Still perfect: Lady Pioneers now 4-0 in District 7 play
The Lady Pioneer soccer team won its fourth straight district match Tuesday, and remains undefeated in league play after a 2-0 victory over Riverdale in Murfreesboro.
With the win, WCHS improved to 10-3-1 overall, and 4-0 in District 7-AAA play. The Lady Pioneers are tied for first place in the league with Blackman, with both teams scheduled for two more district games. WCHS travels to Blackman next Thursday for a 6:30 match that should determine the regular-season champion.
Tuesday night, the Lady Pioneer defense dominated the game, as Riverdale failed to muster any offensive momentum throughout the contest and managed just three shots. Warren County finished with 18 shots on goal, but couldn’t find the back of the net until the second half.
Kirby Broom broke the scoreless tie with eight minutes off the second-half clock, scoring on a corner kick from Brittany Patterson.
“That was a sweet goal,” said WCHS coach Alan Brownyard. “The kick was to Katie (Simpson), but instead of going after the ball she shielded a Riverdale player and let it go through her, and Kirby finished.”
Fifteen minutes into the half Patterson found paydirt again, scoring on a penalty kick to provide the final margin of victory.
“”We really dominated the game,” Brownyard said. “This was probably our best 80 minutes we’ve put together all season.
“Riverdale is a good team, and we played a complete 80 minutes against them. We didn’t put them away like we could have, but kept creating chances, and shut them down. It was a good win against a good team.”
Goalkeeper Lacey Griffith had an easy night, and didn’t record a save thanks to the Lady Pioneers’ dominating defensive play. Brownyard noted while the entire team played a solid game, he was especially pleased with the performance of Vanessa Cornelius, who he said has continued to improve throughout the season.
“Vanessa has played tremendously,” he said. “She’s one touch away from scoring two or three goals a game. She’s that close to being a dominant scorer, and she’s just got to take that next step up.”
The Lady Pioneers’ Thursday night game against White County was postponed due to poor weather, and has been rescheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m.