Lady Cougars Remain Unbeaten, Top South For Second Time
by BRYAN MOORE
TriCitiesSports.com
September 14, 2017
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. -- The perfect season continues for the Sullivan Central girls soccer team.
The Lady Cougars remained undefeated with a 4-1 victory over cross-county rival Sullivan South Thursday night at Bernie Webb Field in what was a non-district contest between District 1-AA foes..
"It's great," said Central coach Emily Robinette. "My main goal is that I love soccer and I want other people to love soccer. By us winning it makes more people come out and watch us and it makes them learn about the game."
The Lady Cougars (7-0, 3-0) wasted little time getting on the board. Just seven minutes into the match freshman midfielder Rylie Patrick made a lovely assist from the right corner to Annie Ensley in front of the goal and she knocked it home for a 1-0 lead.
In the 33rd minute, Lady Cougars forward Lexi Hall started a breakaway and passed it to senior midfielder Nola Hamelryck who finished it off to put Central ahead 2-0.
"I really had to take my time on it," Hamelryck explained. "It was a great goal. I couldn't have done it without my teammates' assist. I got right in the bottom left corner from the 18-yard box."
South goalkeeper Katerina Johnson made two sterling saves late in the first half to keep the Lady Rebels deficit at 2-0 at halftime.
The Lady Rebels then got some momentum in the 51st minute when forward Mattie Topping demonstrated her speed and fancy footwork and nailed the goal to bring South to within 2-1.
"I thought we played better in the first 15 minutes of the second half," Lady Rebels coach Keith Parker noted.
Topping's goal was only the second Central had surrendered this season and the first since its opening game. It also served as a wake-up call of sorts for the Lady Cougars.
"I was a little nervous," Robinette admitted. "When they score on your defense the thing that you want for them to do is regroup and recover and that's what we did."
In the 71st minute, the Lady Cougars senior forward Laney Perdue surprised the Lady Rebels and punched it in off of a throw-in to give Central a two goal cushion again at 3-1.
"It was a pass I think from Lexi (Hill) and I took it to the corner like I know how to do," said Perdue.
Central tacked on an insurance goal in the 79th minute when senior Hannah Barnett made a pretty pass to Patrick who did the rest to put the Lady Cougars up 4-1 and secure the victory.
South, who was shutout 4-0 in its district contest with Central on August 22, was left to ponder what might have been.
"We weren't good enough," lamented Parker. "They played better than us."
"We knew what to expect coming into the game. We just couldn't deal with the speed on the flank and we aren't physical enough. They're a very physical team. We just kind of backed down to the physicality. I mean, they're undefeated for a reason. But all is not lost. This is a non-district matchup and we can learn from this."
The Lady Cougars will put their unbeaten streak on the line this weekend when they compete in the Smokey Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg and face some stiff competition that will shed some light on just how good Central is.
"We want to be competitive," Robinette said. "We want to grow and take our play to the next level. We're playing good soccer but we're not playing great soccer. And that's where I want to be. Playing teams that are as good as you or better than you makes you better and that's what I want to accomplish this weekend. I want us to get better."
Central will face Stone Memorial out of Crossville Saturday at 10 a.m. and Lexington, Tennessee at 4 p.m. followed by a Sunday morning match with Fairview, Tennessee at 10.
South 0 1
Central 2 2
Scoring:
SC: Annie Ensley goal with assist by Rylie Patrick in the 7th minute
SC: Nola Hamerlyck goal with assist by Lexi Hill in the 33rd minute
SS: Mattie Topping goal in the 51st minute
SC: Laney Perdue goal in the 71st minute
SC: Rylie Patrick goal with assist by Hannah Barnett in the 79th minute