Soccer falls to defending state champs
The defending state champions visited Warren County Thursday night to take on the Lady Pioneer soccer team. Franklin’s Lady Rebels showed why they are the No. 1 team in the state, as they rolled past the Lady Pioneers 6-0.
The Lady Pioneers may have been a little intimidated during the first period of Thursday night’s home match. Franklin came out of the blocks quick and aggressive, dominating the first half with a high powered offensive attack.
The Lady Rebels found the back of the net at the 30:45 mark, when Whitney Henson scored the first of her two goals for a 1-0 Franklin lead. The Lady Pioneers never made a run on offense during the first period. Sarah Tanner, Brittany Bowdoin and Hillary Templeton were kept very busy trying to keep the Lady Rebels from driving the ball down the middle of the field. With 15 minutes left in the period, Franklin scored again after Warren County was called for a hand ball in the box.
Three minutes later, the Lady Rebels broke through the Warren County defense scoring their third goal as Megan Mace gave her team a 3-0 lead.
Lady Pioneer goalie Erin Wolford was kept busy during the last 10 minutes of the half as Franklin continued to attack the net. Wolford made two big saves in the final four minutes of play. But the Lady Rebels’ Jordan Leaf capitalized on yet another defensive breakdown by Warren County scoring with 53 second left in the half to give Franklin High School a 4-0 lead at the break.
Warren County played much better in the second half on defense, but the offense still sputtered with only two shots at goal in the half. The Lady Pioneers did a better job of matching up in one-on-one situations keeping the ball cleared from the front of the Warren County goal.
But the Lady Rebels’ offense still had plenty of fight left in it, scoring its fifth goal of the game at the 20:08 mark. The Lady Pioneers had several chances to get something going on offense but couldn’t take advantage of the two-on-two situations as Franklin’s defense quickly cut off the Warren County attack. Franklin added one more goal late in the second half when Callie Key found an open net to secure the 6-0 win.
“Franklin is a very good ball team, and they came out an took it right to us,” said coach Keith Hamilton. “The first half our defense didn’t do a very good job, but in the second half we made a few adjustments and the girls came out and played very hard. Everyone did a good job in the second half and I’m proud of the way they stayed in there and kept fighting.”