Wednesday, September 17, 2008
MORTONS GAP – Hopkins County Central’s Hannah Murphy scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the Lady Storm’s game against Union County on Tuesday night, which proved to be just what the team needed as Central eventually won 2-1.
Murphy scored just 37 seconds into the game and then again on a header seven minutes after to account for the entire Lady Storm offense while the Central defense held for 75 minutes before allowing its only goal of the night.
Central coach Susan Phelps said Murphy has been out a few games with an ankle sprain, and certainly gives the team a boost with her presence.
“She makes a big difference offensively,” Phelps said. “A lot of the other teams tend to mark Amber (Coakley), so it pulls all of the defense towards her and leaves Hannah open in the midfield.”
Murphy’s first goal seemed to give the feeling the game would be a high-scoring affair, but further goals proved difficult to come by.
Murphy said it was her teammate Coakley, who set her up for success.
“There were a lot of open spots and I got a pass from Amber,” Murphy said. “It was a great assist. I just weaved in and out of a couple players and shot it, hoped for the best.”
The shot founds it mark at the back of the net and gave the Lady Storm a quick shot of energy.
“That was great for us, it just kind of gave us our momentum to start the game off,” Murphy added.
Shortly thereafter Murphy gave her team a 2-0 lead on a header.
“I just aimed for the ball and closed my eyes and it flicked in, it was great, perfect,” she said.
As Murphy provided the offense for Central, the team’s defense did its job as well by keeping the Bravettes off the scoreboard until 5:32 left in the game when Katelyn Bickett cut the deficit in half.
Phelps said she was particularly impressed with the play of Kaitlyn Jones play on defense.
“Kaitlyn does real well in that wing position as far as getting up and down the field and covering her mark,” Phelps said.
Phelps continued to say that Ellen Cox also performed solidly, taking on the wing forward position for the first time.
As Central’s defense continued to stifle Union County, the Bravettes’ defense also stepped up in the second half.
“The big difference was they put more people in the box,” Phelps said. “They just sat their defense back in there and waited for us to try and go around them and it’s hard. They have six or seven people there and we have four or five in attack.”
The Lady Storm had a few chances to increase their lead in the final 15 minutes, but ultimately could not convert.
Kacey Long had a penalty kick with 13:42 remaining, but her shot went high. Murphy also sent a kick high, which was caught by Union County’s goalkeeper, when she had a direct kick opportunity with 2:40 left in the game.
With the win Central improves to 2-6-2 while Union County drops to 3-7-1. The Lady Storm return to action 7 p.m. Thursday at Lyon County.
In junior varsity action, Central defeated Union County 3-2.
Freshman Megan Cummins and sixth-grader Ainsley Bryant tallied scores for the Lady Storm. Freshman Autumn Jarvis also scored on a penalty kick.
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