Crockett soccer wins, earns No. 4 seed
ALAMO – Wins for the Crockett County soccer teams haven’t been frequent over the past three years, but improvements started with beginning of the 2016 season.
With the end of the 2016 regular season coming to a close, the Lady Cavaliers are starting to reap the rewards for the hard work that they have put in for those improvements.
One reward came Thursday night as Crockett County earned the No. 4 seed in the District 13 A-AA tournament with a 3-2 victory over McKenzie at Crockett County.
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“We set a goal to be 6-6 and 3-3 in the district this season, and we are going to finish better than that,” Crockett County coach Richard Kemper said. “We are a team of 19 girls that are committed and want to play for each other.
“Jodi [Butler] gets the publicity, which is well-deserved, with all of the goals she scores. But she doesn’t score those goals without the job that the midfielder and defenders do.”
Twice McKenzie took leads in the first half, and twice Crockett County (7-4, 3-3) had an answer.
McKenzie’s Hannah Bilger scored in the 10th minute on a corner kick that rolled into the side netting for a goal and in the 34th minute on a penalty kick on a hand ball in the box.
But the Lady Rebels struggled to contain Crockett County senior Jodi Butler. Butler had the answer to both goals.
In the 14th minute, Butler dribbled in from 35 yards out and scored to tie the match 1-1, and in the 42nd minute, she scored off a rebound.
The biggest change though came on the defensive end of the field. After giving up the two goals on five shots on goal in the first half, the Crockett County defense held McKenzie to three shots on goal in the second half.
“My team supported me out there,” Crockett County defender Kimberly Cobb said. “We talked better in the second half, and we were working together.
“It is amazing to be on this team and get this win with people I love.”
The Lady Cavaliers didn’t make as many mistakes and passed the ball better.
In the 64th minute, Crockett County earned a penalty kick, and Butler converted it for her third goal of the match.
“It was pure excitement, and I was nervous at the same time,” Butler said. “I knew if I made it, we would be ahead, and if I missed it, we had to work harder to create more chances.
“It is the best feeling to earn this seed because we have worked so hard.”
The top three seeds of the 13 A-AA tournament will be Dyersburg (No. 1), South Gibson (No. 2) and Westview (No. 3). Crockett County will host fifth-seeded McKenzie on Oct. 10 in the quarterfinals.
“I think our intenisty changed in the second half,” Kemper said. “I told them at halftime that his was going to be a dog fight, and we had to bring it. McKenzie is a good team that pushed us and didn’t let us work through the midfield.”
Michael Odom, 425-9754