WCHS battles LA to 0-0 tie

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Catherine Hill of the WCHS soccer team tries to take the ball away from a Livingston Academy player during Tuesday night’s game in Livingston. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

LIVINGSTON — Coming into the Lady Pioneers’ season opener, head coach Keith Hamilton knew defense was going to be a major concern for his soccer team.

Buy Tuesday night against Livingston Academy, Warren County’s defense rose to the occasion, but unfortunately so did the Lady Wildcats’. After 90 minutes of play the game ended in a scoreless tie.

The Lady Pioneers were without two starters due to injuries, but Warren County filled the spots and set the tempo for the first half.

The Lady Wildcats attempted just one shot in the first half as Warren County’s offense stayed on the attack. One stumbling block for Warren County was five off-side calls. When the Lady Pioneers managed to find themselves in scoring position, all three shots in the first half were stopped by Livingston’s goalie.

Warren County maintained possession of the ball throughout the half, with its defense doing a solid job of clearing any pass down field by the Lady Wildcats. WCHS attempted four corner kicks but failed to take advantage of the scoring opportunities with the half ending 0-0.

Livingston came out in the second half more aggressively on offense and defensively began cutting off the Lady Pioneers’ passing lanes. Two early shots by the Lady Wildcats came up short as Lady Pioneer keeper Erin Wolford came up with the saves.

Warren County’s first big break came with 20:11 left in the game, when the Lady Pioneers were awarded an indirect kick from 20 yards out. Catherine Hill passed the ball to Alex Mullican for the shot, but it sailed just over the net.

The final 20 minutes saw little offensive action from either team. Warren County worked the ball down into scoring position at the 5:47 mark with Mullican taking the shot, but once again failed to score. Time ticked away as the two teams battled at mid-field, ending the game scoreless.

The Lady Pioneers will travel to Murfreesboro to open District 7-AAA play Saturday, taking on Oakland at 6 p.m.