Soccer team celebrates:Lady Pioneers pick up first win of season
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The game was played for the most part in the center of the field, and as time clicked off the clock it looked as if the two teams would settle for a scoreless tie.
But Lady Pioneer Shea Martin had other plans, scoring the game-winning goal with under one minute left in the game for 1-0 Lady Pioneer victory.
“Our hard work this week really paid off tonight.” said coach Keith Hamilton. “We have been working hard for the past two weeks with our mid-fielders trying to create open shots and tonight when made several opportunities. The passes were just a little to hard for our attacker to get to. We talked about that at the half and the girls controlled their passes a lot better in the second half. Lebanon has an outstanding keeper and Shea’s shot was perfect, chipping it over her head.”
The Lady Pioneers played with much more energy and enthusiasm Thursday night. In the first half Warren County created several scoring opportunities and kept the ball in the hands of its offense. Four times in the first half Warren County came up short as their shots just missed their marks or the Lebanon keeper came up with several big saves.
The two teams battled at mid-field for the last 10 minutes of the half with both teams standing their ground on defense.
The second half started much like the first half ended. Both teams struggled to take charge. But midway through the half momentum tipped the scale in Warren County’s favor. The Lady Pioneers attacked the Lady Blue Devil offense and kept the Lebanon goalie busy as she tried to keep the game scoreless.
With four minutes left to play Warren County found its second wind and pressured the Lebanon offense with a relentless attack. Shea Martin worked her way down the right side of the field with under a minute to play and found herself one-on-one with the Lebanon goalie. Martin took the shot from 10-yards out chipping the ball over the defender for the game winning shot.
Warren County had 11 shots on the night and Lady Pioneer goalie Erin Wolford came up with seven saves during the game.
The Lady Pioneers were in need of a victory as they entered the heart of their schedule and Hamilton said he hoped Thursday’s win would give Warren County a boost going into Tuesday’s game against Oakland.
“I told the team they are playing more as a team and working as a team more than anytime I have seen in the two years I’ve been here,” he said. “Their work ethic over the past two weeks has just been outstanding, and the girls are starting to have fun.
“They played hard tonight and just showed a lot of heart and I’m very proud of their attitude not only during the game tonight but also during practice this past week.”