GIRLS SOCCER : East clicks, makes taking match a snap
Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — School’s out for summer, but the East team relied on an advanced brand of chemistry to score an easy 2-0 victory over the West in Tuesday night’s Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star girls soccer match at Lady ’Back Field.
“They know what they’re doing,” East Coach Roger Hollis of Paragould said of his players, who practiced together only three times prior to Tuesday’s match. “We’re just here basically moving them along and making suggestions. With their talent, they’re already at an elite spot.” Tracy Powell of Pulaski Academy said the East players seemed to click from the get-go and improved their chemistry by spending most of their free time together at their dormitory. Whatever the reasons, the East looked sharper, more aggressive and more cohesive from the opening moments of the match and finished with a 15-5 advantage in shots.
“I think we did play a step above them, maybe not because of talent, but just because we got a jump on them and that momentum just kept us going,” Hollis said.
Valley View’s Shanna Broadway gave the East all the offense it needed in the 29 th minute, taking an assist from Kara Kellerman of Central Arkansas Christian and putting a low shot past Greenbrier’s Maria Rhodes.
The West’s best chance to score came in the 38 th minute when Greenbrier’s Brooke Mc-Collum set up for a free kick. East goalkeeper Autumn King of Paragould made the save, though, and neither team generated any real chance the rest of the half.
The West had two more solid chances early in the second half, but Brittany Hudson of Little Rock Central stopped both shots, one each by Sheridan’s Kayla Knight and Megan Pearce of Springdale Har-Ber.
The East then got untracked and put together a string of scoring opportunities, finally getting a goal in the 63 rd minute when Powell beat Bentonville’s Chelsea Widen high into the left corner of the net. Rachael Maina, who scored three goals in Searcy’s Class 6 A state championship victory over Jonesboro, got the assist.
“I just turned outside and saw an opening and took the shot, a quick shot,” Powell said. “You’ve got to shoot to score is the way I was thinking.” The goal was another example of the East team being on the same page practically from start to finish.
“Possessionwise, I just thought the East did an absolutely wonderful job.... Considering the possession they had, I thought our defense did an outstanding job and kept us in the game,” West Coach T. J. Slough of Greenbrier said. “But I hand it to the East. They did well.” The West played well in certain spurts but couldn’t maintain its few swings in momentum.
“We have four hours with them to figure out who can play where and whose skills are best and to get a game plan,” Slough said in reference to Monday’s two practice sessions. “It’s difficult, it’s very difficult.” The East, though, managed to make it look easy for much of the night.
“We knew what they wanted to do,” Hollis said of his players. “They came together and had great chemistry, like they had been playing together forever.”
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