayton.
Webster County only had four shots on goal, but three came quickly in the final 10 minutes of the game.
First-year player Alyssa Cook ended the team’s scoring drought in the 72nd minute.
“She came down and broke down their sweeper,” Welshans said. “They left their sweeper one-on-one and she just got by her with a quick ball skill and made a good shot in the corner.”
Welshans said despite the score, he was also impressed by goalie Ashley Smith’s play.
Webster County will look to learn from its loss and capture its first victory 1 p.m. Saturday when the Lady Trojans (0-2) visit Grayson County.
North returns to action 7 p.m. today against Apollo in the Daviess County Tournament as the Lady Maroons (2-0) aim to stay perfect on the season.
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