Lady Pioneers fall in 2003 season opener
The Lady Pioneers’ hopes of winning their soccer season opener were spoiled Tuesday night, as Lincoln County defeated Warren County 3-1 at the WCHS soccer field.
The game started with both teams looking a little timid, as play was slow and cautious. Ten minutes into the game the Lady Falcons became more aggressive on offense and took their first shot at goal but Lady Pioneer goalie Erin Wolford turned the attempt away.
Lincoln County continued to control the ball and scored its first goal at the 23:47 mark in the first half, when a Lady Falcon worked her way behind the Pioneer defense in the middle of the field for the score.
The Lady Pioneers went to work on offense attacking the net, but two missed attempts sailed wide of the goal. Capitalizing on several defensive mistakes by Warren County, the Lady Falcons found the back of the net to go up 2-0 with 8:45 left in the half.
Warren County’s play in the first half still remained reserved and over the next eight minutes the Lady Pioneers had trouble putting any type of offense together and went in at the half trailing 2-0.
“Lincoln County had two easy goals in the first half, we made two very, very bad mistakes on defense and we had to adjust and be more aggressive in the second half,” said Lady Pioneer head coach Keith Hamilton.
The Lady Pioneers looked like a different team in the second half coming out with more enthusiasm and controlling the ball on offense.
It didn’t take long for that aggression to pay off. Kirby Broom cut the lead in half when she took a corner kick from Vanessa Cornelius and drove the ball to the back of the net at the 31:05 mark to make it a 2-1 game.
Warren County played solid over the next 20 minutes, and with just over five minutes left in the game Alex Mullican tried to tie the game when she worked her way in front of the Lincoln County goal and fired a shot, but it sailed wide of the net.
The Lady Falcons added a goal with less than two minutes left in the game as the ball slipped past a diving Wolford to take the 3-1 victory.
The Lady Pioneers had seven shots at goal, while Lincoln County fired 10 shots on the night.
“We played a much better second half,” Hamilton said. “Our defense settled down and we played much more aggressive. We finally started playing our game. I was very pleased that we controlled the tempo of the game in the second half, and played like this team is capable of playing.
“The third goal for Lincoln County was another breakdown for us and just a lack of focus. Staying focussed is something the girls are going to have to learn, and tonight was a learning experience. I hate to lose a game but if we learn from our mistakes and correct them before our next game, then we are headed in the right direction. This is a young team and they’re going to make some mistakes, It’s like I said, we just have to stay focussed for 80 minutes.”